Planned physical activity (eg. walking) and pain
Many people with painful joints incorrectly tend to avoid being physically active for fear of making their pain worse.
When people avoid physical activities due to pain their muscle strength can deteriorate quite quickly, which in turn can impact their physical capabilities and cause increased pain when they are active.
Land-based exercise such as walking can actually provide clinically relevant short-term benefits for pain.
Tái chi has been found to give strong favourable benefits for pain and function in individuals with knee osteoarthritis.
Water based exercise can have small to moderate short-term benefits for function and quality of life, but only minor benefits for pain.