Yoga may be just as effective as strength training when it comes to easing knee pain caused by osteoarthritis (OA), according to a new study.
Osteoarthritis is a common condition that affects millions of people worldwide, causing joint pain and stiffness, especially in the knees.
Exercise is often recommended as a first step in managing this condition, but people may wonder which type of exercise works best.
Researchers from Southern Tasmania, Australia, wanted to directly compare the effects of yoga and strengthening exercises on people with knee OA.
They recruited 117 adults who were experiencing significant knee pain and divided them into two groups—one group practiced yoga, while the other did strength training.
Each group had more than 70% women, and participants rated their pain at 40 or higher on a 100-point pain scale at the beginning of the study.
For the first 12 weeks, both groups did two supervised sessions and one home session each week. Then, for another 12 weeks, they continued with three unsupervised home sessions each week. The researchers then measured how much each person’s pain changed over time.
After 12 weeks, both groups showed improvements in knee pain. However, the difference in pain relief between the yoga group and the strength-training group was very small—just 1.1 points on the 100-point scale.
This means that yoga was not worse than strength training and worked just as well in managing knee pain.
Strength exercises help by building the muscles around the knee, making the joint more stable. Yoga uses breathing, stretching, and mindfulness to increase flexibility, lower stress, and help with pain. Although these methods work in different ways, the study shows that both can be effective for knee OA.
This is important because yoga could offer people with knee OA a different and enjoyable option that also helps with mood, flexibility, and quality of life.
While clinical guidelines do recommend yoga, past studies haven’t always been strong enough to prove its benefits. This new research, published in JAMA Network Open, helps confirm that yoga is a solid choice for managing knee arthritis pain.
If you’re looking for a non-medication way to manage your knee pain, this study suggests you can feel confident choosing either strength training or yoga—whichever fits best into your lifestyle.
If you care about pain, please read studies about vitamin K deficiency linked to hip fractures in old people, and these vitamins could help reduce bone fracture risk.
For more health information, please see recent studies that Krill oil could improve muscle health in older people, and eating yogurt linked to lower frailty in older people.
Source: KSR.
