Evidence library · Joint pain

Does water-based exercise affect joint pain in menopause? What 11 studies found

Studies of water-based exercise in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured joint pain. 7 reported an improvement and 1 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A meta-analysis of six trials with 432 postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis found aquatic exercise improved symptoms but not pain, stiffness, function, or quality of life compared to control.

    No difference foundMeta-analysis · 432 participants pooled · 2019PostmenopausalCited 4 timesPubMed

  2. A meta-analysis of 23 trials in people with osteoporosis, 95 percent female with an average age of 67, found exercise such as resistance training, balance training and Pilates improved mental health, quality of life and pain.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 2,120 participants pooled · 19 weeks · 2026PostmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed

  3. Middle-aged women with fibromyalgia did a 16 week aquatic exercise program and researchers found fewer tender points and improved sleep and cognitive function, with no change in anxiety.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 60 women · 16 weeks · 2008Midlife womenCited 76 timesPubMed

  4. In postmenopausal women with mild knee osteoarthritis, 16 weeks of aquatic resistance training changed cartilage composition on MRI and improved cardiorespiratory fitness by 9.8% compared with controls.

    Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 87 women · 16 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 58 timesPubMed

  5. Middle-aged women with fibromyalgia who did 16 weeks of warm-water aquatic exercise reported less pain and better cognitive function than a control group.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 60 women · 16 weeks · 2007Midlife womenCited 71 timesPubMed

  6. Postmenopausal women with mild knee osteoarthritis did 4 months of aquatic resistance training and showed a short-term drop in knee stiffness but no lasting change in pain, function or quality of life.

    Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 87 women · 16 weeks · 2020PostmenopausalCited 20 timesPubMed

  7. In 34 obese postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis, an 8-week dance-based aquatic exercise program improved function, cardiorespiratory capacity and fatigue more than a standard aquatic program, with benefits partly maintained at 3 months.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 34 women · 8 weeks · 2017PostmenopausalCited 26 timesPubMed

  8. Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis did 10 months of land or aquatic exercise; land exercise improved muscle strength, flexibility, gait time, pain and bone density more than aquatic exercise.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 58 women · 43 weeks · 2014PostmenopausalCited 22 timesPubMed

  9. This protocol describes a planned trial testing 4 months of aquatic resistance exercise on knee cartilage, pain, function, bone and quality of life in postmenopausal women with mild knee osteoarthritis.

    Direction not statedRandomised trial · 80 women · 16 weeks · 2013PostmenopausalCited 19 timesPubMed

  10. Postmenopausal women with mild knee osteoarthritis who reported more leisure physical activity over 12 months showed greater increases in cartilage glycosaminoglycan content on MRI.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 76 women · 52 weeks · 2017PostmenopausalCited 15 timesPubMed

  11. Over six weeks, postmenopausal obese women doing aquatic resistance, balance and proprioceptive training showed greater improvements in strength, balance and ankle-foot alignment than land-based exercise.

    Reported an improvementControlled trial · 143 women · 6 weeks · 2025PostmenopausalPubMed

How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.

Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.

Other exercise types and joint pain