Evidence library · Joint pain

Does other exercise affect joint pain in menopause? What 11 studies found

Studies of other exercise in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured joint pain. 7 reported an improvement and 4 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A review of seven trials with 400 women found exercise therapies showed very uncertain or little effect on joint pain, stiffness, grip strength or quality of life from aromatase inhibitor side effects.

    No difference foundMeta-analysis · 400 participants pooled · 2020PostmenopausalCited 36 timesPubMed

  2. A systematic review of 18 trials found that yoga, tai chi, meditation and relaxation practices often improved overall menopausal symptoms, hot flushes, mood, sleep and musculoskeletal pain.

    Reported an improvementSystematic review · 882 participants pooled · 2010Midlife womenCited 58 timesPubMed

  3. A meta-analysis of five RCTs in postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis found exercise improved physical function but did not differ from control for pain or stiffness.

    No difference foundMeta-analysis · 2024PostmenopausalCited 6 timesPubMed

  4. A meta-analysis of 15 RCTs with 1018 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis found traditional Chinese exercises such as Ba Duanjin improved lumbar spine bone density and reduced pain versus controls.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,018 participants pooled · 2025PostmenopausalPubMed

  5. Postmenopausal women with vertebral fractures did six months of group exercise and coping classes, improving trunk strength and psychological symptoms versus health education controls, with no change in pain.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 185 women · 26 weeks · 2004PostmenopausalCited 63 timesPubMed

  6. Sedentary postmenopausal women with back problems did four years of therapeutic exercise, and compliant participants showed slowed bone loss and fewer back complaints than controls.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 92 women · 208 weeks · 1996PostmenopausalCited 35 timesPubMed

  7. 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

  8. Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis did ten sessions of group-adapted physical exercises versus a home exercise booklet, and reported reduced back pain and better quality of life maintained at 6 months.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 60 women · 2014PostmenopausalCited 15 timesPubMed

  9. In 78 early postmenopausal women followed for two years, hormone therapy was linked to less decline in lumbar spine mobility, but the exercise program did not affect spine mobility or back symptoms.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 78 women · 104 weeks · 1998Early postmenopausalCited 14 timesPubMed

  10. Thirty-four middle-aged women with knee pain did 12 weeks of rehabilitative exercise scheduled in massed or distributed sessions, and both improved balance, functional performance and pain versus control.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 34 women · 12 weeks · 2023Midlife womenCited 3 timesPubMed

  11. An RCT of 51 middle-aged women with chronic low back pain found core stability and postural control training both reduced pain and disability, with postural training also improving proprioception.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 51 women · 2026Midlife womenPubMed

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