Pam Harders has already had a half-knee replacement on her right knee, and now her left knee, which is caving in, impacts her ability to do simple things like walk.
She said it's painful at night-time, waking her up.
Pam has osteoarthritis, a common condition that causes joint pain and reduces movement.
It can affect any joint in the body, but it mostly occurs in the knees, hips and fingers.
To help manage her pain, Ms Harders is now participating in a program, developed in Denmark, which is aimed for people who suffer from osteoarthritis in the knee or hip.
The Good Life with osteoArthritis: Denmark (GLAD) program runs for six weeks and provides education and exercise classes for participants.
It was first introduced in Canberra in June last year, with over 100 participants involved until August this year.
Physiotherapist Erin Dean said the program had an educational component to help keep participants informed.
"The education classes cover different aspects of the factors that contribute to osteoarthritis, the signs, the symptoms, and also the management and different treatment options," she said.
The exercise portion of the program is designed to strengthen muscles and joints, as well as test exercise tolerance.
Assistant physiotherapist Karen Taylor explained the circuit of exercises include bed exercises with balls.
"It's lifting your pelvis off the bed, crunches and sit-ups, and warm ups on the bikes or the treadmills," she said.
Physiotherapists are present during the one-hour exercise sessions to help guide participants' technique, exercises, and repetitions.
Participants able to enjoy exercise again
Ms Dean said prior to this program her healthcare centre didn't provide any specific programs designed for knee and hip osteoarthritis sufferers, and instead patients needed to attend one-on-one sessions with physiotherapists.
"[The Australian GLAD program] found three in four people report reduced pain, improved quality of life, and the reduced desire to have surgery," she said.
The program also reported there were a number of patients who were taken off the surgical wait list, as well as a 28 per cent improvement in a sit-to-stand test.
Ms Dean hopes the program will not only see continued improvements for participants, but also for healthcare providers.
"The lengthy waits that we have in surgery for this type of condition, hopefully will be reduced by [the program]," she said.
"People are just reporting that they can do more, they can spend more time with family, and just enjoy exercise again."
Ms Taylor said most of the participants in her current group are seeing improvements, and also enjoy the program for the social element.
"They really enjoy coming in, getting together with the other participants and forming friendships," she said.
'Feeling a lot more confident in walking'
Linda Ayres experiences severe knee pain and is unable to get up and down quickly.
"Walking is a hindrance, you have to stop because of the pain. It also affects my hips," she said.
After six sessions so far, Ms Ayres said she is already seeing results.
"[I'm] feeling a lot more confident in walking, which was what my main aim was, and being able to get up and down off chairs easier," she said.
"Once you get into it, and you get your muscles used to doing it, then the benefit is to keep doing it."
Ms Harders is also feeling the benefits, as she has been able to progress to more difficult levels in the classes.
"After the first time, I was really sore the next day, so I guess it showed that I'd done a good job at doing the exercises and those weren't muscles I was used to using," she said.
"The ultimate aim would be to avoid surgery, so if I could do that, that would be a really brilliant outcome."
