If you suffer from joint pain or osteoarthritis, exercise should be your “first line of treatment” according to this physiotherapist

Woman exercising at home in front of an ipad, she's mid squat and touching the floor. there's a blue sofa behind her and some exercise equipment to the side .

Aching hips, sore knees and joint pain are often assumed to be something we just have to live with as we get older. More than 32 million adults in the US suffer from the joint disease osteoarthritis, according to the CDC, but according to physiotherapist Clodagh Toomey the best medicine isn’t drugs or surgery—it’s exercise.

Toomey, an associate professor at the School of Allied Health at the University of Limerick in Ireland, told Fit&Well: “International guidelines all recommend that exercise is the first line of treatment for osteoarthritis due to the safety, low cost and effectiveness of exercise interventions to reduce pain and improve everyday function.