Glucosamine, placebo or exercises?

stickywicket

Which works best? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37429050

Oddly enough, both glucosamine and the placebo worked quite well but....

“if you actually want the best chance of making a difference, then Phil's exercises (That's Prof Philip Conaghan of Leeds Rheumatology Dept.) are the way to go. Nothing beats them in studies - and they're free'.

As Phil explains: "A lot of the pain is coming from the tendons and structures around the joint. If you have trouble getting out of a chair, or trouble undoing a jar, you're at risk of joint pain because your muscles are weak. The exercises strengthen those muscles and take the strain off your joints.”

I guess most of us all well aware of this but it's always useful when another bit of research confirms it.

TheLordFlasheart

Saw this on BBC "Trust me i'm a Doctor" last week, and I am very aware of the importance of exercise, and as mentioned are free.

The program went on the mention, that levels of glucosmaine vary from product to product, so could be just wasting your money.

On a side note, Prof Phil was one of the speakers at the Arthritis Care event in Manchester I attended, and he spoke highly of exercise for arthritis.

Rach101

Interesting article but I couldn't find a link to the exercises? I've been doing range of movement exercises every morning and they're good for reducing morning pain and stiffness. I wonder if his exercises are the same as those?

Rach101

I found this exercise which I'm going to try but couldn't see anything for feet/ankles or wrists.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/scotland/tv/trustme/hand.pdf