A new study by the British Medical Journal has found that exercise therapy is the best remedy for knee pain.

The report found that for patients suffering from patellofemoral pain syndrome, supervised exercise therapy is more effective at reducing pain and improving function than the usual resting approach.

Patellofemoral pain syndrome is a condition in which pain occurs at the front of the knee during or after exercise. Women are more likely to be affected than men, and symptoms usually start during adolescence, when participation in sporting activities is high.

Researchers in the Netherlands investigated the effectiveness of supervised exercise therapy compared with usual care in 131 patients – aged between 14 and 40 – suffering from the condition.

The patients were split into two groups, with 65 adhering to supervised exercise programmes (the intervention group), while 66 rested (the control group). After three months, the intervention group reported significantly less pain and better function than the control group.

At 12 months, the intervention group continued to show better outcomes than the control group with regard to pain at rest and pain on activity, though not function.

Also, 42 per cent of the intervention group reported recovery at three months and 62 per cent reported recovery after 12 months, versus 35 per cent and 51 per cent respectively of the control group, though the researchers deemed the results as “not significantly different”.