Tai chi, a gentle form of exercise, is known to be helpful for knee osteoarthritis. However, not everyone has access to in-person instruction. Therefore, investigators at the University of Melbourne in Australia ran an experiment to see if an online unsupervised tai chi course could be effective for patients with knee osteoarthritis.

    They created a website with general information on osteoarthritis and exercise, and provided that to both groups of participants. The active intervention group also received access to an online 12-week course in tai chi, with instructional videos and a phone app to remind them to follow through. Participants in the online unsupervised course had less knee pain and better function after 12 weeks.

    The course is freely available, no registration required. In-person instruction would be best, but classes may be difficult to find, unaffordable, or inconvenient.