Prevent

The best exercises for spinal stenosis are done leaning slightly forward, which opens up space for the nerves. Forward-bending stretches, cycling, walking in short bouts with rests and hip strengthening help most people stand and walk for longer.

For a worn or stable meniscus tear, 12 weeks of thigh and hip strengthening plus balance work does about as well as keyhole surgery for most people. Here’s the phased program, what to avoid early (deep twisting squats), and how to get back to sport.

For rotator cuff tendinitis and most gradual tears, strengthening that gets harder over at least 12 weeks is the treatment that works: isometric holds first, then bands, then light weights. Here’s the program, the pain rules and how to progress.

Ankle sprain exercises start within days: gentle movement first, then strength, then balance, then hopping and turning. Keep the balance work going for weeks after the pain stops, because that is what lowers the chance of rolling the ankle again.

Regular balance exercise cuts falls in older adults by about a quarter, and programs that mix balance and strength do even better. The programs that work challenge your balance, add up to around three hours a week and keep going for months.

Most groin strains heal without surgery: about 1 to 3 weeks for a mild strain, 4 to 8 weeks for a moderate one and 2 to 3 months or more for a complete tear. Gradual inner-thigh strengthening, including the Copenhagen exercise, is the fastest way back and the best way to stop it recurring.

Facet joint pain is a deep ache beside the spine, worse leaning back or twisting and stiff in the morning. Exercise comes first, and needle treatments are only for pain that won’t settle once a numbing test has confirmed the source.

A hip flexor strain causes pain at the front of the hip and usually heals in about 1 to 3 weeks if mild or 4 to 8 weeks if moderate. Front-of-hip pain with no clear injury, or pain that keeps building, may be a labral tear or stress fracture instead.

Snapping hip is a click or clunk as the hip moves, and in most people it’s harmless and needs no treatment. If it hurts, exercises usually settle it; a painful catch or locking deep in the groin needs checking for a labral tear.

Avascular necrosis means part of the ball of your hip has lost its blood supply and can slowly collapse. Caught early, surgery such as core decompression can often save your own hip; after collapse, hip replacement is usually the answer and does well.