Millions of people suffer from swollen fingers… crippling backaches… and clattering knees caused by arthritis. Some of you resort to prescription and over-the-counter painkillers for relief.

But a new study from the University of Missouri found that adults in exercise programs that taught proper exercise habits significantly increased their physical activity. When compared to patients who did not receive exercise interventions—they also experienced greater pain reduction and physical improvement!

According to a university statement, researchers analyzed data from 4,111 participants in 28 studies. They focused on people with osteoarthritis, knee arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, and studies that measured physical activity after the completion of the intervention.

Many studies examine the effectiveness of exercise classes used to encourage people with arthritis to start exercising. But those studies fail to examine what the classes are teaching—and whether people continue to exercise after the class ends.

In this new study, researchers found that patients who were taught exercise habits not only reported less pain and improved mobility—they also maintained an increased level of physical activity.

“We found various tactics for educating patients that are effective, including one-on-one discussions with care providers or group interventions, providing self-monitoring advice, providing feedback to subjects regarding their performance, goal-setting and problem-solving,” said lead study author Vicki Conn, professor and associate dean of research in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing.

The study was published in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. It was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.