![\"Abby](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792764974_292_d0a5fa1965f5c31183ccef71eda9fdbc3906a1ca.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
October 23, 2026 \u2014 3:34pm<\/p>\n
Save<\/p>\n
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n
Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long for Elettra Piccoli to reap the benefits of movement.<\/p>\n The 78-year-old Concord, NSW, resident had been curious about exercising when her Commonwealth Home Support worker suggested she start going to Dance Health Alliance<\/a>, a dance program designed for seniors.<\/p>\n For Piccoli, it was an easy choice given her love of dancing and music but almost immediately, she noticed a difference in her body: the back aches and leg pain that had been bothering her eased and her balance improved.<\/p>\n \u201cThe body was moving, every part of the body was moving, and I thought that was really great,\u201d Piccoli says.<\/p>\n Pain comes in many different forms. One in five<\/a> Australians adults and children live with chronic pain, which is categorised as pain that lasts more than three months. And it\u2019s a leading cause of disability and lost productivity.<\/p>\n Related Article Whether it\u2019s the body aches that accompany ageing, monthly period cramps or a nasty migraine, exercising might sound like torture, but it will likely help.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the message of new research from Adelaide University that found exercise can significantly reduce acute and chronic pain<\/a> across a wide range of conditions.<\/p>\n The research is the most complete review conducted into how exercise relieves pain. Lead researcher Dr Ben Singh says on a zero to 10 pain scale, exercise can reduce pain by about 1.1 points.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s around 60 per cent greater than the average pain relief reported for common pain medications in separate studies, although we didn\u2019t directly compare exercise with medication,\u201d Singh says.<\/p>\n Almost every type of exercise was beneficial, and Singh emphasises that one exercise isn\u2019t better than another, but Pilates and tai chi showed particularly strong results. So did dance-based exercise, but the evidence was limited.<\/p>\n Low-intensity but consistent<\/p>\n Piccoli\u2019s experience echoes the new study\u2019s findings that emphasise workouts needn\u2019t be strenuous to be effective pain relief. A lower-intensity exercise and a program lasting under 12 weeks correlates with greater pain reduction.<\/p>\n \u201cFor someone living with persistent pain, even the thought of exercise can feel overwhelming. But our findings suggest that gentle, manageable movement can make a real difference,\u201d Singh says.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to managing pain, moving more doesn\u2019t always mean feeling better.\u201d<\/p>\n Singh believes that health practitioners should be prescribing specific exercises for patients managing pain.<\/p>\n \u201cRather than simply telling patients to \u2018stay active\u2019, doctors could provide more specific exercise recommendations tailored to their condition, abilities and preferences,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Nicolette Ellis, chair of Chronic Pain Australia and a pharmacist specialising in chronic pain, agrees that effective pain care must be a tailored approach.<\/p>\n \u201cPractical support to help people introduce and sustain it remains underused. Being told to \u2018stay active\u2019 is very different from being shown how to move when movement hurts,\u201d Ellis says.<\/p>\n The new research is congruent with what Chronic Pain Australia<\/a> hears from its community: lower-intensity programs appear to be more beneficial.<\/p>\n Getting into a consistent routine, however, can still come with challenges.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Boom and bust\u2019 means doing more on a good day, triggering a flare-up and then needing extended recovery,\u201d Ellis explains.<\/p>\n \u201cAvoidance can develop when exercise or even simple chores repeatedly increase pain, making people understandably apprehensive about going back.<\/p>\n \u201cWe commonly hear from people who have been deterred from exercise because basic pain management principles were not applied, and they were left in more pain, with less confidence to try again.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article With pain relief movement, simply \u201cpushing through\u201d can undermine rehabilitation.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople need to be taught how to move with pain, pace activity and build capacity without repeatedly overwhelming themselves,\u201d Ellis says.<\/p>\n \u201cSpeak up if the plan is leaving you in more pain or reducing your ability to function. Your experience should inform adjustments to your care.\u201d<\/p>\n Since starting dance classes 18 months ago, Piccoli hasn\u2019t looked back, rarely missing a session because of how it makes her body feel.<\/p>\n \u201cDoing it is fun. I enjoy the music. I enjoy the company,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Piccoli\u2019s even convinced her friends to join in and occasionally, her husband of almost 70 years, Angelo, goes along too. <\/p>\n Even if she doesn\u2019t consider herself the best dancer in the class, she intends to continue attending because of how much it has improved her quality of life: \u201cI\u2019m not a great dancer, but I love dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox<\/a> every Monday.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close![\"Elettra](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1a4b32efd3c6700bf767395ce6f0b0e9335df710.jpeg\")
Elettra Piccoli, 78, participating in her dance program in Burwood, NSW.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/7a02ec228a302bc1732d0dc5d051588268eb9c0f.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Piccoli\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/b629bc240f3bc4a466a66346a5eaa77e64f1210a.jpeg\")
Piccoli\u2019s dance class is just one of many Dance Health Alliance programs available in NSW and South Australia.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n![\"generic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f0d8ff23656aaec3cba80ba85279031c234f06cc.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Abby](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792764978_3_d0a5fa1965f5c31183ccef71eda9fdbc3906a1ca.png\")
Abby Seaman<\/a> is a digital producer and lifestyle writer at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 23, 2026 \u2014 3:34pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[64,63,538,137],"class_list":["post-938154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}