Acupuncture Can Help Cure or Lessen Osteoarthritic and Chronic Knee Pain

Earlier studies showing acupuncture’s superior effectiveness in treating osteoarthritic knee pain over Western medicine have been validated by new research.

In a meta-anaylsis study of 14 random controlled, separate, clinical trials of 3,835 patients, it showed that acupuncture treatment resulted in the significant relief of knee osteoarthritis pain and a much better improvement in function than conventional care treatment, sham acupuncture, or waiting for further treatment. These results and more were posted on the website of the Healthcare Medicine Institute (HMI).

The study further revealed that acupuncture treatment of osteoarthritic knee pain in Bellingham resulted in the restoration of function and pain relief than Western conventional care and sham acupuncture.

Following this posting, HMI said that real interest in acupuncture in treating knee osteoarthritis has increased significantly. The above mentioned research, performed on 2006, also involved 13 separate meta-analysis studies, that observed the effects of randomized acupuncture treatment in adults suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee or chronic knee pain compared to other treatments: active intervention, usual care (no extra intervention), and placebo (sham) acupuncture.

The study concluded that acupuncture that passes the benchmark for sufficient treatment has a superior effect in treating patients suffering from chronic knee pain than usual care and placebo acupuncture.

Acupuncture has been used to help treat knee pain for thousands of years.

Several studies spanning more than a decade have demonstrated (besides being a very valuable mode of treatment for osteoarthritic knee pain), that acupuncture is a much better and much cheaper alternative to knee surgery.

Acupuncture in Medicine journal published a 2008 study showing this very old and definitely not archaic form of Chinese treatment was performed for a couple of years on 90 patients with ages that averaged 71 years old.

The patients were initially treated once a week for a month and beyond with acupuncture. The regularity of the treatments was reduced to one treatment every six weeks as reported in the Counsel & Heal website. Forty one patients were still receiving treatment a year later; then a couple of years later 31 still were.

Physicians observed even after the first month, that patients showed significant clinical improvements in the severity of their pain.

Acupuncture-trained nurses were tasked to observe two factors: Whether acupuncture was a valid alternative to costly knee replacement operations or whether acupuncture improved symptoms while decreasing the cost of care.

The nurses observed that knee surgery treatment is not a treatment for everyone although the cost of the surgery was worth the procedure since it relatively brings about successful results. This means that for others who can’t afford knee replacement surgery, acupuncture is a very good treatment option for osteoarthritic knee pain or chronic knee pain.

In terms of economy, acupuncture treatment for osteoarthritic knee pain or chronic knee pain can help save the United States tens of millions of dollars in medical costs alone each year.

How does acupuncture work?

For people who had not experienced acupuncture treatment, it may seem strange that a form of treatment has managed to survive for thousands of years. This is because acupuncture really works and is so much effective in treating several types of health conditions.

Here’s how acupuncture works.

Extremely thin small and sterile needles are stuck just below the surface of the skin specific parts of the body known as acupoints. These points are selected by acupuncturists depending on what kind of condition the patient is suffering from (GI problems, back pain, sore knees, allergies, etc.).

Underneath an acupoint lie energy pathways known as meridians. These are where vital energy or qi is believed to flow. Along these meridians, there are several specific spots that normalize levels of health in different areas of the body. The human body has around 12 major meridians and 8 minor ones.

If say, for example you are suffering from a stomach problem. This does not necessarily mean that needles will be stuck on your stomach. Some of the meridians commonly needled by acupuncturists include:

Lung meridian – Found on the inside of the arm above the wrist

The Large Intestine – This meridian is found between the thumb and index finger on the back of the hand

Stomach: Found on the front of the leg below the knee.