Arthritis & Joint Pain
Arthritis Relief with Acupuncture
Looking for natural arthritis relief? Acupuncture can help. Arthritis is inflammation of one or more joints of the body. Your joint pain may be mild to severe, accompanied by swelling and stiffness – at times even affecting the shape of your joints. Arthritis commonly occurs in the hips, knees, neck, shoulder, hands, and feet, but can affect fingers and toes.
Millions of people have arthritis pain that affects their ability to perform activities common to daily life. Everyday activities we usually take for granted like bending down to get something out of the cabinet, getting in and out of the car, even getting out of bed in the morning can be excruciating for people with arthritis.
Osteo and Rheumatoid Arthritis
The two most common forms of arthritis are osteo arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Osteo arthritis is the ‘wear and tear’ type many people get as they age. It usually affects the weight bearing joints of the body such as hips, knees, and spine.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory condition affecting the tissue that covers the joints but progresses to eventually affect the organs. There are many other types of arthritis but all result in painful joints. The severity of this type of joint pain seems to increase over time and many try numerous remedies without relief.
Fortunately, acupuncture can help! I treat arthritis pain regularly at Inner Light Wellness Acupuncture. Most of my patients see results within 5 treatments or less, often with pain reduction in the first visit, right on the table!
Arthritis Research Studies
Osteoarthritis of the Knee – 40% Reduction in Pain Using Acupuncture
In a dramatic research study involving 570 patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee patients reported relief from moderate to severe pain despite treatment with pain medicine. Researchers randomly assigned patients to get acupuncture, sham acupuncture, or education in addition to their pain pills. Those who got the acupuncture indicated a 40 percent reduction in pain and a nearly 40 percent improvement in function by the 14th week, which lasted through week 26.
Arthritis Relief with Acupuncture – National Arthritis Foundation Endorses Acupuncture
“For patients who have chronic pain and aren’t getting comprehensive relief, acupuncture should be a consideration.” Dr. John Kippel, medical director of the National Arthritis Foundation. Dr Kippel goes on to say, “patients receiving acupuncture had less back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, and chronic headache, respectively.”
Researchers reported findings of a meta-analysis in the Archives of Internal Medicine, JAMA in October of 2012. The meta-analysis covered data from randomized controlled studies involving nearly 18,000 patients. In the largest acupuncture study financed by the NIH it was found that “acupuncture outperformed sham treatments and standard care when used by people suffering from osteoarthritis, migraines and chronic back, neck and shoulder pain”
