May 11, 2023

Treat Arthritis with Acupuncture

Osteoarthritis is a chronic disease characterized by symptoms of stiffness, pain, and impaired movement in the joints. It can affect any joint in the body, but it most commonly affects the knees, hips, and hands.

Although extremely common, osteoarthritis can be hard to manage, and many patients do not find relief from conventional treatments like pain medication and surgery.

At our Brea clinic, we treat arthritis with acupuncture!

Even if you have been told surgery is your only option, 90% of our knee pain patients have been able to avoid surgeries and get back to doing the things they love – even with “bone on bone” arthritis!

Read on to learn more about osteoarthritis and why acupuncture is such an effective treatment for arthritis pain of the knee, hip, neck, and other joints.

WHAT IS OSTEOARTHRITIS?

Osteoarthritis refers to the degeneration of cartilage in the joints. Cartilage is a flexible kind of connective tissue that cushions the joints. It reduces friction from movement and acts as a shock absorber.

Over many years, cartilage can gradually wear away, this causes the bones to rub against each other, which can cause pain, swelling, inflammation, and stiffness of arthritis.

When the cartilage is completely or almost completely worn away, this is described as “bone on bone” arthritis.

Arthritis of the knee accounts for around 80% of all cases of osteoarthritis, and it can make everyday activities like walking or climbing stairs difficult.

WHAT CAUSES OSTEOARTHRITIS?

Osteoarthritis is primarily caused by wear and tear over time, which is why it is associated with aging.

Almost one in five Americans over the age of 45 have osteoarthritis, but arthritis is more than just a matter of getting older.

Studies show that many other factors, including obesity, lack of exercise, poor bone density and physical trauma all contribute to the development of osteoarthritis.

This is good news, because while nobody can do anything about getting older, there are steps you can take to address all these other issues.

TREATMENT FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS PAIN

The conventional treatments for osteoarthritis include addressing the factors that can contribute to the condition. This can include weight loss, strength training, and exercises to increase flexibility.

Pain management is handled by drugs, especially non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs, like ibuprofen.

Unfortunately, NSAIDs do not work for everyone, and prolonged use of NSAIDs can come with unwanted side effects.

For example, NSAIDs are known to cause bleeding, inflammation, and ulceration in the stomach and small intestine.

And a study of over 440,000 people found that using NSAIDs even for short periods of time was associated with a greater risk of heart attack, even in healthy people.

If osteoarthritis is severe and unresponsive to medication, surgery may be considered. And while surgery can help some people, there is increasing evidence that many kinds of surgery are not any more effective than less invasive treatments.

A famous controlled trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that arthroscopic knee surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee was not more effective than placebo surgery in controlling pain.

The results of this study were confirmed by another trial, which found no additional benefit from surgery compared to medication and physical therapy.

And a later systematic review examined 271 patients and concluded that there was no evidence that surgery improved osteoarthritis pain.

Fortunately, there are natural treatment options for osteoarthritis that can bring lasting relief without drugs or surgery!

ACUPUNCTURE FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS PAIN

Acupuncture has been used for over two thousand years in East Asia as a way of activating and directing the body’s self-healing abilities.

In addition to having thousands of years of tradition backing it, acupuncture also now has decades of modern research demonstrating its effectiveness in treating dozens of conditions – including pain from osteoarthritis.

A 2013 network meta-analysis of 9,709 patients found that acupuncture had the best effect on knee arthritis pain compared to usual care, better than weight loss, muscle-strengthening exercise, standard care, and aerobic exercise.

A systematic review of 1,763 patients concluded that “the use of acupuncture is associated with significant reductions in pain intensity, improvement in functional mobility, and quality of life” in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

And a meta-analysis of over 20,000 patients found that acupuncture was effective for many kinds of chronic pain conditions, including osteoarthritis of the knee. Notably, this study found that the pain-relieving effects of acupuncture persisted for a year after completing a series of treatments.

This makes acupuncture one of the only treatments for osteoarthritis with strong evidence of long lasting, pain-relieving effects!

WHY ACUPUNCTURE WORKS SO WELL FOR PAIN

Acupuncture works by inserting extremely fine, sterile needles in certain nerve rich areas of the skin.

This has the effect of improving blood circulation, relaxing muscles, reducing inflammation, regulating pain signaling in the brain, and releasing pain killing neurotransmitters.

Research also demonstrates that acupuncture triggers the release of stem cell s that can promote tissue repair.

These mechanisms explain why acupuncture is so effective in reducing pain from osteoarthritis and may even help with reversing damage to joints and regenerating cartilage.