Acupuncture and Arthritis

Acupuncture for Arthritis

Acupuncture for arthritis is an effective natural treatment for arthritis.  Learn how acupuncture for rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of joint pain can help relieve arthritis pain.

In tracing its roots, it’s now documented that acupuncture dates back to the Stone Age and Neolithic man. By pressing certain points in the body or hitting certain parts of the body with sticks, Neolithic man was able to control pain and sometimes make it disappear. The Chinese turned this ancient, basic method of pain control into the fine art of acupuncture.

In tradition Chinese medicine (TCM), acupuncture and qi (life energy) are interlinked. It is important for qi to flow freely through the body for it to be healthy. Acupuncture treatments, which is all about stimulation, maybe performed in different ways to treat arthritis including pressure application through fingers, stones or other methods; insertion of thin needles into specific points on the body; application of electricity; gentle tapping at specific points or cupping (putting small, heated jars over the points to bring the blood and energy to the skin’s surface).

People who suffer from arthritis feel like their joints are on fire. The affected areas become tender, swell and cause enormous discomfort to the sufferer. Patients generally use a combination of arthritis and medication to alleviate the excruciating pain that arthritis brings.

The people who suffer from arthritis are generally those in the senior age group, but arthritis can affect anyone at any age. The general consensus among older people is that acupuncture does provide relief from the pain. The majority of elderly people seek acupuncture treatment for arthritis of the knees and osteoporosis.

In the U.S., it is estimated that millions of people seek acupuncture treatment for arthritis. The NCCAM or National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), conducted a study to show that acupuncture may just be the alternative solution to providing relief from arthritic pain or more specifically knee osteoarthritis. The results of the study were published in the “Annals of Internal Medicine”.

Patients who participated in the study showed significant increase in mobility and decrease in pain. Acupuncture for osteoarthritis focuses on controlling the symptoms of the disease rather than eliminating it.  Treatment needs to be administered consistently to show positive results.

Fox News published an article on a German study on acupuncture for hip and joint pain caused by osteoarthritis, one of the most common types of arthritis. The study showed positive results for acupuncture treatment for arthritis. Researchers suggested that people suffering from hip or joint pains from arthritis should consider acupuncture as a treatment option to relieve chronic pain.

The research team led by Claudia Witt, MD, Institute for Social Medicine at Berlin’s Charite University Medical Center, noted “marked clinical improvement” in patients suffering from hip and knee osteoarthritis following acupuncture treatment over a period of three months. Patients demonstrated improvement in the improved quality of life and lower pain levels.

While there is no known cure for arthritis, medication and treatments such as acupuncture, tens unit therapy and heat therapy can help alleviate the pain. Arthritis as a disease has confounded doctors for years and has not been easy to treat. Medication is often unpalatable, and more people are realizing the benefits of acupuncture in helping to bring relief to arthritis sufferers.

Acupuncture has proven over time to be a useful method of finding relief from arthritis pain.

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