Electroacupuncture eases symptoms of knee osteoarthritis

A systematic review published in The American Journal of Chinese Medicine reported that electroacupuncture may be used in managing knee osteoarthritis. Evidence showed that it may help reduce knee osteoarthritis symptoms and improve the physical functioning of people with this condition.

• Many older adults suffer from knee osteoarthritis, a common chronic degenerative disease.
• In the systematic review, researchers at the Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine in China and Marche Polytechnic University in Italy gathered the evidence from 11 randomized controlled trials with a total of 695 participants to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of electroacupuncture on knee osteoarthritis.
• The researchers found that electroacupuncture was more effective in treating knee osteoarthritis when compared to conventional treatment and manual acupuncture.
• In addition, they found that electroacupuncture effectively reduced pain intensity and improved physical function based on osteoarthritis questionnaires.
• They also discovered that the benefits of electroacupuncture take effect after at least four weeks of treatment.

From these findings, the researchers concluded that electroacupuncture may relieve pain and improve the physical functioning of people with knee osteoarthritis without causing serious side effects.

To read more studies on natural treatments for osteoarthritis like electroacupuncture, visit ArthritisCures.news.

Journal Reference:

Chen N, Wang J, Mucelli A, Zhang X, Wang C. ELECTRO-ACUPUNCTURE IS BENEFICIAL FOR KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS: THE EVIDENCE FROM META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. The American Journal of Chinese Medicine. 2017;45(5):965-985. DOI: 10.1142/S0192415X17500513