New study shows that acupuncture and moxibustion are helpful for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. A combination of acupuncture and moxibustion was found to be more effective than an injection-supplement combination. The researchers concluded that acupuncture was both safe and effective.
The acupuncture points were chosen based on pain location and syndrome. Both local and distal acupuncture were applied on the affected meridians. Acupuncture was used on UB23 (BL23, Shenshu) and Ah Shi points with manipulation. Reinforcing and reducing methods were used according to diagnostics. Moxibustion with a moxa stick was used on local painful sites following acupuncture. Acupuncture was applied once per day for 5 days, which is 1 session. A two day break between a total of 2 sessions was given.
Another group did not get acupuncture but received a treatment of oral supplements and injections. When comparing the two groups, acupuncture was found significantly more effective in the long-term relief of knee pain due to osteoarthritis over the supplement/injection group. The second group received oral administration of glucosamine sulfate combined with knee joint cavity injections. The injections included sodium hyaluronate and triamcinolone acetonide acetate.
The results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion for the treatment of knee pain and are consistent with a recent meta-analysis of 14 randomly controlled trials involving a total of 3,835 patients. The meta-analysis had the following conclusion, “Acupuncture provided significantly better relief from knee osteoarthritis pain and a larger improvement in function than sham acupuncture, standard care treatment, or waiting for further treatment.” The study concluded that acupuncture for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis is “better at relieving pain and restoring function” than both conventional biomedical care and sham acupuncture.”
– See more at: https://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1233-osteoarthritiskneeub23#sthash.ZFKk8nfo.dpuf
