Acupuncture for Osteoarthritis of the Knee

Acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee. A blind, randomised, controlled trial has studied the effects of real compared to sham acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee. Sixty-eight patients with symptoms supported by X-ray evidence of osteoarthritis, were randomly allocated to receive either acupuncture, or non-penetrating sham acupuncture (in which the patients were lead to believe they had received real acupuncture).

The acupuncture group experienced a significantly greater improvement in the knee, including a significant improvement in pain, which was not seen in the sham group.

(A blinded randomised trial of acupuncture (manual and electroacupuncture) compared with a non-penetrating sham for the symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee. Acupuncture in Medicine, June 2008.)

Author: Robin Costello

I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training. I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.