Acupuncturist Questions Acupuncture

Does acupuncture help inflammatory arthritis?

I am a 45 year old female. I was diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis. Does acupuncture help inflammatory arthritis?

32 Answers

In my experience, the medications western medicine uses to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis are extremely toxic. It would take long term treatment and a desire to get off toxic medications to work... but that's just my experience. With patients unwilling/uninterested in getting off toxic medications, I have had little success... yet i will say, none of the patients i treated really did more than 3 treatments before giving up. But that's all the experience I can pull from.
Yes, from the body you can find the Acupoint to substitute the medicine.
Yes, acupuncture helps inflammatory arthritis. If your acupuncturist also use herbs and moxa, it will help even more.

Hope this helps

Jonathan Fang
Yes.... acupuncture is very effective in addressing not just inflammatory arthritis but also rheumatoid arthritis... and just arthritis in general.
The short answer is yes, but without specifics, it is hard to comment on your specific question. There can be short and long term relief from the pain associated with inflammatory conditions including limes disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and others.
Happy New Year

Dr. Dave
It does help to reduce pain.
Yes it sure does.
Yes, Acupuncture will be very helpful.
In a word, yes! Google informs us that Inflammatory arthritis is a group of diseases characterized by inflammation of the joints and often other tissues. These include rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) among others. Here's a link to further explain this condition from a Western medical perspective. Note there's no mention of poor nutrition possibly attributing to this condition:

https://www.arthritis-health.com/types/general/inflammatory-arthritis

Traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture therapy, views diet and exercise as 2 of several pillars contributing to our overall health. A licensed acupuncturist will gather information to discern where you may be inhibiting your body's ability to heal itself. An agreement is made to proceed with therapy and recommendations are made for you to understand and implement over time. So, yes! Acupuncture helps with this condition. The sooner you begin addressing basic needs of your body, the shorter time it will take to resolve. Keep in mind the adage "Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine..." ~ Hippocrates.
Acupuncture is great for calming down inflammation and alleviating arthritis. However, acupuncture cannot reverse the damage from arthritis. Otherwise, it is great at improving one's quality of life along with herbal remedies.

Live Happy,

Michael
Thank you for your question,

There are several types of inflammatory arthritis. In Westernized medical research, a meta-analysis looking at all available good quality clinical trials researching acupuncture for rheumatoid arthritis shows that it can help with pain relief, physical function, and quality of life. The types of treatments did vary in these studies, such as needle placement. (This is actually the norm, because when we place needles it depends on each person’s specific needs - though there are some common needle placements given a condition such as rheumatoid arthritis.)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30569405/?i=58&from=acupuncture%20inflammatory%20arthritis

The effects of acupuncture on the mechanism of inflammatory arthritis have not been directly studied in humans. It has been in animal studies showing promise to directly decrease inflammation. The paradigm of Traditional Chinese Medicine of which acupuncture is based on, proposes that any inflammatory condition can be treated with acupuncture. As stated above, treatment protocol would depend on what your specific needs are.

Be Well,

Dr. Buckalew
Very easily, yes.

Dr Angel
Yes, acupuncture can help arthritis. If you have pain caused by arthritis, acupuncture can reduce the pain. It depends on the pain, but if you have severe pain, the cupping will be helpful, too. There are a couple types of cupping, I think the fire cupping and wet cupping (takes out dead blood from the pain area) will be help you, too.
Hi. Acupuncture can help with IA if no underlining conditions are present (eg. Autoimmune or such)
Acupuncture has been shown to reduce inflammation and have an effect in reducing pain as well. Here's a paper that looks into many sources siting these findings:

Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1781596/

Good luck and I hope you find something that helps you.
Hello. Yes, acupuncture can help with inflammatory arthritis. Acupuncture basically helps with promoting circulation of blood to help decrease the inflammation and can also help with alleviating pain that patients with arthritis can be experiencing.
Yes, it does, absolutely amazing results, reduces inflammation, relieves pain, improves blood circulation. Strongly recommend it.
Yes, acupuncture is very effective for inflammatory arthritis and you should get a evaluation to talk more about your specific case.
Hello,

Yes, acupuncture does help with inflammatory arthritis. Please refer to the article attached for reference. I have had many patients with reduced pain levels after 1x a week of acupuncture for 2 months.

https://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/treatments/natural/other-therapies/mind-body-pain-relief/ra-acupuncture.php

Stacy Lauren-Kon
Absolutely. Acupuncture helps inflammation in general, including arthritis. The two mechanisms of how it works for arthritis are as follows:

1. All of our body's tissues (including bone and joints - in the case of arthritis) need constant blood flow to maintain and function properly. Acupuncture performed around a joint stimulates nerves and blood vessels in the local area to dilate (open up like the aperture of a camera's lens) and rush in fresh blood, and in an abundant amount.
2. Blood carries with it many of our body's hormones, neurotransmitters, and immune cells - all of which fight inflammation in a natural way. Acupuncture has been seen to increase many of the above mentioned substances with particular focus on Substance P, PGE, Basophils, Eosinophils, and Cytokines - creating a chemical mixture that reduces inflammation immediately.

Gregory McCue, L.Ac.
Yes! Acupuncture does help with inflammation and arthritis. Acupuncture promotes the white blood cells to engulf arthritis, just like when you cut your hand.

Yours in health,

Angie
It can help. However, inflammation can be caused by certain foods.
Yes.
Yes.
We have great success in treating arthritis.

Be well, be confident, we can help.
Yes. Acupuncture is very effective in treating all forms of arthritis. It helps to alleviate both the pain and the inflammation and prevent it from flaring up in the future.
Hello! Yes, acupuncture does help with inflammatory issues such as arthritis.
Yes, acupuncture is an excellent choice for treatment of both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Yes, acupuncture triggers our body's anti-inflammatory system to treat any inflammation.
I have treated a variety of arthritic disorders with acupuncture and herbs. Pretty much any Licensed Acupuncturist will be able to help you the same way. Find a licensed acupuncturist in your area that you feel comfortable with and remember that you can always go find another if you don't like your first choice, but any well trained acupuncturist should be able to help you. Do not go to a DC or a PT or someone who "does acupuncture too" go to a well trained L.Ac.

Good luck
Yes, it dose help inflammatory arthritis. Inflammation will be absorbed by needle treatment.
Yes, acupuncture can typically help relieve the pain and inflammation associated with the various kinds of arthritis. This is a situation where it's also sometimes very useful to investigate diet and lifestyle as well - something in your environment is causing the inflammation and, in the long run, you'll do much better if you know what it is so you can control your exposure.

Please make sure you're seeing a provider who is licensed as an acupuncturist in your state. Outside of CA, you can use the "Find a Practitioner" lookup at NCCAOM.org.