Osteoarthritis Acupuncture Case Study
- Posted on: Feb 22 2018
A woman in her early 60’s came in to try Acupuncture for her Osteoarthritis pain. Though she had joint pain in most of her major joints, but we focused solely on treating her left knee because that was giving her the most trouble.
Before Acupuncture she was having so much pain and difficulty with her right knee that she had to walk down the steps backwards so as not to disrupt the joint in the wrong way. Getting into and out of the car became problematic and her sleep was disturbed. Imaging showed her knees were “bone on bone” with a severity of ten out of ten according to her Orthopedist. The patient’s goal was to get relief to hold her over 4-5 months until she could have surgery.
The patient tried many other modalities to no avail. She was unable to take pain medication due to complications with side effects involving her digestive system. The patient came for Acupuncture three times per week as recommended. After the first couple of sessions, she began to notice substantial improvement. Her knee pain diminished and she started going down stairs going forward again. Not only was it easier to get around but she noticed her other joints also improved, as did her sleep. Her stress levels were also reduced.
In addition to decreasing inflammation, reducing pain from the nerves, improving circulation, and helping tissues heal, Acupuncture can help regulate the nervous system, which controls every functional system of the body. It is worth noting that she leads a healthy lifestyle, exercises on an elliptical or swims multiple times a week and eats a clean diet. Lifestyle doesn’t need to be perfect but it can support progress in healing.
Needless to say the patient was very pleased with her results. She wrote the following testimonial in response to her experience:
“I started acupuncture therapy with Joshua Solomon to alleviate chronic knee stiffness & pain from osteoarthritis as I anticipate knee replacement in the near future. Arthritis gives me issues in other parts of my body as well. I am not able to take anti-inflammatory meds, & I have tried a host of other “natural” options to no avail. I noticed initial relief after the very first acupuncture session, and after a few more sessions, I’m now able to go forward down stairs without pain. I’m also able to get out of the car with less stiffness/soreness, and there is less stiffness throughout my body when I first get up in the mornings when it was most noticeable. In fact, the diminished stiffness & soreness carries through the rest of the next few days until my next acupuncture session. It’s what I hoped I’d be able to experience when other things were not working. I think it’s helping in a variety of other ways, too. I’m sleeping better. I am relaxed. I feel good overall. Josh is caring, gentle, adept, and professional. I am VERY pleased!!”
Posted in: Acupuncture
