The most prevalent type of arthritis, osteoarthritis, is a degenerative condition that gets worse over time and causes pain and limited movement due to the slow loss of joint cartilage. It is the main cause of disability in adults who are not institutionalized and has a significant negative influence on mobility and physical function. Radiological changes and the clinical presentation of joint pain, including crepitus, tenderness, limited movement, joint effusion, and varying degrees of localized inflammation, are used to make the diagnosis. Over the next few decades, an aging population is predicted to generate a steady increase in the prevalence, disability, and associated expenses of treating osteoarthritis. In Australia, the percentage of men and women 60 years of age or older with symptomatic osteoarthritis is estimated to be 10% and 18%, respectively.
The most common cause of disability in Australia, musculoskeletal pain has a significant impact on the economy and society. It can be attributed to conditions like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and chronic low back pain.
These chronic pain conditions have no effective medical treatment available, despite the significant burden they pose to public health. With most treatments consisting of pharmaceutical analgesics with known toxicities, the care currently provided to patients with chronic pain is insufficient.
The theory behind acupuncture is that it works by stimulating the body's meridians, or energy-carrying channels, to address these imbalances and promote healing. Numerous ailments, such as fibromyalgia, persistent low back pain, and chronic pain from osteoarthritis, have all been linked to positive outcomes with acupuncture treatment. As a relatively safe and cost-effective non-pharmacological treatment for musculoskeletal pain, acupuncture is also popular due to its analgesic effects. It has been demonstrated, for example, that acupuncture can effectively lessen pain in individuals with subacute and chronic low back pain, particularly in the early stages of recovery. Furthermore, acupuncture has been shown in most recent RCTs and meta-analyses to be a successful treatment for fibromyalgia patients' pain and sleep quality. Moreover, acupuncture has been shown in recent RCTs to be a successful treatment method for reducing neck pain and impairment for a minimum of 12 weeks.
Reference:
Manyanga, T, M Froese, R Zarychanski, A Abou-Setta, C Friesen, M Tennenhouse, and BL Shay. "Pain Management with Acupuncture in Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." BMC complementary and alternative medicine 14 (2014): 312.
Patel, M, I Urits, AD Kaye, and O Viswanath. "The Role of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Chronic Pain." Best practice & research. Clinical anaesthesiology 34, no. 3 (2020): 603-16.
Patil, S, S Sen, M Bral, S Reddy, KK Bradley, EM Cornett, CJ Fox, and AD Kaye. "The Role of Acupuncture in Pain Management." Current pain and headache reports 20, no. 4 (2016): 22.
Zhang, Y, and C Wang. "Acupuncture and Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain." Current rheumatology reports 22, no. 11 (2020): 80.
