We have talked about acupuncture before. However, it has been some time ago and I wanted to bring this up and add some interesting points.

Arthritis Pain

It is no secret that I favor the use of a high-quality liquid Glucosamine to deal with the pain of arthritis. And, I make that recommendation for both humans and pets. Given the recent news stories regarding the use of NSAID's, it is certainly a safer and in most cases, equally effective way to handle your pain.

New studies using Acupuncture

I recently read some information about clinical studies that used acupuncture on arthritis patients. For those of you not that familiar with acupuncture, it is the ancient Chinese technique of inserting (very) thin needles in strategic locations in your body. It is a practice that has been used for about 2,000 years so we cannot discard it.

Clinical studies

In December of 2004, a study that as funded by the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine regarding the use of acupuncture.

What the researchers said was that of some 570 study participants in the study had less pain than those who received what they called "sham acupuncture." A similar study reported in the British Medical Journal reported similar results. (That study used a combination of acupuncture and an NSAID)

For those not familiar with the term "sham acupuncture" (I was not) it means that study participants received what they "thought" was acupuncture but it was not. The patients were simply unable to determine that needles were being inserted.

If you need more this might be the answer

I continue to recommend the use of a high-quality liquid Glucosamine for dealing with arthritis pain. Generally, you are going to get the desired result without the need to do more.

And, I am the first to recognize that acupuncture is not necessarily an option for everyone and in fact, it is not available in many areas. However, if you suffer from osteoarthritis, you should be aware that there are options available to you.

I think that it would be a rare case where someone would have to take this extra step. However, these clinical studies confirm that it has helped with arthritis problems and for that reason alone, you need to be aware of it.