Acupuncture For Knee Pain

Knee Pain is very common and it can come in many forms from arthritis in the joint to a torn meniscus and acupuncture is growing as a recognized method of helping the knee heal.  In general acupuncture boosts the body's ability to heal itself as opposed to medications or cortisone shots that only mask pain and reduce inflammation, which is needed to heal.


Its also much less invasive then surgery, which is sometimes called for issues that have been around for years and have just gotten worse over time. Acupuncture is best for prevention and because of its ability to give the body a natural boost, it works really well for acute issues. The longer something has been around, the harder it is to treat, but acupuncture can also help manage chronic conditions.

For knee pain specifically it's good to use acupuncture with electrical stimulation, which is hooking up the needles to electrodes that stimulate the points for a certain amount of time. This constant stimulation is great for reducing pain and moving local stagnation in an affected meridian. These meridians lie all around the knee and connect to other points all over the body.

There are 6 meridians that can be affected when it comes to knee pain, depending on the issue just a couple or all the meridians may be treated to fully heal the knee. The meridian that is most affected will be treated the most to remove the pain/blockage from the meridian. The needles are typically placed in local points in and around the knee joint along with distal points in the foot that are associated with the issue.

For example if there is a tear in the medial meniscus in the knee joint, the most points used would be placed on the Spleen, Liver and Kidney meridians that pass through the medial side of the knee. Electrical Stimulation would then be placed on two or more needles along one of these meridians, most likely the Spleen meridian. Doing this helps stimulate the area for a faster recovery and reducing pain at the same time.

The electricity used is always low and left at a strong, but comfortable level of stimulation for the patient being treated. It feels like a constant muscle twitch that invigorates the area with better blood circulation.

So if you or any one you know has knee pain, acupuncture is a safe and effective way to boost the healing process. I hope you've enjoyed this article, come back to Acuthink for more articles on how acupuncture can help you.