My favorite thing to do after trying something new is to share it with our readers here on Chemistry Cachet! For over a month now, I have been doing acupuncture for arthritic issues. I have been asked does acupuncture work for joint pain? Arthritis? Rheumatoid Arthritis?

If you look up acupuncture for rheumatoid arthritis, you will find inconclusive textbook data. Experts say there isn’t enough information to show it can help RA.

There are more studies showing it does have benefits for regular joint pain.

Today, I would like to share with you my honest experience using it!

First, we will discuss why it can help pain and inflammation.

Does Acupuncture Work For Joint Pain?

As I mentioned, I love getting to test new things for our readers. Especially things that you can only read about from “experts” or textbooks. While there might be proof of things working, most of these experts don’t have the symptoms, so their data is purely hypothetical.

When I was pregnant, I always thought rheumatoid arthritis went into remission. It is what all the experts said! However, I shared my true experience here. It turns out, this isn’t always the case.

It is important to learn the science behind things, but even more important to test them! So, I really enjoy doing that for you!

Let’s talk a little about acupuncture.

Why Do People Do Acupuncture?

Acupuncture has been around since BEFORE Christ! It is a Chinese based medicinal practice that has a long, thorough and intensive history. I would recommend reading the history from this medical website for more details.

So, this practice has been used for many centuries to cure pain and inflammation.

People use it for all types of issues including:

• Headaches
• Back Pain
• Neck Pain
• Inflammation
• Osteoarthritis
• Allergic Reactions

I have personally known people who have done it for asthma, dental issues, infertility, and all types of nerve pains.

Are There Any Risks Involved?

Before I decided to try acupuncture, I researched this a little. There are very few risks for acupuncture.  The Mayo Clinic mentions those with pacemakers or bleeding disorders should take precautions with it, but other than that, it is very safe. The truth is, it either works for you or it doesn’t.

Since there aren’t many risks involved, I decided it was worth a try! If anything, it just wouldn’t work.

Why Try Acupuncture?

People try acupuncture for all types of reasons, usually after traditional methods aren’t working. If you have headaches and medicine isn’t helping, many try acupuncture for relief. It is a last resort for numerous issues.

Since Amelia was born, I have been in one constant rheumatic flare.  Now, before you ask…Yes, I have done all the special diets (which I have done for 10 years now). I have done all the supplements, therapies, etc. I have done it all!! After giving birth, hormones go crazy and reek havoc on autoimmune diseases. It is just the nature of these illnesses. So, for me, acupuncture was the last resort for pain management to see if I could get some relief.

Using Acupuncture for Rheumatoid Arthritis

There are different types of joint pain. You can have normal wear and tear on the joints which can turn into osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the loss of cartilage and tissues around the joint causing  pain. You don’t necessarily have to have osteo, you might just have joint pain.

Most people don’t realize that rheumatoid arthritis is completely different than osteoarthritis. In fact, it isn’t really the joint that is impacted. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease of the tissues surrounding joints and organs. It is the synovial tissue that becomes inflamed and fluid can form around the joint.

Because RA is an autoimmune disease, it responds different to many forms of treatment. Like we mentioned above, there is not much data on using acupuncture of RA. Everyone I know that has used acupuncture with success just had regular joint pain.

Acupuncture is known to help inflammation, so I decided to try it out.

Session Number One On My Elbow and Knee

Most readers know I have RA in my left elbow and right knee. I have had issues with these joints for about 10 years now. Before that it was the left knee, shoulder, toes, and fingers. So, for the first session, the doctor did a series of needles in my elbow and knee right in the places that it hurts.

The needles don’t hurt going in. Of course, I am used to needles because I have been getting injections for 20 years, but even people who don’t like needles don’t mind it. The needles are very tiny.

They leave the needles in for awhile, then remove them.

Very few people find relief after the first session. My doctor recommended doing it once a week for the first few sessions. He said if you don’t see ANY difference after two or three sessions, it probably won’t work for you.

Session Number Two

One week late, I went in for session number two.  I had been feeling BETTER the past week before session two. I noticed a difference in elbow pain. I wasn’t sure if it was the acupuncture or not, but I was excited to do another session. They did session number two the same with the needles in my elbow and knee.

After this one, I noticed some tenderness in my joint tissues for a few days afterwards. My knee pain decreased even more after this session. It was a noticeable difference. My elbow started bothering my again after this week, but it wasn’t as bad.

Session Number Three

We did session three another week later. This time, he did a different series of needles in my elbow. The minute he put the needles in, I knew he had hit the tender spot. It hurt! It only lasted a few seconds, then it felt better.

My knee was feeling even better after this third session. I would say at this time I was having about 80% less knee pain overall. The elbow area was very tender that day, but overall felt much better. When I woke up the next day, the pain in my elbow was so much better. Especially the tender arthritic ache feeling.

A few days before session number three, I was 100% pain FREE in my knee. When I took a walk with Amelia around our neighborhood, I got back without any type of pain. This hasn’t happened in many months. My elbow at this same time was feeling better as far as the aching all day. Still tender, but not the constant aching.

Session Number Four

The doctor said he wanted to do four sessions a week apart to get the best idea how this would help me for pain management. BY the time I went into this fourth session, I was experiencing less pain and swelling in these two joints. I didn’t change anything to my medicine, diet, exercise, or supplements so I could get the best idea on testing acupuncture for joint pain.

Since I want my readers to have the full story and the truth about these treatments, I will let you know a few days after this fourth session, I got sick with an upper respiratory situation. I had to take antibiotics to treat the infection. This has happened before, but my body didn’t react well to these antibiotics. It made my autoimmune disease go crazy. This caused my arthritis to start flaring pretty bad. Although my knee was 100% better with pain, and my elbow was better, it all went downhill. Especially the progress in my knee. This was a tough week, which I talked about on instagram stories a little.

Anyways, I decided to continue the acupuncture therapy another week to see if we could get the results back to what they were before I got sick.

Session Number Five

After session number five, I wasn’t feeling any better, but this flare was pretty strong at this point. I could tell my autoimmune disease was going crazy in addition to just the regular pain I have been having. By the middle of the week, I was feeling a little better, but not much.

At this point, none of my usual remedies for pain management were working well, not even heat therapy. So, it was hard to get an accurate read on the last acupuncture session.

Tomorrow I will be finishing up session number six. I plan on updating instagram stories with how it is going, but I will also come back into this post and continue to update it for everyone. I just wanted to get this post ready to go because of all the questions we have received!

I believe if I hadn’t gotten sick and had to take the antibiotics, the relief from acupuncture would have been much better.

My Acupuncture for Rheumatoid Arthritis Review

When I went in to acupuncture, I was having constant aching and throbbing in my knee and elbow. I was having trouble finding any relief with my normal remedies. This is why I decided to try acupuncture in the first place! After one session, I felt a little less pain in my knee. After two sessions, my knee was doing much better and elbow was starting to feel better. The third session is when I really started feeling better.

Overall, acupuncture has significantly decreased the aching and throbbing in these joints. It has taken the edge off if you want to call it that. Before getting sick my knee was 100% pain free!

I don’t have experience using it for other things, but knowing how it has helped this pain, I can see how this would be effective to helping other types of pain in the joints. Especially osteoarthritis.

What makes RA so difficult to deal with is you have pain and swelling from an autoimmune response which then leads to chronic joint pain. If you just have chronic joint pain without the autoimmune attack, I think acupuncture could help you even more!

What Next?

I plan on continuing this type of therapy to see how it works long term, I will be sure to update my readers on this too! Please follow along on instagram to get more inside tips like this. I am always sharing what I am doing on instagram stories for everyone!

The doctor told me once you do these type of acupuncture sessions, you can get on a simple maintenance type of program, only going in occasionally.

Can Anyone Try Acupuncture?

Although it has limited side effects and considered safe for everyone, please talk with your doctor! Many traditional medical doctors don’t agree with acupuncture as a treatment, but talk to them anyways. You can also meet with your acupuncturist, which is usually the chiropractor, and they can help you determine if this treatment will work for you.

As with all treatments, it doesn’t work the same for everyone! This is why I wanted to try it for myself instead of just reading things online.

I am trying some NEW methods now for pain management, I will share soon!

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