When a 65-year-old South Korean woman went in for knee pain, doctors weren\u2019t expecting to strike gold. But that\u2019s exactly what they found.<\/p>\n
Unwanted stomach issues
\nLiving with osteoarthritis can be incredibly challenging. The condition gradually wears down the cartilage in your joints, leading to stiffness, swelling, and persistent pain that can make even simple daily tasks feel exhausting.<\/p>\n
Activities that were once easy \u2014 like climbing stairs, bending to tie your shoes, or even walking short distances \u2014 can become painful and slow.<\/p>\n
The woman in this story had been struggling with osteoarthritis and according to her, pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications offered little relief and brought unwanted stomach issues.<\/p>\n
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\nSo she turned to acupuncture, according to a case published in the New England Journal of Medicine.<\/p>\n
Acupuncture, a centuries-old alternative treatment, involves inserting needles into the body at specific points to relieve pain or treat illnesses. In this case, the needles\u2014 presumably made of gold \u2014 were intentionally left in her knees for continued stimulation.<\/p>\n
But leaving needles in the body isn\u2019t without risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cForeign objects left inside the body can lead to inflammation, abscesses and infection,\u201d said Dr. Ali Guermazi, a professor of radiology at Boston University who wasn\u2019t involved in the case.<\/p>\n
He also warned that embedded needles can complicate X-ray readings. \u201cThe needles may obscure some of the anatomy,\u201d Guermazi\u00a0said\u00a0in 2013.<\/p>\n
The body also doesn\u2019t always take kindly to foreign invaders, and the reaction can fall under foreign body reaction or chronic inflammatory response.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe human body wants to get rid of the foreign object,\u201d Guermazi explained. \u201cIt starts with some mechanism of defense, for example inflammation and forming [fibrous tissue] around the object.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even more concerning, needles left in the body can make future medical imaging dangerous. \u201cThe patient can\u2019t go into an MRI because needles left in the body may move, and damage an artery,\u201d Guermazi added.<\/p>\n
Evidence that acupuncture actually treats medical conditions is limited. Yet it remains a popular option for painful joints, especially in some Asian countries where inserting tiny pieces of sterile gold thread around a joint is a common arthritis treatment.<\/p>\n
In the U.S., acupuncture is also widely used \u2014 an estimated 3.1 million adults and 150,000 children received the treatment in 2007, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health\u2019s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.<\/p>\n
For this woman, her gold-laden knees are a stark reminder that sometimes, alternative medicine can leave more than just a mark \u2014 it can leave a literal treasure trove.<\/p>\n