Acupuncture is a popular complementary therapy for knee pain, however a recent study did not recommend acupuncture for chronic knee pain in patients over 50 years. In this article we review the research and show how acupuncture can be combined synergistically with Q Magnet therapy as a supplementary treatment for even better pain relief (see references below).
We have had feedback from many people claiming Q Magnets complement acupuncture for the relief of pain from knee osteoarthritis.
Acupuncture For Chronic Knee Pain Study
An important clinical trial investigating the treatment of chronic knee pain with acupuncture was published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) in October, 2014. The study randomised 282 patients into four groups…
- No acupuncture (control); n = 71
- Needle acupuncture; n = 70
- Laser acupuncture; n = 71
- Sham (placebo) laser acupuncture; n = 70
Patients were given treatment for 12 weeks and assessed at 12 weeks and 1 year. There were no significant differences in primary outcomes between the active and sham acupuncture groups at 12 weeks or 1 year. Both needle and laser acupuncture resulted in modest improvements in pain compared with control at 12 weeks, but were not maintained at 1 year. Needle acupuncture improved physical function at 12 weeks compared with control but was not different to sham acupuncture and was not maintained at 1 year.
A recent meta-analysis by Vickers (2012), concluded that acupuncture is effective for the treatment of chronic pain and therefore a reasonable referral option. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guidelines for osteoarthritis advises against acupuncture and findings from the Hinman study support this recommendation. BUT what if there was an adjunctive treatment that patients could use to self-manage their pain in between visits??
How To Improve Treatment Of Knee Pain?
All the better, if such a treatment was simple, inexpensive, safe, non-invasive, non-addictive, drug free and based on scientific evidence. Q Magnets are powerful Quadrapolar biomagnets that can be applied with adhesive tape or sewn into knee braces and applied to the medial and lateral joint line or very active trigger or acupuncture points – to be determined by the treating doctor.
There seems to be a synergistic effect between wearing Q Magnets 24/7 between visits and both acupuncture and Low Level Laser Therapy. Since the action of Q Magnets is that of a subtle and sustained effect, for best results they should be worn 24/7 between therapy sessions.
This is how David Knox of Brisbane uses his Q Magnets for knee pain…
Quadrapolar Magnet Study For Rheumatoid Arthritis Knee Pain…
DISCLAIMER:
The safety and effectiveness of Q Magnets has not been established in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
A randomised controlled trial treating 64 subjects with rheumatoid arthritis of the knee using quadrapolar magnets was published in 2001. There were 38 subjects in the active group who were fitted with four Quadrapolar magnets, following the Q Magnets treatment protocol for knee pain and 26 in the control group who were fitted with four weak bipolar magnets of strength no greater than 72mT (720G) at the skin’s surface.
Both groups (quadrapolar magnets and weak placebo) demonstrated a highly significant reduction in pain over baseline (p<0.0001), however there were no significant difference between the two groups (p<0.23). After 1 week, both groups were assessed and in the Quadrapolar magnet group, 24% were Much Better and 44% Better, while in the control group only 8% were Much Better and 19% Better.
The control group used a weaker magnet as placebo to protect the blind, but it could be said that this was not a study comparing a non-active placebo, but a weaker active device.
I makes sense that combining the two treatments, acupuncture and Q Magnets or Low Level Laser and Q Magnets may improve the pain relief benefits.
There are over ten Q Magnet models to choose from and to treat knee pain, some people prefer the QF20-3, while a slightly larger and more powerful device is the QF28-3. Using a smaller device such as the QF15-3 can also be effective, but requires a much more accurate placement which the patient may find difficult at home. Health professionals can contact us for practitioner pricing and our knee pain introductory offer.
Watch the feedback on combining acupuncture and Q Magnets…
For a recent published review on static magnetic field therapy; see the following paper by Dr Liisa Laakso who is also the current president of the World Association for Laser Therapy (WALT) and is free to download…
Laakso et al (2009). Static Magnets – What are they and what do they do? Brazilian Journal of Physiotherapy: 2009;13(1):10-23; doi
Can also be downloaded from SciELO Brazil.
For more relevant studies on multipolar magnets, see the following link…
/scientific-evidence-for-magnetic-field-therapy/
REFERENCES:
Hinman RS et al. (2014). Acupuncture for Chronic Knee Pain. A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2014;312(13):1313-1322. PMID: 25268438, doi
Segal, N.A., Toda, Y., et al. (2001). Two configurations of static magnetic fields for treating rheumatoid arthritis of the knee: a double-blind clinical trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil: 2001 Oct;82(10):1453-60;. PMID: 11588753; doi.
Vickers AJ et al. (2012). Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 2012 Oct 22; 172(19): 1444–1453. PMID: 22965186; doi
