Gold threads found in knees of woman with joint pain in South Korea

In South Korea, doctors discovered gold threads inside the knees of a 65-year-old woman who had long been suffering from joint pain.

The woman was diagnosed with osteoarthritis, a condition that causes stiffness and pain in the knee joints. She had been taking medications and injections for her illness but when the medicines failed to relieve her pain and instead caused stomach problems due to prolonged use, she discontinued them and turned to alternative treatments.

Turn to acupuncture

Hoping for relief, the woman began undergoing weekly acupuncture sessions, a traditional Chinese therapy involving the insertion of fine needles into specific points of the body.

However, instead of improving, her knee pain worsened. Concerned, she went to a hospital where an X-ray of her left knee revealed that the tibia (shin bone) had thickened and hardened abnormally.

Gold threads found in X-ray

Doctors were astonished to also see hundreds of tiny gold threads inside the joint which they concluded had been inserted during her acupuncture sessions.

Medical reports confirmed that these threads were part of a procedure known as Gold Thread Acupuncture, a practice commonly used in parts of Asia to treat osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Effectiveness in question

Doctors did not confirm whether the threads were removed from her knees. However, in similar cases reported earlier, patients typically did not have the threads surgically extracted.

In their report, the doctors noted that while Gold Thread Acupuncture is still practiced in some regions, there is no scientific evidence to support its effectiveness in relieving joint pain.

On the contrary, some cases have shown that the procedure worsened pain instead of reducing it. Moreover, there is a risk that the threads could migrate within the body and damage surrounding tissues.

This unusual medical case once again highlights the risks of relying on unverified alternative treatments and raises concerns over their long-term safety.