Zap Your Knee Woes Away – Electroacupuncture (EA) to the Rescue

By Chee Yeap Acupuncturist

Zap Your Knee Woes Away

Cartilage, the tissue that cushions our joints, doesn’t have good natural healing abilities. When it gets damaged, it tends to wear down over time, leading to joint problems like osteoarthritis (OA). In healthy joints, there’s a delicate balance between building up and breaking down cartilage. But in Osteoarthritis, this balance gets thrown off, as a result enzymes break down cartilage faster than the body can replace it.

Clinical Study 1

Certain factors, like proteins called MMP13 and ADAMTS, speed up this breakdown process. But there are also protective factors, like SOX9 and HIF-1α, that help slow it down. Electroacupuncture, a treatment where electrical currents are applied to acupuncture needles, has been found to help protect cartilage in knee osteoarthritis. It reduces the expression of harmful proteins like IL-1β and MMP3, which helps slow down the progression of OA. Plus, it’s shown to be effective in improving KOA symptoms and has fewer side effects compared to medications.

The study also found that electroacupuncture can slow down the wearing away of cartilage in models of osteoarthritis. It does this by increasing the production of protective proteins like ACAN and COL2a1, which help maintain healthy cartilage. The study also observed that electroacupuncture boosts the levels of SOX9 and HIF-1a, which play important roles in this treatment. This suggests that electroacupuncture is a useful therapy for osteoarthritis.

Clinical Study 2

In one study which looked at how electroacupuncture can protect the cartilage by studying mitochondria. Mitochondria are like powerhouses inside our cells, and they play a big role in a condition called knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Cartilage in our knees is made up of cells called chondrocytes and a matrix around them. This matrix contains water, collagen, and proteoglycan, which give cartilage its strength and flexibility. When cartilage starts breaking down in KOA, it’s a sign that the condition is getting worse.

This study found that electroacupuncture reduced knee pain, improved joint function and helped protect cartilage by reducing defects on the cartilage surface and increasing the levels of proteoglycan and collage II, which are important components of cartilage. There’s a pathway called the Pink1-Parkin pathway that controls a process called mitophagy, which is like a clean-up process for damaged mitochondria. The study found that electroacupuncture activates this pathway in chondrocytes, which could be another way it protects cartilage in KOA.

With overwhelming evidence from numerous studies demonstrating the effectiveness of electroacupuncture in alleviating knee osteoarthritis, there’s no reason to delay seeking relief any longer. In other words, if you or someone you know is suffering from knee osteoarthritis, take action now. At the Institute of Sports and Spines, our acupuncturist, Chee, who specializes in electroacupuncture, can help you take proactive steps towards managing your knee osteoarthritis and improving your quality of life.