Knee pain can affect walking, stairs, exercise, sleep and confidence in everyday movement. Symptoms may follow an injury, develop gradually, or relate to a diagnosed condition such as osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis in the UK. It can cause joint pain, stiffness, swelling, tenderness and difficulty moving the knee. Symptoms vary widely: they may be mild and intermittent for one person, but more persistent and limiting for another.
Knee pain has several possible causes. New, severe or changing symptoms should be appropriately assessed rather than assumed to be osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is a long-term condition affecting the joint. Although it cannot currently be cured, symptoms do not necessarily worsen continuously and can sometimes improve.
Current NHS and NICE guidance places therapeutic exercise at the centre of osteoarthritis care. Weight management may also be helpful where appropriate. Other care can include suitable pain relief, physiotherapy, supportive devices, injections or, for a smaller number of people, surgery.
During treatment, Jamie considers when the pain began, its location and character, stiffness, swelling, movements that affect it and its impact on everyday life. The assessment also considers previous injuries, medical diagnosis, exercise, medication, physiotherapy and other care you are receiving.
Chinese medicine uses an individual diagnosis rather than treating everybody with knee pain in the same way. Two people with osteoarthritis of the knee may therefore receive different acupuncture treatments according to their symptoms, health history and wider presentation.
Jamie combines more than 20 years of clinical experience with detailed pulse diagnosis to understand each person's pattern. Treatment is adapted over time according to the individual's presentation and response.
Acupuncture may be considered as one part of wider care. It should not replace suitable medical assessment, therapeutic exercise or rehabilitation.
The first appointment provides time to discuss the knee pain in detail, including when it began, movements or activities that affect it, stiffness or swelling, and its effect on sleep, exercise and everyday life.
Jamie will ask about previous injuries, medical assessment, medication, exercises, physiotherapy and other treatment you have received. The appointment includes an individual Chinese medicine assessment and, where appropriate, your first acupuncture treatment.
Jamie will explain the initial approach and discuss suitable review points. No fixed recovery schedule or outcome can be promised.
Knee pain and osteoarthritis connect naturally with the Pain and Recovery Pathway. This pathway provides a structured starting point for understanding the wider picture, beginning treatment and reviewing your response over time.
The pathway is clinical guidance rather than a rigid package. Care may sit alongside therapeutic exercise, physiotherapy, weight management, medication or specialist medical treatment.
The British Acupuncture Council's knee-osteoarthritis fact sheet describes this as one of the more extensively researched areas of acupuncture. It summarises systematic reviews reporting benefits compared with no-acupuncture controls and smaller differences compared with sham acupuncture.
Clinical guidelines differ in how they interpret this evidence. Current NICE guidance recommends therapeutic exercise and, where appropriate, weight management as core treatments. NICE currently says not to offer acupuncture or dry needling to manage osteoarthritis because it considers the available evidence insufficient to justify its use.
Research findings do not mean every person will respond in the same way. Decisions about acupuncture should consider current guidance, the individual's preferences and health, and any other care they are receiving.
Further reading:
British Acupuncture Council: Knee osteoarthritis fact sheet
NHS: Osteoarthritis
NICE: Osteoarthritis guidance
See a GP or appropriate healthcare professional if knee pain is persistent, affects everyday activities, or you think you may have osteoarthritis.
Seek urgent medical advice if you cannot put weight on the knee, the knee is badly swollen or has changed shape, it locks or gives way, or pain follows a significant injury. A hot, swollen joint accompanied by fever or feeling unwell requires urgent assessment.
Do not stop or change prescribed medication, exercises or rehabilitation without speaking to the clinician responsible for your care.
If knee pain or osteoarthritis is affecting movement, exercise or everyday life, a first appointment gives us time to understand your individual presentation and discuss whether acupuncture may be a suitable part of your wider care.