Can Chi Ease Arthritis Pain?
By Elaine Zablocki WebMD Feature Reviewed By Charlotte Grayson During her third year of medical school, Liza was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. She entered her family practice residency in a wheelchair. “I was taking 13 different drugs, which gave me high blood pressure,” she recalls. “I experienced severe pain every day, and I thought I’d have to give up being a doctor.” Instead she began actively searching for alternative treatments and tried acupuncture combined with biofeedback and meditation. “I had treatments twice a week, with needles sticking out all over my arms and legs. The pain was much less, and the effect lasted for about two weeks,” says Liza. Today she needs only one medication to control her arthritis. She still needs acupuncture occasionally, she says — “after playing 18 holes of golf.” Acupuncture uses hair-thin needles to stimulate specific points on the patient’s body. “We often combine acupuncture with Chinese herbal medicine, diet, and tai chi, says Ian A.
