Even more concerning, needles left in the body can make future medical imaging dangerous. “The patient can’t go into an MRI because needles left in the body may move, and damage an artery,” Guermazi added.
Evidence that acupuncture actually treats medical conditions is limited. Yet it remains a popular option for painful joints, especially in some Asian countries where inserting tiny pieces of sterile gold thread around a joint is a common arthritis treatment.
In the U.S., acupuncture is also widely used — an estimated 3.1 million adults and 150,000 children received the treatment in 2007, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
For this woman, her gold-laden knees are a stark reminder that sometimes, alternative medicine can leave more than just a mark — it can leave a literal treasure trove.
