When you are suffering the pain and discomfort caused by arthritis, you may feel complementary therapies can help ease the symptoms.
But experts studying trial evidence have concluded that there are very few alternative treatments that can actually help conditions like arthritis.
Most therapies that claim to help musculoskeletal conditions have not been scientifically tested or tests carried out have been extremely limited.
Of 25 therapies looked at by the experts, only a few had medical evidence to prove they had an effect. Among them were acupuncture, massage, yoga and tai chi.
While many arthritis sufferers wear copper bracelets or use magnetic therapy to ease the pain, there was a lack of evidence that these therapies actually worked.
The experts looked at 53 trials for therapies claiming to help with the symptoms of arthritis. They covered 14 different therapies and involved nearly 6,000 patients.
Of these therapies only tai chi and acupuncture appeared to have a provable effect.
People suffering from fibromyalgia, which has similar symptoms to arthritis, were studied in 50 trials looking at 17 different therapies. More than 3,000 people were included in these trials. It was discovered that acupuncture and massage, tai chi and relaxation therapy were the treatments that had any effect.
As much as £250million is spent on alternative therapies and supplements each year in the UK.
While some may see this as a waste of money, considering there is little scientific evidence these therapies work, others disagree.
Many people testify to the benefits that these therapies can have on relieving pain and stress.
Complementary treatments can give patients a more positive outlook which can, in turn, relieve symptoms without having any physiological effect.
Providers of alternative therapies say more money needs to be invested into studies to look at the benefits they say their treatments have.
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