A quarter- to a half-teaspoon a day of powdered ginger can be as pain-relieving as ibuprofen, without the risk of damage to the intestinal lining.
Ginger for Osteoarthritis
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
If ginger is so effective against migraines, and the pain of menstrual cramps, what about osteoarthritis—an all-too-common disorder that produces “chronic pain and disability?” The first major study, published in 2000, showed no benefit over placebo. But, the study only lasted three weeks.
The next, in 2001, lasted longer—six weeks—and was, by the end, indeed able to show significantly better results than placebo. But, the placebo did so well, reducing pain from like sixties on a scale of 1 to 100, down to like forties, that bringing pain down that extra little bit into the thirties was not especially clinically significant. And so, an editorial in the official journal of the American College of Rheumatology concluded that ginger “should not be recommended…for treatment of arthritis because of the limited efficacy.”
But, since that time, there’s been a few other trials that showed more impressive results—such that ginger is now considered indeed “able to reduce pain and disability in [osteoarthritis].”
But, how well, compared to other treatments? “[S]ince [osteoarthritis] is a chronic disease,” it’s especially important to weigh the risks versus benefit of treatment, and the commonly used anti-inflammatory drugs can carry “serious cardio-vascular and gastro-intestinal risks.”
For example, when researchers stuck cameras down into people with osteoarthritis who were on drugs like ibuprofen, nearly half were found to have major injuries to the lining of their small intestines—seven out of sixteen. Now, you can reduce that risk by taking an additional drug to counteract the side effects of the first drug. Ibuprofen-type drugs reduce our stomach lining’s ability to protect itself from the stomach acid; so, by blocking acid production with another drug, one can reduce the risk.
But, ginger can actually improve stomach lining protection. So, ginger, at the kinds of doses used to treat osteoarthritis, a quarter- to a half-teaspoon a day, can be considered not just neutral on the stomach, but beneficial. So, it can be as pain-relieving as ibuprofen, but without the risk of stomach ulcers.
Okay. But, this sounded a little nutty to me—topical ginger treatment, as in externally applying a ginger-soaked cloth or patch to the affected joint. It was a controlled study—compress versus patch—both showing remarkable and lasting pain relief for osteoarthritis sufferers.
But, what’s missing? Right, a control group—there was no placebo patch. I don’t care if “ginger has been applied [externally] to painful joints for…a thousand years.” The placebo effect has been shown to be remarkably effective in osteoarthritis to provide pain relief. So, until there’s a controlled study on topical ginger, I’m not going to believe it. But there wasn’t such a study, until twenty men stuck ginger slices onto their scrotum.
Men with inflamed testicles applied six to ten paper-thin slices of ginger over the affected testes. And, evidently, the ginger group healed nearly three times faster. Unfortunately, the original source is in Chinese; so, I can’t get further details, as is the only other controlled study on topical ginger I could find. This evidently translates to “evaluation of point plaster therapy with ginger powder in preventing nausea and vomiting [from] chemotherapy.”
We know ginger powder, taken orally, can be “a miracle against [chemo]-induced vomiting;” what about stuffing it into your belly button? The external application of ginger powder to the so-called “point of Shenque,” which is the navel, while the control group got potato powder into their belly button. And, lo and behold, the ginger group evidently had significantly less nausea and vomiting.
Unfortunately, only the abstract is in English; so, I can’t tell how they effectively blinded the patients to the treatment. I mean, presumably, it would be easy to tell whether or not you were in the ginger or placebo group by the smell. But, maybe they controlled for that. Until we know more, I would suggest those who want to try ginger use it in their stomach, rather than on their stomach.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Maghbooli M, Golipour F, Moghimi esfandabadi A, Yousefi M. Comparison between the efficacy of ginger and sumatriptan in the ablative treatment of the common migraine. Phytother Res. 2014;28(3):412-5.
- Haiyan L, Yang Y, Zhiqiang M, Leihua C. Evaluation of point plaster therapy with ginger powder in preventing nausea and vomiting occurred after platinum-based interventional chemotherapy in patients with primary or metastatic liver cancer. Journal of Interventional Radiology. 19(8); p. 664-668
- Daily JW, Zhang X2, Kim da S2, Park S2. Efficacy of Ginger for Alleviating the Symptoms of Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. Pain Med. 2015 Dec;16(12):2243-55.
- Bartels EM, Folmer VN, Bliddal H, Altman RD, Juhl C, Tarp S, Zhang W, Christensen R. Efficacy and safety of ginger in osteoarthritis patients: a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2015 Jan;23(1):13-21.
- Bliddal H, Rosetzsky A, Schlichting P, Weidner MS, Andersen LA, Ibfelt HH, Christensen K, Jensen ON, Barslev J. A randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over study of ginger extracts and ibuprofen in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2000 Jan;8(1):9-12.
- Drozdov VN, Kim VA, Tkachenko EV, Varvanina GG. Influence of a specific ginger combination on gastropathy conditions in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip. J Altern Complement Med. 2012 Jun;18(6):583-8.
- Altman RD, Marcussen KC. Effects of a ginger extract on knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2001 Nov;44(11):2531-8.
- Haghighi M, Khalvat A, Toliyat T, Jallaei S. Comparing the Effects of ginger (Zingiber officinale) extract and ibuprofen On patients with osteoarthritis. Arch Iranian Med 2005; 8 (4): 267 – 271.
- Therkleson T. Topical Ginger Treatment With a Compress or Patch for Osteoarthritis Symptoms. J Holist Nurs. 2014 Sep;32(3):173-82.
- Marcus DM, Suarez-Almazor ME. Is there a role for ginger in the treatment of osteoarthritis? Arthritis Rheum. 2001 Nov;44(11):2461-2.
- Therkleson T. Ginger compress therapy for adults with osteoarthritis. J Adv Nurs. 2010 Oct;66(10):2225-33.
- Ding M, Leach MJ, Bradley H. A systematic review of the evidence for topical use of ginger. Explore (NY). 2013 Nov-Dec;9(6):361-4.
- Zhang W, Robertson J, Jones AC, Dieppe PA, Doherty M. The placebo effect and its determinants in osteoarthritis: meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Ann Rheum Dis. 2008 Dec;67(12):1716-23.
- Zeidler H. Paracetamol and the placebo effect in osteoarthritis trials: a missing link? Pain Res Treat. 2011;2011:696791.
- Yekta ZP, Ebrahimi SM, Hosseini M, Nasrabadi AN, Sedighi S, Surmaghi MH, Madani H. Ginger as a miracle against chemotherapy-induced vomiting. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2012 Jul;17(5):325-9.
- Hunt RH, Lanas A, Stichtenoth DO, Scarpignato C. Myths and facts in the use of anti-inflammatory drugs. Ann Med. 2009;41(6):423-37.
- Caunedo-Alvarez A, Gómez-Rodríguez BJ, Romero-Vázquez J, Argüelles-Arias F, Romero-Castro R, García-Montes JM, Pellicer-Bautista FJ, Herrerías-Gutiérrez JM. Macroscopic small bowel mucosal injury caused by chronic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) use as assessed by capsule endoscopy. Rev Esp Enferm Dig. 2010 Feb;102(2):80-5.
- Bello AE, Kent JD, Grahn AY, Rice P, Holt RJ. Risk of upper gastrointestinal ulcers in patients with osteoarthritis receiving single-tablet ibuprofen/famotidine versus ibuprofen alone: pooled efficacy and safety analyses of two randomized, double-blind, comparison trials. Postgrad Med. 2014 Jul;126(4):82-91.
- Haniadka R, Saldanha E, Sunita V, Palatty PL, Fayad R, Baliga MS. A review of the gastroprotective effects of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe). Food Funct. 2013 Jun;4(6):845-55.
Image credit: siala via Pixabay. Image has been modified.
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
If ginger is so effective against migraines, and the pain of menstrual cramps, what about osteoarthritis—an all-too-common disorder that produces “chronic pain and disability?” The first major study, published in 2000, showed no benefit over placebo. But, the study only lasted three weeks.
The next, in 2001, lasted longer—six weeks—and was, by the end, indeed able to show significantly better results than placebo. But, the placebo did so well, reducing pain from like sixties on a scale of 1 to 100, down to like forties, that bringing pain down that extra little bit into the thirties was not especially clinically significant. And so, an editorial in the official journal of the American College of Rheumatology concluded that ginger “should not be recommended…for treatment of arthritis because of the limited efficacy.”
But, since that time, there’s been a few other trials that showed more impressive results—such that ginger is now considered indeed “able to reduce pain and disability in [osteoarthritis].”
But, how well, compared to other treatments? “[S]ince [osteoarthritis] is a chronic disease,” it’s especially important to weigh the risks versus benefit of treatment, and the commonly used anti-inflammatory drugs can carry “serious cardio-vascular and gastro-intestinal risks.”
For example, when researchers stuck cameras down into people with osteoarthritis who were on drugs like ibuprofen, nearly half were found to have major injuries to the lining of their small intestines—seven out of sixteen. Now, you can reduce that risk by taking an additional drug to counteract the side effects of the first drug. Ibuprofen-type drugs reduce our stomach lining’s ability to protect itself from the stomach acid; so, by blocking acid production with another drug, one can reduce the risk.
But, ginger can actually improve stomach lining protection. So, ginger, at the kinds of doses used to treat osteoarthritis, a quarter- to a half-teaspoon a day, can be considered not just neutral on the stomach, but beneficial. So, it can be as pain-relieving as ibuprofen, but without the risk of stomach ulcers.
Okay. But, this sounded a little nutty to me—topical ginger treatment, as in externally applying a ginger-soaked cloth or patch to the affected joint. It was a controlled study—compress versus patch—both showing remarkable and lasting pain relief for osteoarthritis sufferers.
But, what’s missing? Right, a control group—there was no placebo patch. I don’t care if “ginger has been applied [externally] to painful joints for…a thousand years.” The placebo effect has been shown to be remarkably effective in osteoarthritis to provide pain relief. So, until there’s a controlled study on topical ginger, I’m not going to believe it. But there wasn’t such a study, until twenty men stuck ginger slices onto their scrotum.
Men with inflamed testicles applied six to ten paper-thin slices of ginger over the affected testes. And, evidently, the ginger group healed nearly three times faster. Unfortunately, the original source is in Chinese; so, I can’t get further details, as is the only other controlled study on topical ginger I could find. This evidently translates to “evaluation of point plaster therapy with ginger powder in preventing nausea and vomiting [from] chemotherapy.”
We know ginger powder, taken orally, can be “a miracle against [chemo]-induced vomiting;” what about stuffing it into your belly button? The external application of ginger powder to the so-called “point of Shenque,” which is the navel, while the control group got potato powder into their belly button. And, lo and behold, the ginger group evidently had significantly less nausea and vomiting.
Unfortunately, only the abstract is in English; so, I can’t tell how they effectively blinded the patients to the treatment. I mean, presumably, it would be easy to tell whether or not you were in the ginger or placebo group by the smell. But, maybe they controlled for that. Until we know more, I would suggest those who want to try ginger use it in their stomach, rather than on their stomach.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Maghbooli M, Golipour F, Moghimi esfandabadi A, Yousefi M. Comparison between the efficacy of ginger and sumatriptan in the ablative treatment of the common migraine. Phytother Res. 2014;28(3):412-5.
- Haiyan L, Yang Y, Zhiqiang M, Leihua C. Evaluation of point plaster therapy with ginger powder in preventing nausea and vomiting occurred after platinum-based interventional chemotherapy in patients with primary or metastatic liver cancer. Journal of Interventional Radiology. 19(8); p. 664-668
- Daily JW, Zhang X2, Kim da S2, Park S2. Efficacy of Ginger for Alleviating the Symptoms of Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. Pain Med. 2015 Dec;16(12):2243-55.
- Bartels EM, Folmer VN, Bliddal H, Altman RD, Juhl C, Tarp S, Zhang W, Christensen R. Efficacy and safety of ginger in osteoarthritis patients: a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2015 Jan;23(1):13-21.
- Bliddal H, Rosetzsky A, Schlichting P, Weidner MS, Andersen LA, Ibfelt HH, Christensen K, Jensen ON, Barslev J. A randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over study of ginger extracts and ibuprofen in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2000 Jan;8(1):9-12.
- Drozdov VN, Kim VA, Tkachenko EV, Varvanina GG. Influence of a specific ginger combination on gastropathy conditions in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip. J Altern Complement Med. 2012 Jun;18(6):583-8.
- Altman RD, Marcussen KC. Effects of a ginger extract on knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2001 Nov;44(11):2531-8.
- Haghighi M, Khalvat A, Toliyat T, Jallaei S. Comparing the Effects of ginger (Zingiber officinale) extract and ibuprofen On patients with osteoarthritis. Arch Iranian Med 2005; 8 (4): 267 – 271.
- Therkleson T. Topical Ginger Treatment With a Compress or Patch for Osteoarthritis Symptoms. J Holist Nurs. 2014 Sep;32(3):173-82.
- Marcus DM, Suarez-Almazor ME. Is there a role for ginger in the treatment of osteoarthritis? Arthritis Rheum. 2001 Nov;44(11):2461-2.
- Therkleson T. Ginger compress therapy for adults with osteoarthritis. J Adv Nurs. 2010 Oct;66(10):2225-33.
- Ding M, Leach MJ, Bradley H. A systematic review of the evidence for topical use of ginger. Explore (NY). 2013 Nov-Dec;9(6):361-4.
- Zhang W, Robertson J, Jones AC, Dieppe PA, Doherty M. The placebo effect and its determinants in osteoarthritis: meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Ann Rheum Dis. 2008 Dec;67(12):1716-23.
- Zeidler H. Paracetamol and the placebo effect in osteoarthritis trials: a missing link? Pain Res Treat. 2011;2011:696791.
- Yekta ZP, Ebrahimi SM, Hosseini M, Nasrabadi AN, Sedighi S, Surmaghi MH, Madani H. Ginger as a miracle against chemotherapy-induced vomiting. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2012 Jul;17(5):325-9.
- Hunt RH, Lanas A, Stichtenoth DO, Scarpignato C. Myths and facts in the use of anti-inflammatory drugs. Ann Med. 2009;41(6):423-37.
- Caunedo-Alvarez A, Gómez-Rodríguez BJ, Romero-Vázquez J, Argüelles-Arias F, Romero-Castro R, García-Montes JM, Pellicer-Bautista FJ, Herrerías-Gutiérrez JM. Macroscopic small bowel mucosal injury caused by chronic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) use as assessed by capsule endoscopy. Rev Esp Enferm Dig. 2010 Feb;102(2):80-5.
- Bello AE, Kent JD, Grahn AY, Rice P, Holt RJ. Risk of upper gastrointestinal ulcers in patients with osteoarthritis receiving single-tablet ibuprofen/famotidine versus ibuprofen alone: pooled efficacy and safety analyses of two randomized, double-blind, comparison trials. Postgrad Med. 2014 Jul;126(4):82-91.
- Haniadka R, Saldanha E, Sunita V, Palatty PL, Fayad R, Baliga MS. A review of the gastroprotective effects of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe). Food Funct. 2013 Jun;4(6):845-55.
Image credit: siala via Pixabay. Image has been modified.
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Ginger for Osteoarthritis
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Content URLDoctor's Note
What other dietary interventions can help with arthritis? See, for example:
- Sesame Seeds for Knee Osteoarthritis
- Why Do Plant-Based Diets Help Rheumatoid Arthritis?
- Gout Treatment with a Cherry on Top
- Turmeric Curcumin & Osteoarthritis
- Turmeric Curcumin & Rheumatoid Arthritis
- The Inflammatory Meat Molecule Neu5Gc
What else can ginger do? Check it out!
- Reducing Radiation Damage With Ginger & Lemon Balm
- Which Spices Fight Inflammation?
- Ginger for Migraines
- Natural Treatments for Morning Sickness
- Ginger for Nausea, Menstrual Cramps, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Benefits of Ginger for Menstrual Cramps
- Ground Ginger to Reduce Muscle Pain
- Is Ginger Beneficial in a Diabetic Diet?
If the placebo effect is really that powerful, should doctors prescribe them? They already do! Check it out, if you dare :) The Lie That Heals: Should Doctors Give Placebos?
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