The Effect of Ginger on Pain and Satisfaction of Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Background: Knee osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and musculoskeletal disease. Due to low efficacy and significant side effects of synthetic drugs in the treatment of this disease, many researchers are looking for drugs that besides effectiveness have fewer side effects, and recently ginger has become one of the most popular herbal remedies in the treatment of this disease in controversial researches. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of ginger on pain and satisfaction of patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods: This study was a clinical trial. A total of 90 patients with knee osteoarthritis were randomly divided to ginger and control groups. In addition, treatment was prescribed by orthopedic specialists; the ginger group received two tablets of 500 mg/day for 12 weeks. The control group only received the treatment prescribed by the orthopedic specialist. Pain was measured using a linear visual assessment scale (VAS) and satisfaction using a researcher-made questionnaire at the beginning and end of the twelfth week. Results: There was no significant difference between pain scores of the two groups before the intervention, yet after the intervention, pain scores declined in both groups, but it was greater in the ginger group (P = 0.001). In terms of satisfaction with treatment, a statistically significant difference was shown between the two groups (P = 0.012), so that it was higher in the group receiving ginger. On the other hand, the incidence of side effects was not statistically significant between the two groups. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that ginger is effective in relieving pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis and it can be used as a safe method to improve pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis.