In a rare and shocking medical case, X-rays of a 65-year-old South Korean woman revealed hundreds of tiny gold threads embedded in her knee joints. The woman had sought medical attention due to severe, recurrent knee pain.
اضافة اعلان
She had suffered for years from osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease causing pain and stiffness. Traditional treatments—painkillers, anti-inflammatory medications, and steroid injections—failed to provide relief and caused severe digestive complications, forcing her to stop taking them.
Gold Threads: Alternative Therapy with Hidden Dangers
After conventional treatments failed, she tried acupuncture and then a controversial technique involving implanting short, sterile gold threads around the joints to provide continuous nerve stimulation. X-rays later revealed the shiny threads around her knees, along with increased bone thickening and osteophyte growth, signs of progressing osteoarthritis.
Although this method—popular in parts of Asia, especially South Korea—is marketed for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, there is no solid scientific evidence proving its effectiveness. Cases like this show that such alternative therapies can delay proper medical treatment, worsening the underlying disease.
Other reported incidents include:
A woman in her 50s developed severe complications after gold thread therapy on her wrists, with arthritis worsening due to delayed medication.
An elderly patient had gold threads implanted in her back migrate to her leg, causing deep tissue infections.
Health and Diagnostic Risks
Doctors warn that gold threads can interfere with accurate diagnosis:
They produce shadows on X-rays.
They may react with strong magnetic fields during MRI scans, posing potential health hazards.
Extraction of the threads is not always performed unless complications arise. However, leaving them in place can lead to cysts, infections, and other difficult-to-treat problems.
Takeaway
This case highlights the risks of unproven alternative therapies. While patients seek hope and pain relief, reliance on such methods instead of medically approved treatments can create serious diagnostic and health challenges. Caution is essential before undergoing any unverified procedure.
