Study of knee pain relief by herbal poultice in patients with osteoarthritis

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study was aimed to examine the reduction in severity of osteoarthritis (OA) and knee pain using herbal poultice in patients with OA. The study involved a purposive sampling of 41 patients with OA. Participants received herbal poultice 3 times consecutively, and their symptoms were assessed before and after treatment using the Oxford Knee Score to evaluate the severity of OA symptoms and the Visual Pain Score to measure pain levels. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean and percentage, and paired t-test.

The results showed that participants experienced a statistically significant reduction in the severity of OA symptoms after the treatment (p < 0.05). The average score after 3 applications of the herbal poultice was 34.90, compared to a pre-treatment average score of 26.78. Similarly, the pain levels measured by the Visual Pain Score showed a statistically significant decrease (p < 0.05), with an average post-treatment pain score of 3.98 compared to 6.83 before the compress treatment. The findings suggest that herbal poultice can be effectively applied in healthcare facilities to alleviate knee pain caused by  osteoarthritis.