Knee Osteoarthritis
Overview
Knee osteoarthritis is a degenerative sinew-bone disorder with knee pain, stiffness, swelling, restricted movement, and crepitus, common in older adults and worse with stairs or after rest. Chinese medicine classifies it as bone bi (gu bi), attributing it to liver-kidney deficiency and insufficient qi and blood that fail to nourish sinew and bone, compounded by wind-cold-damp invasion or strain with stasis.
Pattern differentiation (clinical patterns)
Liver-Kidney Insufficiency
Dull knee pain with weak aching lower back and knees, worse with exertion or stairs and better with rest, pale tongue with thin white coating, fine weak pulse.
Tonify liver and kidney; strengthen sinew and bone.
Wind-Cold-Damp Bi
Cold painful swollen knee with difficult flexion/extension, worse in cold and better with warmth, white slippery or greasy coating, wiry tight pulse.
Expel wind-cold and eliminate dampness; unblock the collaterals.
Connections
Daily care & prevention
Manage weight and reduce prolonged squatting/kneeling, hill climbing, and frequent stairs. Keep knees warm and use heat or moxibustion. Gently strengthen the quadriceps (straight-leg raises, partial wall sits as tolerated), swim, or practice Baduanjin. Massage Yanglingquan (GB34), Xuehai (SP10), Zusanli (ST36), around the knee, and Shenshu (BL23). Do not apply heat during acute red-hot swelling; seek evaluation.
When to seek medical care
Seek prompt care for a suddenly hot, red, markedly swollen and painful knee with fever (possible septic or gouty arthritis), deformity or inability to bear weight after injury, a locked joint, or severe persistent night pain.