Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic condition that can bring with it pain and stiffness and the progressive destruction and deformity of joints, with the potential to seriously impair not just the quality of life but life expectancy. No cause has yet been identified but ‘hormonal influences, obesity, diet and cigarette smoking have all been implicated as risk factors’.

The aim of any treatment is to control pain and inflammation, reduce joint damage, disability and loss of function and improve quality of life, and acupuncture treatment seeks to support these aims.

In 2011, this fascinating study looking into the benefits of homeopathic intervention in patients with chronic, active but relatively stable Rheumatoid Arthritis, found that there were ‘significant clinical benefits that are attributable mainly to the homeopathic consultation process’ but that ‘there appeared to be no specific benefit from the homeopathic remedies themselves’.

This was the first study to identify that the benefits of homeopathy are attributable to the consultation, a process that involves ‘communication skills, empathy, hopefulness, enablement and narrative competence’, all factors which are key to the holistic treatment of any ‘dis-ease’ of the body and mind.