Preliminary Study on Acupuncture Combined with Grain-sized Moxibustion for Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis with Finger Joint Pain

Most patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often start with pain and swelling in the joints of the extremities, especially the small joints of the hands. At present, the etiology of RA remains unclear, and its pathological process is difficult to control. In clinical treatment, Western medicine mostly uses non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), glucocorticoids, biologics, etc. While they can alleviate local joint symptoms and reduce inflammatory responses, long-term use may cause significant adverse effects and high costs. In recent years, there has been an increasing application of external Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapies for treating RA, with a growing number of related studies. In this study, we observed acupuncture combined with grain-sized moxibustion in the treatment of RA with finger joint pain, assessed the changes in tender joint counts (TJC), duration of morning stiffness, the visual analog scale (VAS), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level of the patients before and after treatment. The results indicated that acupuncture combined with grain-sized moxibustion was more effective in reducing finger joint pain compared to therapy with simple basic medication for treating RA. Guided by the theory of syndrome differentiation in TCM, this therapy exerts its effects primarily through the stimulation of acupoints and warmth. It offers advantages such as safety, simplicity, ease of operation, precise targeting, and low price, which makes it expected to become a potential complementary therapy to relieve finger joint pain associated with RA and further improve the quality of life for RA patients. The purpose of this study is to provide a standardized operational reference for treating RA with finger joint pain by acupuncture combined with grain-sized moxibustion based on the clinical trial.