Traditional Chinese Medicine for Managing Inflammatory Pain of Arthritis with Herbal Medicines

Arthritis is an inflammatory condition that affects millions of people worldwide. However, this condition is often difficult to treat because of the extensive individual variability in disease presentation. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) represents one of the first holistic approaches for managing the inflammatory pain associated with arthritis. As a major component of TCM, herbs and herbal formulas are considered to possess anti-arthritic and symptom relief properties. Compared to Western Medicine, which focuses on the use of single- ingredient pharmaceuticals, TCM often involves multi-herb therapies. Much of the evidence surrounding herbal remedies is anecdotal, and scientific research is lacking. Therefore, consumers are confronted with the risk of using unstandardized treatments. This review highlights the current science and knowledge of major herbs used in TCM to treat arthritis.