30.7% less knee pain was reported after seven months using electrical muscle stimulation. Could gentle muscle activation really help people with arthritis move with less pain?

That question led researchers to study adults living with painful knee osteoarthritis. They followed 72 people in a randomized trial lasting seven full months. One group used whole-body electrical muscle stimulation for just 20 minutes per session. The other group received standard physiotherapy care commonly used for arthritis. Pain improved 30.7% with EMS, compared to only 12.5% with usual care. Daily pain scores dropped 1.78 points, while the control group dropped just 0.76. Standing from a chair improved by 4.3 repetitions with EMS. The usual care group improved by only 0.53 repetitions. Leg and hip strength increased by 104.9 newtons using EMS. That was more than three times higher than the comparison group. Fewer people still needed pain medication after seven months of EMS. Attendance stayed high at 88%, showing people could stick with this approach. The study was published in Scientific Reports by Nature Portfolio in the United Kingdom. If this surprised you, the full research reveals even more interesting details. Click the link to explore the full research digest, podcast, and original study. 👉 https://bit.ly/49D6Wxc