Comparison of the effect of ginger by skin patch and oral capsule on pain intensity, joint dryness, and daily functioning of patients with knee osteoarthritis

Introduction: Knee osteoarthritis is the most common arthritis and musculoskeletal disease. The low efficacy and significant side effects of synthetic drugs in the treatment of this disease have led many researchers to look for a drug that is effective but has fewer side effects. Recently, ginger is one of the most popular herbal remedies in the treatment of this disease. This study aimed to compare the effect of ginger by skin patch and oral capsule on pain intensity, joint dryness, and daily performance of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Materials and Methods: This was a three-group clinical trial study that was performed on patients referred to Afshar orthopedic clinic in Dezful in 2015. Sampling was available. Subjects were randomly divided into three groups according to the table of random numbers: skin patch, ginger capsule, and control. All three groups received treatment prescribed by an orthopedic specialist. In addition, the ginger capsule group used 2 500 mg ginger capsules daily and the ginger skin patch group used one ginger skin patch daily in the middle of the waist for 9 weeks. The data collection tool was a demographic questionnaire and a translated version of the Arthritis Index of Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC). One-way analysis of variance, paired t-test, and Tukey post hoc test aswas used to analyze the data. A significant level were considered 0.05. Results: The total number of participants in the study was 135.In the groups of ginger capsules, ginger skin patch, and control. the mean pain intensity before the intervention was 13.08, 14.52, and 13.55, respectively, and after the intervention, it decreased to 7.05, 8.62, and 11.37(P<0.00). Conclusion: Ginger in both oral capsules and skin patches is effective in reducing the severity of pain and dysfunction in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. It seems that only oral capsules reduce joint dryness and the ginger skin patch is ineffective.