When a 65-year-old South Korean woman went to the hospital for an examination of her painful knee, doctors were expecting to find the familiar signs of osteoarthritis.
They were not expecting to find gold.
Yet that is essentially what appeared on her medical images: numerous tiny, gold-colored needles embedded around her knee joints.
The unusual discovery was connected to an alternative treatment the woman had turned to after conventional medications failed to provide sufficient relief. Her case, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers a fascinating glimpse into the intersection of traditional medicine, chronic pain and the potential risks of leaving foreign objects inside the human body.
Living With Constant Joint Pain
Osteoarthritis can be a frustrating and debilitating condition, particularly when it affects the knees.
The disease develops gradually as the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of bones inside a joint wears down. As that cushioning becomes thinner, movement can become increasingly uncomfortable. Patients may experience pain, stiffness, swelling and reduced mobility, with symptoms sometimes becoming severe enough to interfere with everyday activities.
For someone with advanced knee osteoarthritis, ordinary movements can suddenly require considerable effort.
Climbing a flight of stairs may become painful. Bending down to tie a pair of shoes can be difficult. Walking a short distance that once seemed effortless may turn into a slow, uncomfortable journey.
Over time, persistent pain can affect much more than a person's ability to move. It can interfere with sleep, exercise, work and other routine activities, gradually changing the way someone goes about daily life.
The 65-year-old woman described in the case had been dealing with osteoarthritis and the pain associated with it. She had tried conventional medications, including pain relievers and anti-inflammatory drugs, but according to the report, they did not provide adequate relief.
Worse, the medications caused unwanted stomach problems.
With few satisfactory options remaining, she decided to try a different approach.
Turning to Acupuncture
The woman eventually underwent acupuncture, a traditional treatment that has been practiced for centuries.
Acupuncture involves inserting very thin needles into specific points of the body. Practitioners believe that stimulating these points can help relieve pain and address various health problems. The practice is widely used in several parts of Asia and has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly as an approach to managing chronic pain.
But in this woman's case, the treatment went a step further.
Instead of simply inserting needles temporarily and removing them during the same treatment session, tiny pieces of what were presumed to be gold were left in and around her knee joints.
The idea behind the technique was to provide prolonged stimulation to the area.
For the patient, these tiny pieces of material were intended to serve a therapeutic purpose.
For the doctors who later examined her knee, however, they presented a very different sight.
There, scattered throughout the joint region, were numerous small metallic objects.
In other words, the woman had effectively been carrying a collection of tiny gold needles inside her knees.
And while that may sound intriguing — even like a medical version of buried treasure — doctors caution that deliberately leaving foreign objects inside the body is not without potential consequences.
When the Body Encounters a Foreign Object
The human body is remarkably protective of itself.
When the immune system encounters something that does not belong inside the body, it may attempt to isolate, surround or eliminate it. This can trigger what doctors describe as a foreign-body reaction or a chronic inflammatory response.
Dr. Ali Guermazi, a professor of radiology at Boston University who was not involved in the woman's case, explained that foreign objects left inside the body can potentially cause inflammation, abscesses and infections.
The body's response can vary depending on the material involved, its location and how long it remains there.
One possible reaction is the formation of fibrous tissue around the foreign object. Essentially, the body attempts to wall off something it cannot easily remove.
As Guermazi explained, the human body generally tries to get rid of foreign material by activating defensive mechanisms such as inflammation and the formation of tissue around the object.
Even something as small as a needle can therefore become medically significant when it remains inside the body for an extended period.
The Problem Doesn't End With Inflammation
There is another issue that can easily be overlooked: medical imaging.
Tiny metallic objects embedded in a joint may interfere with the ability of doctors to clearly interpret certain images. Guermazi noted that embedded needles can obscure portions of the anatomy on X-rays, potentially making it more difficult to evaluate the surrounding structures.
That can become particularly important if a patient develops another medical problem years later and needs diagnostic imaging.
MRI scans are a notable concern.
Unlike an ordinary X-ray, magnetic resonance imaging uses a powerful magnetic field to create detailed images of structures inside the body. Certain metallic objects can be affected by that magnetic field, depending on their composition, shape and location.
Guermazi warned that retained needles can create safety concerns in an MRI environment because some metallic objects may move under the influence of the magnetic field.
If a metallic object were to shift near a blood vessel or another sensitive structure, the consequences could potentially be serious.
That means a treatment intended to provide long-term relief for one painful condition could potentially complicate medical care for an entirely different condition later in life.
A Traditional Treatment With Modern Questions
Acupuncture has a long history and remains widely practiced around the world.
However, the scientific evidence supporting acupuncture varies depending on the condition being treated, and evidence that it can directly treat or cure many underlying medical diseases remains limited.
That has not stopped millions of people from using acupuncture, particularly for pain management.
In parts of Asia, techniques involving the placement of tiny pieces of sterile gold thread around joints have been used as an alternative approach to treating arthritis and other painful joint conditions.
For people who pursue such treatments, the appeal is understandable. Chronic pain can be difficult to manage, and when conventional medications produce side effects or fail to provide adequate relief, patients may look for other options.
But the unusual case of this South Korean woman highlights an important distinction: something being used as an alternative treatment does not automatically mean that it is risk-free.
Any procedure that introduces material into the body carries potential risks, particularly when that material is intended to remain there.
A “Treasure” Hidden in Plain Sight
The discovery inside this woman's knees is certainly unusual.
A patient arrived seeking help for a painful, degenerative joint condition, and medical imaging revealed something that sounds almost unbelievable at first: dozens of tiny metallic pieces associated with a previous acupuncture treatment.
They may have been intended to provide continued stimulation and relief.
Instead, they became permanent foreign objects inside her body — objects that could potentially affect inflammation, medical imaging and future treatment decisions.
The story is a striking reminder of how complex the human body can be, and how treatments designed to help us can sometimes create unexpected consequences.
For this woman, the gold in her knees was not a hidden fortune that could be taken to a jeweler or turned into cash.
It was something far more complicated: a lasting record of an alternative approach she had chosen in an attempt to escape chronic pain.
And perhaps that is the most fascinating part of the story.
Sometimes, medicine uncovers things that nobody expects to find. In this case, doctors literally found a tiny “treasure trove” inside a patient's knees — but it also served as a reminder that when it comes to the human body, what looks like treasure on an X-ray can come with a very different kind of price.