When a 65-year-old woman from South Korea went to the hospital for chronic knee pain, doctors expected to see the usual signs of arthritis on her X-ray.
They did see that — but they also saw something else that left them stunned.
Her knees appeared to be packed with tiny, shimmering pieces of gold.
Living with painful osteoarthritis
Like millions of people worldwide, the woman had been struggling with osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease that slowly wears away the cartilage cushioning the bones. The condition often causes: stiffness, swelling, pain when walking, climbing stairs, or bending.
According to the report, she had tried standard treatments such as painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, but they either didn’t help enough or caused unpleasant stomach problems.
Looking for relief, she turned to an alternative she hoped would be gentler on her body: acupuncture.
Turning to acupuncture – and gold
As described in a case report published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the woman began receiving acupuncture specifically for her knee pain.
Traditional acupuncture uses thin needles placed at specific points on the body, usually for a short period of time. In some places, especially parts of Asia, there’s also a practice of inserting tiny pieces of gold thread or gold needles around painful joints and leaving them there for ongoing stimulation.
That’s what appears to have happened in this case:
The needles, believed to be made of gold, were inserted around the woman’s knees
Instead of being removed after treatment, they were left in place
Over time, more and more of these needles accumulated in her joints.
Why “foreign bodies” can be dangerous
The X-rays taken at the hospital showed classic signs of osteoarthritis — but they also revealed dozens, if not hundreds, of bright flecks scattered around both knee joints. To the eye, it looked almost like a “gold mine” hidden inside her legs.
Radiology expert Dr. Ali Guermazi from Boston University, who was not involved in the woman’s care but has commented on similar cases, explained why this is a serious concern:
The body sees these objects as foreign invaders
It can react with inflammation, scar tissue, abscesses, or infection
The immune system essentially tries to wall off or push out what doesn’t belong there
The presence of metal needles also makes medical imaging more complicated. On X-rays, they can obscure important structures. And on MRI scans, metal pieces can move or heat up, potentially damaging tissue or even blood vessels.
In short: what’s meant to help can end up making diagnosis and future treatment more difficult — and sometimes more dangerous.
Does acupuncture really work?
Acupuncture remains popular across the world, especially for joint and back pain, but scientific evidence for its effectiveness is still limited and mixed.
In some Asian countries, using gold thread around joints is a fairly common arthritis remedy. In the United States, acupuncture of various forms is also widely used: an estimated 3.1 million adults and 150,000 children received acupuncture treatment in 2007, according to data from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Many patients report feeling better, but experts warn that leaving any kind of needle or metal fragment in the body should not be taken lightly.
A glittering warning
The South Korean woman’s X-rays quickly attracted attention online because they look almost unreal — as if someone had sprinkled gold dust around her bones.
But behind the striking images is a simple message from doctors:
Foreign objects don’t belong inside your body
Even seemingly harmless “natural” or “traditional” treatments can have long-term consequences
Always be sure you understand exactly what a procedure involves — and whether anything will be left inside you afterward
For this patient, her “golden” knees have become a living reminder that alternative therapies can leave more than just a small mark. Sometimes, they leave a permanent trace that doctors can literally see shining back at them on an X-ray.
