A 65-year-old woman in South Korea went in for an X-ray due to severe knee pain\u2014and doctors found hundreds of tiny gold needles embedded in her joints.<\/p>\n
She had been suffering from osteoarthritis and turned to acupuncture after standard treatments failed. In her case, the needles were intentionally left inside her body to provide ongoing stimulation, a practice sometimes used in alternative medicine.<\/p>\n
However, medical experts warn this can be dangerous. Foreign objects in the body can trigger inflammation, infections, or abscesses. They may also interfere with imaging tests, and procedures like MRI scans become risky because metal can move under strong magnetic forces and cause serious internal damage.<\/p>\n
Her case, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, highlights the potential dangers of extreme alternative treatments. While acupuncture is widely used and often safe when done properly, leaving materials inside the body is controversial and not strongly supported by scientific evidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"