Patients with chronically painful diseases often seek alternative therapy. Ginger is one of the most popular herbal medications for rheumatic diseases. However, there are few experimental documents on its beneficial effects. Therefore, in this study the effect of ethanolic ginger extract and placebo were examined in 80 patients with osteoarthritis. The patients were randomized into two treatment groups (control and ginger extract, n=40) and given either two capsules containing 30 mg ginger extract or placebo daily for a period of one month. Acetaminophen was used as rescue medication throughout the study. The results showed that ginger extract was more effective than placebo in reducing mechanical and gelling pain in patients with osteoarthritis. Furthermore, there were not any side effects during the treatment period with these medications. Taken together, it is concluded that instead of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, ginger extract can be used as a suitable alternative medicine and/or supplementation in reducing the pain in patients with osteoarthritis.

Keywords: Ginger; Ethanolic extract; Osteoarthritis; Pain; Alternative medicine