Review Article

Chinese Herbal Bath Therapy for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Table 2

Top 20 Chinese herbs and efficacy according to the frequency of usage in 15 bath prescriptions.

English nameLatin nameChinese Pinyin nameFrequency of usage

Pain relief
 Garden Balsam StemCaulis ImpatientisTougucao11
 Common Clubmoss HerbHerba LycopodiiShenjincao9
 Clematis RootRadix ClematidisWeilingxian8
 Bark of Himalayan CoralbeanErythrina variegata Haitongpi6
 Doubleteeth Pubescent Angilica RootRadix Angelicae PubescentisDuhuo6
 Common Floweringquince FruitFructus ChaenomelisMugua6
 Slenderstyle Acanthopanax BarkCortex AcanthopanacisWujiapi5
 Divaricate Saposhnikovia RootRadix SaposhnikoviaeFangfeng5
 Manchurian WildgingerHerba AsariXixin4
Activating blood circulation
 SafflowerFlos CarthamiHonghua10
 Twotooth Achyranthes RootRadix Achyranthis BidentataeNiuxi8
 Chinese AngelicaRadix Angelicae SinensisDanggui8
 Suberect Spatholobus StemCaulis SpatholobiJixueteng5
 Sappan WoodLignum SappanSumu4
 Szechuan Lovage RhizomeRhizoma ChuanxiongChuanxiong4
Anti-rheumatic effects
 Common Monkshood Mother RootRadix AconitiChuanwu8
 Cassia TwigRamulus CinnamomiGuizhi8
 Kusnezoff Monkshood RootRadix Aconiti KusnezoffiiCaowu7
 Pricklyash PeelFructus ZanthoxyliHuajiao7
 Argy Wormwood LeafFolium Artemisiae ArgyiAiye6

These herbs are thought to have anti-inflammatory effects.