Awaiting clinical review. This page is built from sourced entries but has not yet been signed off by a pharmacist or clinician.
Natural remedies for joints and inflammation
Direct answer
The best-supported supplements for joint pain are concentrated curcumin for knee osteoarthritis and willow bark extract for short flare-ups of low back pain, both rated 3 (moderate), and in both cases the trials are short and the benefit is modest or uncertain. For most people with knee osteoarthritis, exercise has a larger evidence base than any supplement here. The caution that matters most is that curcumin has rare reports of liver injury and willow bark is a salicylate, related to aspirin.
Compare the options
Click a column heading to sort.
| Rated for | Typical form & use | Main caution | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curcumin Curcuminoid extract of Curcuma longa | Moderate | Knee osteoarthritis pain and function | Curcuminoid extract; doses vary widely | Rare liver injury, esp. high-absorption products | 4+ weeks |
| Willow bark Salix spp. (bark), e.g. S. alba | Moderate | Low back pain flare-ups | Ethanol extract, 120–240 mg salicin/day | Salicylate: not with aspirin allergy or under 18 | About a week |
| Devil's claw Harpagophytum procumbens (root) | Limited | Osteoarthritis pain | Root extract, 50–100 mg harpagoside/day | Not with active stomach or duodenal ulcer | 4+ weeks |
| Ginger Zingiber officinale (rhizome) | Limited | Knee osteoarthritis pain | Capsule (powdered root); doses vary | Warfarin: may raise bleeding risk | Same night |
| Nettle Urtica dioica (root and leaf) | Limited | Joint pain from osteoarthritis (fresh leaf on skin) | Fresh leaf on skin, daily for a week | Stings; little safety data beyond one trial | 4+ weeks |
| Omega-3 Fish or algal oil (EPA and DHA) | Limited | Joint pain in rheumatoid arthritis | Fish oil capsule (EPA and DHA) | Higher doses linked to atrial fibrillation | 4+ weeks |
| Tart Cherry Prunus cerasus (Montmorency fruit) | Limited | Gout flares and uric acid | Concentrate, 7.5–30 ml twice daily | Not a substitute for gout treatment | About a week |
| Turmeric Curcuma longa (rhizome) | Limited | Knee osteoarthritis pain and function | Standardised curcumin extract capsule | Rare liver injury reported with supplements | 4+ weeks |
- Rated for
- Knee osteoarthritis pain and function
- Form
- Curcuminoid extract; doses vary widely
- Onset
- 4+ weeks
- Rated for
- Low back pain flare-ups
- Form
- Ethanol extract, 120–240 mg salicin/day
- Onset
- About a week
- Rated for
- Osteoarthritis pain
- Form
- Root extract, 50–100 mg harpagoside/day
- Onset
- 4+ weeks
- Rated for
- Knee osteoarthritis pain
- Form
- Capsule (powdered root); doses vary
- Onset
- Same night
- Rated for
- Joint pain from osteoarthritis (fresh leaf on skin)
- Form
- Fresh leaf on skin, daily for a week
- Onset
- 4+ weeks
- Rated for
- Joint pain in rheumatoid arthritis
- Form
- Fish oil capsule (EPA and DHA)
- Onset
- 4+ weeks
- Rated for
- Gout flares and uric acid
- Form
- Concentrate, 7.5–30 ml twice daily
- Onset
- About a week
- Rated for
- Knee osteoarthritis pain and function
- Form
- Standardised curcumin extract capsule
- Onset
- 4+ weeks
Quick picks
Rated 3 for knee osteoarthritis pain: a 2021 meta-analysis of 16 trials (1,810 adults, up to 16 weeks) found less pain than placebo (SMD -0.82), but results varied widely between trials and a 2026 review rated the methods of the pooled reviews extremely low quality.
Gentlest optionGingerRated 2 for knee osteoarthritis pain: seven pooled trials showed a small drop in pain, but the reviewers called the evidence insufficient because the trials were poor quality. The main cautions are pregnancy (the EU regulator prefers avoiding it) and warfarin.
Traditional favouriteDevil's clawRated 2 for low back pain and for osteoarthritis. The Cochrane review found low-quality evidence of short-term pain relief at 50 to 100 mg harpagoside a day, and the osteoarthritis results are mixed.
Talk to a doctor first if…
Who should avoid
Pregnancy and breastfeeding are on the avoid list for curcumin, turmeric, willow bark, devil's claw and nettle leaf, and under-18s should avoid willow bark (Reye's syndrome risk), devil's claw and turmeric. Do not use willow bark if you are allergic to aspirin, other salicylates or NSAIDs, or have an active stomach ulcer, and devil's claw is also contraindicated with an active stomach or duodenal ulcer. Avoid curcumin and turmeric if you have liver disease, and see a doctor first for joint pain with swelling, redness or fever.
Known interactions
Willow bark may increase the effect of anticoagulants such as coumarin derivatives, and taking it with aspirin or other NSAID painkillers is not recommended without medical advice (both rated 2, caution). Ginger, devil's claw, curcumin and omega-3 have lower-rated (severity 1) reports or plausible concerns with blood thinners, so ask a pharmacist before adding any of them to warfarin or antiplatelet drugs.
Before you reach for an ingredient
For knee osteoarthritis, exercise, and weight loss if you are overweight, have larger trial evidence than any supplement here, although the benefits are modest.
- Exercise for knee osteoarthritis: a 2024 Cochrane review of 139 trials (12,468 people) found low-to-moderate certainty evidence that exercise probably improves pain, physical function and quality of life in the short term, with no difference between types of exercise. The reviewers say the benefit may not reach a clinically important size, and most trials were not blinded.6
- Weight loss with exercise: in overweight or obese adults with knee osteoarthritis, a 2019 meta-analysis found diet alone did not reduce pain (SMD -0.13, 95% CI -0.37 to 0.10), while diet combined with exercise reduced it moderately (SMD -0.37); both improved physical function.7
Questions people ask
Does turmeric help arthritis?
Concentrated curcumin extracts have reduced knee osteoarthritis pain more than placebo in short trials (rated 3), but plain turmeric powder or the spice is rated only 2 because the trials tested extracts. Reviews rate the certainty as low, and there are rare reports of serious liver injury with supplements.
Is willow bark the same as aspirin?
Willow bark contains salicin, a salicylate related to aspirin, so the same cautions apply: it is not suitable if you are allergic to aspirin, under 18, or taking anticoagulants or NSAIDs without medical advice. A small study found it reduced platelet clotting far less than low-dose aspirin.
Can cherry juice prevent gout attacks?
Not reliably. An observational study linked eating cherries to fewer attacks, but a 28-day randomised trial in people with gout found no effect of tart cherry concentrate on urate or flares (rated 2). Do not use it instead of prescribed gout treatment.
Does fish oil help joint pain?
In rheumatoid arthritis, a 2024 meta-analysis of 23 placebo-controlled trials found a small, statistically uncertain effect on pain (SMD -0.16, 95% CI -0.40 to 0.09), rated 2. We found no osteoarthritis review we could read, so the rating covers rheumatoid arthritis only.
Sources
- Meta-analysis Wang Z, Singh A, Jones G, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Turmeric Extracts for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2021.
- Systematic review Chen J, Zhou Q, Yu W, et al. A critical review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of curcumin for knee osteoarthritis. Front Pharmacol. 2026.
- Systematic review Oltean H, Robbins C, van Tulder MW, Berman BM, Bombardier C, Gagnier JJ. Herbal medicine for low-back pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014.
- Case series Halegoua-DeMarzio D, Navarro V, Ahmad J, et al. Liver Injury Associated with Turmeric - A Growing Problem: Ten Cases from the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network. Am J Med. 2023.
- Regulator monograph European Medicines Agency HMPC. European Union herbal monograph on Salix [various species including S. purpurea L., S. daphnoides Vill., S. fragilis L.], cortex (EMA/HMPC/80630/2016 - Corr 1). 2017.
- Systematic review Lawford BJ, Hall M, Hinman RS, et al. Exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024.
- Meta-analysis Hall M, Castelein B, Wittoek R, Calders P, Van Ginckel A. Diet-induced weight loss alone or combined with exercise in overweight or obese people with knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2019.
- Systematic review Gkiouras K, Grammatikopoulou MG, Myrogiannis I, et al. Efficacy of n-3 fatty acid supplementation on rheumatoid arthritis' disease activity indicators: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2024.
Draft, awaiting clinical review