Pain and stiffness in the neck, back and hip, due to spondylitis or spondylosis, is increasingly common. And our modern lifestyle of not enough physical activity and too much time hunched over our computers and cell phones isn’t helping. But a herbal combination of boswellia and curcumin is!
This 28 day, double-blind study gave either a placebo or a combination of standardized boswellia and curcumin extracts to 93 people with mild-to-moderate spondylitis with pain and stiffness in neck, back or hip. The most common pain was neck pain.
According to the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), improvement in pain and joint stiffness in the herb group was already evident by day 7, becoming marked by day 14 and continuing to improve through to day 28.
By the end of the 4 week study, pain in the neck, hip and pain was reduced by a significant 76.09%. Pain and swelling in other parts or joints improved by 66.46%. Morning stiffness improved by a significant 70.01%, while total score improved by a significant 65.46%.
Neck pain was the most common complaint, and the boswellia-curcumin combo significantly improved scores on the Neck Disability Index (NDI).
Compared to the placebo group, the herbal group used less topical pain killers. 40% required none by the end of the study. The same was true of oral pain meds. In the placebo group, use of pain medication went up; in the herbal group went down.
The herbal combination was safe.
This study is important for a lot of people. It shows that the herbal combination of boswellia and curcumin significantly improves pain and joint stiffness in people with spondylitis.
Front. Pharmacol. 2025;16:1577429.