The answer may be yes. Low-dose radiation therapy is increasingly being used effectively to treat mild to moderate osteoarthritis.
Medical contributions and review by Kamila Nowak Choi, MD.
Could it be an option for you? Your primary care provider or an orthopedic specialist can offer you personalized guidance on how to best treat osteoarthritis and relieve your symptoms, but keep reading to learn more about how low-dose radiation therapy works.
Making Sense of Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is one of the most common medical conditions in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 33 million U.S. adults have osteoarthritis, which is the most common type of arthritis. This degenerative joint disease often affects joints such as the knees and hips.
The condition was long thought to be caused by wear and tear on the joints that happens naturally as people age. In recent years, though, researchers have come to understand that it’s a disease that affects the entire joint, including bone, cartilage, ligaments, fat and the tissue lining the joint.
As osteoarthritis develops, it can degrade the joint, leading to many uncomfortable and even disruptive symptoms, including pain, joint stiffness, swelling, clicking or popping in the joint, joint instability (feeling like the joint may give out), and a limited range of motion.
Osteoarthritis is usually treated using a combination of therapies, including lifestyle changes, over-the-counter and prescription pain medications, injected corticosteroids, physical therapy and joint replacement.
How Radiation Therapy Works
When you think about radiation therapy, sometimes called radiotherapy, cancer treatment might come to mind. While radiation therapy is used to treat many forms of cancer, that isn’t the only disease it can treat.
Radiation treatment is also used to treat noncancerous tumors, other skin growths, eye conditions, nerve pain — and osteoarthritis.
This type of treatment works by focusing X-rays, a type of electromagnetic radiation, on a specific part of the body. When treating cancer, radiation oncologists direct high-energy X-rays (or other rays) toward cancer in the body, which damages the DNA of cancer cells, causing them to die off.
Radiation therapy for osteoarthritis works differently. The treatment lowers inflammation in the body, reducing swelling and relieving symptoms like pain and stiffness. Providers also use lower doses of radiation when treating arthritis, and the radiation is aimed specifically at the affected joints, reducing damage to nearby organs and tissues. This lowers the risk of side effects from therapy and minimizes cumulative radiation exposure, while still providing symptom relief.
Breaking Down Low-Dose Radiation for Osteoarthritis
It might surprise you to learn that low-dose radiation was a relatively common treatment for osteoarthritis in the United States several decades ago. This form of treatment fell out of favor as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) became more common and more accessible.
While low-dose radiation for osteoarthritis hasn’t been used much in the United States since the 1980s, it remained a common treatment for the condition in other countries around the world. Now, it’s regaining attention in the United States as a viable method of treating osteoarthritis for those who have mild to moderate symptoms.
A study presented at the 2025 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting found that participants who received low-dose radiation for osteoarthritis experienced meaningful improvement in pain, stiffness and physical function as compared with those who received a placebo.
A press release from ASTRO notes that “radiation therapy may be best suited for patients with underlying inflammation and preserved joint structure.” That means that those who have mild to moderate pain and don’t yet need surgical treatment could benefit from low-dose radiation.
The safety of therapy and minimal side effects can make radiation therapy a viable option for treating osteoarthritis in older adults and those who have certain chronic medical conditions.
What to Expect from Low-Dose Radiation for Osteoarthritis
If a medical provider suggests low-dose radiation therapy to help ease your osteoarthritis symptoms, the process is fairly simple.
During a radiation session, you’ll be positioned comfortably while the affected joint is targeted with a small dose of radiation. The radiation dose used in the study mentioned above, for example, was less than 5% of what’s typically used in a radiation therapy treatment for cancer.
The radiation itself is painless. Once the session is complete, you’ll be able to return to your normal activities with no need for downtime.
Because the small doses of radiation are targeted directly at the inflamed joint and away from other body parts, this treatment typically causes few to no side effects. You may experience skin redness at the spot of radiation, but that usually goes away quickly.
When meeting with a radiation oncologist about low-dose radiation for osteoarthritis, the specialist can advise you about how many sessions you’ll need and other basics about the treatment. This can vary depending on your symptoms and whether you need treatment for more than one joint.
The Bottom Line
If you’re experiencing mild to moderate osteoarthritis, you might benefit from treatment using low-dose radiation therapy. Radiation therapy has been used worldwide for decades to treat osteoarthritis by reducing inflammation in an affected joint.
It hasn’t been used much in the United States since the 1980s when NSAIDs became widely used, but recent research into the benefits of low-dose radiation for osteoarthritis may change that.
While benefits vary from person to person, many people experience reduced pain and relief from other symptoms of osteoarthritis after radiation therapy, sometimes with as little as one treatment. It causes few to no side effects and requires little time.
In the future, low-dose radiation therapy may be used more frequently alongside medications and other therapies to treat mild to moderate osteoarthritis that does not require surgery.