While treating a 65-year-old woman for knee osteoarthritis, doctors in South Korea discovered hundreds of pure gold threads inserted in her legs.

The unnamed patient had previously experienced severe pain and stiffness in her knees due to osteoarthritis and had been prescribed painkillers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and even steroid injections directly into her knees, none of which proved effective enough to allow her to lead a normal, pain-free life. Not only did the pain not go away, but she developed negative side effects because of the drugs, including severe stomach pain, so she decided to give alternative medicine a chance, more specifically, a controversial procedure known as gold thread acupuncture.