Baker's Cyst

A 1kg increase in body weight places approximately 4 to 6 times greater load on the knee joint. Obese patients have a significantly higher incidence of knee osteoarthritis, along with consequently high prevalence rates of synovitis and Baker's cysts. Weight loss contributes to the improvement of lesions causing cysts by lowering intra-articular pressure and reducing inflammatory cytokines (particularly adipokines derived from adipose tissue). In Korean medicine, obesity is the result of water retention and the accumulation of waste fluid caused by impaired digestive and metabolic functions. This bodily tendency often leads to fluid-filled cysts behind the knee—namely, Baker's cysts. Therefore, weight management and the treatment of Baker's cysts share the same pathology from a Korean medical perspective. Herbal medicines that strengthen digestive and metabolic functions and promote water metabolism correct the body's tendency for waste fluid to accumulate easily, thereby simultaneously facilitating weight normalization and cyst absorption; thus, knee treatment and constitutional improvement proceed as a single, continuous process.