|ShilNepal Editorial
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Shilajit and Joint Pain: What the Evidence Shows

Shilajit is traditionally linked with bones and joints, and modern marketing often turns that into claims about joint pain and mobility. The research does not test that. There is no human trial of shilajit for joint pain or osteoarthritis. What exists is animal work on pain and inflammation, and two human trials on bone: one on bone density in postmenopausal women and one on fracture healing. Bone and joint are different tissues, so those trials cannot be read as evidence for joint pain. This article sets out each study, then shows how supplements as a class have performed in osteoarthritis trials.

In this article

  1. Pain and inflammation in animals
  2. Bone trials in humans
  3. Collagen marker
  4. How supplements performed in osteoarthritis
  5. Evidence summary
  6. References

Key takeaways

  • No human trial tested shilajit for joint pain, stiffness or osteoarthritis. The pain and inflammation findings are in mice and rats.
  • Two human bone trials exist: 60 postmenopausal women with osteopenia (bone density loss attenuated at 250 and 500 mg a day over 48 weeks) and 160 patients with tibial fractures (average union 129 days versus 153 days on placebo). These are bone outcomes, not joint pain.
  • In a meta-analysis of 69 osteoarthritis trials of 20 supplements, no supplement had clinically important effects on pain at long-term follow-up, and the evidence quality ranged from very low to high.

Pain and inflammation in animals

  • Chemically induced pain in mice (2015). In 176 mice, mumijo extract at 0.75 to 750 mg per kg significantly reduced pain responses in the formalin and writhing tests compared with distilled water, with effects statistically similar to diclofenac, in a dose-independent pattern in the formalin test (Malekzadeh 2015).
  • Diabetic neuropathy model (2019). A native shilajit aqueous extract at 100 and 200 mg per kg for six weeks reduced thermal hyperalgesia in diabetic rats compared with vehicle (Jafari 2019). The same paper reported only moderate antioxidant activity in the laboratory.
  • Rat inflammation models (1990). Shilajit had significant anti-inflammatory effects in carrageenan paw oedema, granuloma pouch and adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats (Goel 1990).

These are rodent models of acute or induced pain and inflammation. They suggest the material has biological activity, which is a reason for further research, but they do not show that it reduces osteoarthritis pain or stiffness in people, or at what dose.

The pain findings are in mice and rats. The human bone trials measured bone, not joints. No human trial tested joint pain.

Bone trials in humans

Bone density in postmenopausal women (2022). In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 60 postmenopausal women aged 45 to 65 with osteopenia took placebo, 250 mg or 500 mg of a standardised aqueous shilajit extract daily for 48 weeks. Lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral density fell progressively on placebo but the loss was dose-dependently attenuated with shilajit, with lower bone turnover markers (CTX-1, BALP, RANKL) and higher OPG, and reduced hsCRP compared with placebo (Pingali 2022).

Tibial fracture healing (2020). In a randomised, double-blind trial across three hospitals in Tehran, 160 patients aged 18 to 60 took two 500 mg capsules of momiai (shilajit) or placebo for 28 days after a tibial fracture. Mean time to bone union was 129 days with momiai and 153 days with placebo (p < 0.049), with no significant difference in adverse effects (Sadeghi 2020).

Both are single trials without independent replication that we could find, and the fracture trial's p-value sits just under the usual threshold. They are interesting for bone. They are not joint pain trials: osteoarthritis involves cartilage, the joint lining and surrounding tissues as well as bone, and pain relief was not a measured endpoint in either study.

Collagen marker

A randomised trial in 35 young men found that 500 mg and 1,000 mg a day of shilajit for 8 weeks raised serum pro-C1alpha1, a marker of type 1 collagen synthesis, versus no change on placebo (Neltner 2024). Collagen is a component of tendons, ligaments and bone, but a rise in a blood marker in healthy young men is not evidence of improved joint function or reduced pain. See Shilajit vs Collagen for how this compares with the collagen peptide trials.

How supplements performed in osteoarthritis

A 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine pooled 69 randomised trials of 20 oral supplements against placebo for hand, hip or knee osteoarthritis. Seven supplements showed large, clinically important short-term pain effects (collagen hydrolysate, passion fruit peel extract, Curcuma longa extract, Boswellia serrata extract, curcumin, pycnogenol and L-carnitine). Glucosamine and chondroitin, widely used, showed either no effect or small and arguably clinically unimportant effects. No supplement had clinically important effects on pain at long-term follow-up, and the quality of evidence ranged from very low to high (Liu 2018). Shilajit was not among the 20 supplements assessed.

Two practical points follow. First, supplement benefits in osteoarthritis tend to be short-lived and uncertain. Second, the interventions with the strongest evidence for osteoarthritis pain and function are not supplements: exercise and weight management when relevant. Persistent joint pain, swelling, night pain or a locked joint warrants a GP or physiotherapist assessment.

Evidence summary

Claim Strongest evidence found Key caveat
Reduces joint pain or stiffness None found No human trial located
Reduces pain responses Animal mice and rats: Malekzadeh 2015; Jafari 2019 Induced pain models
Anti-inflammatory Animal rats: Goel 1990 Paw oedema and arthritis models
Bone density Human RCT Pingali 2022, 60 women, 48 weeks Unreplicated; osteopenia population
Fracture healing Human RCT Sadeghi 2020, 160 patients, 28 days Single trial, borderline p-value; bone not joint
Collagen synthesis marker Human RCT Neltner 2024, 35 men Blood marker only

Lab results, batch #1093

Check what is in the tin

Because shilajit composition and metal content vary, a batch report is the way to know. Batch #1093 had heavy metals independently tested by Eurofins Food Australia, and the results are public.

Read the batch #1093 report

A lab report describes one batch. It does not show that a product treats or prevents any condition.

FAQ

Is shilajit good for joint pain or arthritis?

Not shown. No human trial tested joint pain or osteoarthritis. Animal studies found reduced pain responses and inflammation.

Does shilajit help bones?

Two human trials suggest possible bone effects (reduced bone density loss in postmenopausal women with osteopenia; faster tibial fracture union), both single trials without replication. Bone health is a medical matter: see a doctor about osteoporosis risk and fractures.

Does shilajit work like diclofenac or other painkillers?

In a mouse study some doses were statistically similar to diclofenac in pain tests. That is a mouse model and does not show it replaces or works like any medicine. Do not stop prescribed treatment.

What works best for osteoarthritis pain?

Exercise and weight management have the strongest evidence. A 2018 meta-analysis found supplement benefits were mostly short-term and of very low to high quality.

References

  1. Malekzadeh G, Dashti-Rahmatabadi MH, Zanbagh S, Akhavi Mirab-bashii A. Mumijo attenuates chemically induced inflammatory pain in mice. Altern Ther Health Med. 2015;21(2):42-47. PMID: 25830280.
  2. Jafari M, Forootanfar H, Ameri A, et al. Antioxidant, cytotoxic and hyperalgesia-suppressing activity of a native shilajit obtained from Bahr Aseman mountains. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2019;32(5):2167-2173. PMID: 31813884.
  3. Goel RK, Banerjee RS, Acharya SB. Antiulcerogenic and antiinflammatory studies with shilajit. J Ethnopharmacol. 1990;29(1):95-103. DOI: 10.1016/0378-8741(90)90102-y. PMID: 2345464.
  4. Pingali U, Nutalapati C. Shilajit extract reduces oxidative stress, inflammation, and bone loss to dose-dependently preserve bone mineral density in postmenopausal women with osteopenia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Phytomedicine. 2022;105:154334. DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2022.154334. PMID: 35933897.
  5. Sadeghi SMH, Hosseini Khameneh SM, Khodadoost M, et al. Efficacy of momiai in tibia fracture repair: a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2020;26(6):521-528. DOI: 10.1089/acm.2019.0453. PMID: 32310691.
  6. Neltner TJ, Sahoo PK, Smith RW, et al. Effects of 8 weeks of shilajit supplementation on serum pro-C1alpha1, a biomarker of type 1 collagen synthesis: a randomized control trial. J Diet Suppl. 2024;21(1):1-12. DOI: 10.1080/19390211.2022.2157522. PMID: 36546868.
  7. Liu X, Machado GC, Eyles JP, et al. Dietary supplements for treating osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52(3):167-175. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2016-097333. PMID: 29018060.

Findings above are drawn from published abstracts; full texts were not reviewed. This article is general information, not medical advice.

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