Thirty cases of rheumatoid arthritis were treated by the needle-warming method on bilateral Shenshu (BL 23), Zusanli (ST 36) and Quchi (LI 11), in combination with oral administration of Chinese herbal drugs, and 30 cases were treated by routine western medications for comparison.After treatment for three months, the effective rate was respectively 86.7% and 60.0% in the two groups and the difference of the therapeutic effect was statistically significant (P＜0.05).