We found no statistically significant differences in pain on the McGill Question naire or in physical disability ( very low level of evidence ) between balneotherapy and the other interventions .
Overall evidence is insufficient to show that balneotherapy is more effective than no treatment , that one type of bath is more effective than another or that one type of bath is more effective than mudpacks , exercise or relaxation therapy
BACKGROUND No cure for rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ) is known at present , so treatment often focuses on management of symptoms such as pain , stiffness and mobility .
Treatment options include pharmacological interventions , physical therapy treatments and balneotherapy .
Balneotherapy is defined as bathing in natural mineral or thermal waters ( e.g. mineral baths , sulphur baths , Dead Sea baths ) , using mudpacks or doing both .
Despite its popularity , reported scientific evidence for the effectiveness or efficacy of balneotherapy is sparse .
This review , which evaluates the effects of balneotherapy in patients with RA , is an up date of a Cochrane review first published in 2003 and up date d in 2008 .
OBJECTIVES To perform a systematic review on the benefits and harms of balneotherapy in patients with RA in terms of pain , improvement , disability , tender joints , swollen joints and adverse events .
Prolonged effects of 3 week therapy in a spa resort on lumbar spine, knee and hip osteoarthritis: follow-up after 6 months. A randomized controlled trial.
Spa therapy is frequently used in daily rheumatological practice , but its benefit remains to be evaluated . A prospect i ve r and omized controlled study was conducted in 1993 in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip , knee or lumbar spine . Treatment was either  spa therapy at Vichy ( France ) of 3 weeks duration ( spa group ) or usual therapy ( control group ) . Assessment criteria were pain ( visual analogue scale ) , functional impairment ( Lequesne 's index for hip or knee disease , Main and Waddell 's for lumbar spinal diseases ) , quality of life index [ revised Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale ( AIMS 2 ) ] , and  analgesic and /or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ( NSAID ) consumption .  Patients were included by r and omization into one of the two arms ( spa or control ) and assessment criteria were collected before spa therapy or the control period , and 3 and 24 weeks thereafter . A total of 188 patients ( lumbar spine 95 , knee 64 , hip 29 ) were included in the study ( spa group 91 , control group 97 ) . Changes in the assessment criteria after a 6 month follow-up period showed improvement in terms of pain , functional impairment and quality of life , with a reduced intake of symptomatic drugs ( NSAID and analgesic drugs ) in the spa group . This study suggests that spa therapy of 3 weeks duration has a prolonged , beneficial , symptomatic effect in osteoarthritis
We found no statistically significant differences in pain on the McGill Question naire or in physical disability ( very low level of evidence ) between balneotherapy and the other interventions .
Overall evidence is insufficient to show that balneotherapy is more effective than no treatment , that one type of bath is more effective than another or that one type of bath is more effective than mudpacks , exercise or relaxation therapy
BACKGROUND No cure for rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ) is known at present , so treatment often focuses on management of symptoms such as pain , stiffness and mobility .
Treatment options include pharmacological interventions , physical therapy treatments and balneotherapy .
Balneotherapy is defined as bathing in natural mineral or thermal waters ( e.g. mineral baths , sulphur baths , Dead Sea baths ) , using mudpacks or doing both .
Despite its popularity , reported scientific evidence for the effectiveness or efficacy of balneotherapy is sparse .
This review , which evaluates the effects of balneotherapy in patients with RA , is an up date of a Cochrane review first published in 2003 and up date d in 2008 .
OBJECTIVES To perform a systematic review on the benefits and harms of balneotherapy in patients with RA in terms of pain , improvement , disability , tender joints , swollen joints and adverse events .