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 .
Dead Sea bath salts for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Thirty patients with classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis were r and omly divided into two groups of fifteen patients each of similar age , sex , duration and severity of disease , and medical treatment . All patients were treated once a day with bath salts heated to 35 degrees C for twenty minutes . Group I received Dead Sea bath salts and Group II , the control group , received sodium chloride ( NaCl ) . The study was double-blind and of two weeks ' duration . All patients were evaluated by one rheumatologist both before treatment , and two weeks later at the end of the treatment period . Follow-up evaluations were made one and three months after conclusion of the treatments . The clinical parameters evaluated included duration of morning stiffness , fifteen meter walk time , h and -grip strength , activities of daily living , circumference of proximal interphalangeal joints , number of active joints , Ritchie index and the patient 's own assessment of disease activity . The laboratory parameters evaluated included erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum levels of amyloid A , rheumatoid factor , sodium , potassium , calcium and magnesium . A statistically significant improvement ( p less than 0.01 or p less than 0.05 ) was observed in Group I only , in most of the clinical parameters assessed . Maximal therapeutic effect was obtained at the end of the treatment and lasted up to one month
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 .