We found silver level evidence ( www.cochranemsk.org ) concerning the beneficial effects of mineral baths compared to no treatment .
Of all other balneological treatments no clear effects were found .
BACKGROUND Balneotherapy ( or spa therapy , mineral baths ) for patients with arthritis is one of the oldest forms of therapy .
One of the aims of balneotherapy is to soothe the pain and as a consequence to relieve patients ' suffering and make them feel well .
In this up date we included one extra study .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effectiveness of  balneotherapy  for patients with osteoarthritis ( OA ) .
Balneophototherapy of psoriasis: highly concentrated salt water versus tap water--a randomized, one-blind, right/left comparative study.
BACKGROUND / PURPOSE Apart from climatotherapy and spa therapy , combined treatment with salt water baths and artificial UV radiation ( balneophototherapy ) has been advocated for the treatment of psoriasis . As there is a lack of controlled studies on balneophototherapy ( BPT ) , we conducted a r and omized , one-blind , right/left comparison with salt water versus tap water in order to investigate the significance of the salt concentration in the efficacy of BPT . METHODS Ten psoriasis patients with chronic plaques on the elbows were included in the study . One elbow was soaked in 24 % NaCl solution and the other in tap water . Subsequently , broadb and UVB irradiation was administered . BPT was performed 4 times weekly with a total of 30 treatments . RESULTS A highly significant ( P<0.001 ) decrease of the clinical baseline score was observed after 30 treatments ; however , there was no significant ( P>0.5 ) difference in clearance of the psoriatic lesions between the sites soaked in salt water and tap water . CONCLUSION Our results suggest that any additional benefit of soaking in salt water and tap water in BPT are unlikely to be due to the salinity of the liquids
We found silver level evidence ( www.cochranemsk.org ) concerning the beneficial effects of mineral baths compared to no treatment .
Of all other balneological treatments no clear effects were found .
BACKGROUND Balneotherapy ( or spa therapy , mineral baths ) for patients with arthritis is one of the oldest forms of therapy .
One of the aims of balneotherapy is to soothe the pain and as a consequence to relieve patients ' suffering and make them feel well .
In this up date we included one extra study .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effectiveness of  balneotherapy  for patients with osteoarthritis ( OA ) .