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 ) .
A pilot study to evaluate the effects of floatation spa treatment on patients with osteoarthritis.
OBJECTIVE To conduct a preliminary investigation of the effects on floatation spa therapy on quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis to see if controlled trials are warranted . DESIGN Uncontrolled clinical trial . SETTING Private floatation spa therapy centre . PATIENTS Fourteen patients with chronic osteoarthritis of the weight-bearing joints , of whom four dropped out . INTERVENTION Six weekly sessions of floatation spa therapy . OUTCOME MEASURES SF36 , AIMS 2 and MYMOP quality -of-life question naires . MAIN RESULTS All patients improved . Differences between baseline and discharge scores showed statistically significant improvement for MYMOP , but not AIMS 2 or SF-36 . CONCLUSIONS Controlled trials of floatation spa therapy for patients with osteoarthritis are warranted
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 ) .