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 .
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 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 .