Spa (salus per aquam) therapy comprises a broad spectrum of therapeutic modalities including hydrotherapy, balneotherapy, physiotherapy, mud-pack therapy, exercise, and even the change in environment and lifestyle.
Nowadays, it still represents a popular treatment for many rheumatic diseases, because of their chronic nature, problems related to the use of drugs that often have significant side effects, and the occasional lack of valid therapeutic strategies. Thousands of years of history and the abundance of spa resorts in many European countries and Israel have undoubtedly contributed to the popularity of these therapies.
The results of recent studies showed that balneotherapy and mud-bath therapy improved pain and function as well as the quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases, such as osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia syndrome, low-back pain, psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis. Interestingly, the clinical efficacy lasts over time, after the treatment. Furthermore, mud-bath therapy resulted to be well tolerated and have a lower percentage of side effects, which also are less severe, than those associated with pharmacological treatments. Today, this practice is not only used to treat many disorders and diseases, but also in rehabilitation and to improve the quality of life in general. Currently, rehabilitation in water is a fundamental way of ensuring modern and valid functional recovery for neurological and rheumatic conditions.
The mechanisms of action of bath and mud-bath therapy is probably the result of a combination of factors, among which the mechanical, thermal and chemical effects are most prominent. New interesting evidence in basic research clarified the effects deriving from the application of thermal treatments.
Spa therapy seems to have a role in the treatment of many rheumatic diseases, however, it cannot substitute for conventional therapy but can complement to it.
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Mar
29
Settembre
2015
da 09:00 a 18:15
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