Balneotherapy and Hydrotherapy
Mehwish Iqbal in Complementary and Alternative Medicinal Approaches for Enhancing Immunity, 2023
Balneotherapy is the collection of practices and techniques which is established upon scientific indication, rationally utilised and therapeutically identified medicinal-mineral waters, natural gases and peloids or muds from springs for medicinal reasons under the thermal spa facility centres. Principally, peloids are developed suspensions of mud comprised of a compound blend of adequately grained constituents of geologic derivation, mineral water and typically organic constituents from natural metabolic activity. Therefore, pelotherapy or mud therapy is one of the interventions in balneology that comprise the application of mud externally for healing purposes (Gomes et al., 2013). The term ‘balneo' or ‘balneum' is a Latin word, which indicates ‘bath' in English. Contemporary balneotherapy is carried out by amalgamations of bathing from hot water along with sauna, outdoor or indoor exercises, inhalations, different thermotherapies, drinking, physical therapies and hydrotherapies as a compound approach. The patients who are suffering from any ailment leave their daily chores to visit the spa to get some fresh and pure air and stay there for a specific duration of time (Agishi, 2001).
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Rheumatic Disease
Jason Liebowitz, Philip Seo, David Hellmann, Michael Zeide in Clinical Innovation in Rheumatology, 2023
Balneotherapy is the relaxing use of thermal mineral baths with or without the use of mudpacks. Use of this popular modality has been mostly studied in RA, although the quality of evidence is low. A Cochrane Systematic Review was conducted in 2015 which included nine studies involving 579 participants.27 Overall, there was insufficient evidence to show that balneotherapy was more effective than usual care or other forms of mudpacks and relaxation therapies. A meta-analysis was also conducted for clinical trials which included people living with fibromyalgia.28 The authors concluded that the studies were of low quality; however, there was moderate to strong evidence for a reduction in pain and improvement in health-related quality of life.
Fungi and Water
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy in Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Balneotherapy or spa therapy or thermal therapy is bathing in natural thermal mineral waters for the treatment of some chronic diseases such as chronic low back pain, rheumatism, gout, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, pruritus, acne, stress, asthma, and more (191, 197–198). Bathing in thermal springs, sometimes accompanied by drinking, was a common practice in ancient Greece and Rome for the treatment of different chronic diseases. Today, this traditional therapy is still used in many European countries and Japan for the treatment of some chronic diseases cited above.
Effects of water therapy on disease activity, functional capacity, spinal mobility and severity of pain in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2021
Zejun Liang, Chenying Fu, Qing Zhang, Feng Xiong, Lihong Peng, Li Chen, Chengqi He, Quan Wei
There are many forms of water therapy, mainly including hydrotherapy (HT) and balneotherapy (BT). In fact, both HT and BT involve the use of water in any form or at any temperature for therapeutic purposes. However, the definition of HT and BT is frequently confused, and the terms are used interchangeably. HT consists of the use of plain water (tap or very low mineralized water). On the other hand, BT employs generally natural thermal mineral water, as well as mud or gas, which is usually practiced in spas. Compared to HT, whose therapeutic effects may be mostly attributed to the physical properties of water, BT also provides thermal stimulus and chemical substances that are believed to be able to exert therapeutic effects. Thermal stimulus causes muscle relaxation, blocks pain perception at the dorsal horn level, and stimulates opioid secretion; minerals, salts, and gaseous compounds may modulate metabolism and immunology after they are absorbed through the skin and carried to the relevant body parts [7]; for instance, sulfur from BT was reported to have anti-inflammatory effect on diseases such as rheumatic arthritis and psoriatic arthritis [8,9]. Hydrokinesitherapy (HKT) is a type of therapeutic exercise performed in the water environment, whether in HT or in BT setting.
Short-term benefits of balneotherapy for patients with chronic pelvic pain: a pilot study in Korea
Published in Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2020
Kyung-Jin Min, Hoon Choi, Bum Sik Tae, Min-Goo Lee, Sung-Jae Lee, Kwang Dae Hong
The present study has several limitations. Major ones are the small sample size and lack of a control group. Larger randomised controlled trials are needed to evaluate the benefits of balneotherapy for CPP compared to conventional medical treatment. Even with the presence of a control group, research on balneotherapy is challenging because it is difficult to completely eliminate the placebo effect, given the challenges of coming up with an appropriate placebo therapy. In this respect, it will be important to develop study designs that compare different sources of balneotherapy. In our study, the duration of balneotherapy was five days, which is shorter than that of the European studies. Intuitively, it may be doubtful whether short-term therapy has any practical effect. As most people living in Korea have a vacation period of about one week each in summer and winter, the choice of a five-day programme in our study reflects the reality of vacation schedules.
Can Participants’ Characteristics Predict Benefit from a Multimodal Burnout Prevention Program? Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial Conducted in Germany
Published in Behavioral Medicine, 2020
Anushiya Vanajan, Marita Stier-Jarmer, Ivana Ivandic, Angela Schuh, Carla Sabariego
The SMI was based on the group therapy program for burnout developed for inpatients of the Psychosomatic Clinic in Windach, Germany. The program was modified for prevention purposes and was directed by two experienced psychologists. It mainly encompassed a psychoeducational approach combined with exercises in mindfulness-based therapy, stress management, self-care, goal setting, and problem solving. The moor applications were conducted in two local rehabilitation clinics and one spa treatment center. A moor bath is prepared using moor mud (peat pulp) consisting of organic matter, minerals, and water. It is widely used in European health resorts as part of balneotherapy to treat a multitude of health complaints. (Please refer to Stier-Jarmer and colleagues6 for further information on therapeutic elements and on the ethical and legal framework of the intervention.)
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