Spa Therapy in the Management of Osteoarthritis Agawam MA

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of joint disease, affects nearly 50 percent of the population older than the age of 65 and virtually everyone over the age of 75. OA affects primarily the weight-bearing joints of the peripheral and axial skeleton, causing pain, limitation of motion, deformity, and progressive disability. Osteoarthritis may be described as degenerative joint disease (DJD) or hypertrophic arthritis, however, these terms may not reflect that OA is not a single disorder, but a pattern of reactions or sequence of events that lead to joint injury.

It is often best described as a disorder of both mechanical and biologic events that alter the normal synthesis and degradation of articular cartilage. Recent advances and knowledge concerning articular cartilage function and physiology have dispelled the traditional wear-and-tear theory as the cause of OA, focusing on biomechanical forces, as well as inflammatory, biochemical, and immunologic factors.

The word spa is derived from the name of a town "Spa" in Belgium, whose name is known back to Roman times. The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer thermal or mineral water for drinking and bathing. They also offer various health treatments. There is documented evidence that the Indians, Egyptians, Assyrians and Mohammedans used mineral waters for medicinal purposes. Many people including the Japanese, Chinese, Greeks and the Romans used warm baths for therapeutic purposes such as: relaxation, reducing fatigue, promoting wound healing and increasing a sense of well being. Water is the basis of spa treatment and in addition to the water therapies available salons and spas have been introducing beneficial treatments using derivatives from the sea and other sources of thermal or mineral waters in addition to the popular heat treatments used in saunas and steam baths.

According to results from a study published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, spa therapy can be beneficial in the management of osteoarthritis. The study included 187 control patients and 195 spa therapy patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Control patients received the usual medical treatment along with home exercises while the spa treatment group received the usual medical treatment, home exercises and 18 days of spa therapy, which included massages, showers, mud and pool sessions. The results revealed that the spa therapy group were still benefiting from the 18 days of additional treatment even 6 months after the spa treatments ended. The researchers suggested that more doctors should include spa therapy along the traditional medical treatments and home exercises to offer the most benefit to patients suffering with osteoarthritis.¹

¹ Forestier R, Desfour H, Tessier JM, et al. Spa therapy in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, a large randomised multicentre trial. Ann Rheum Dis. Sep2009.