Spa Executive | Issue 12 | November 2019

Mud and mineral water
baths are natural treatments
for Osteoarthritis
Mud and mineral baths have been found to be potentially
viable natural treatments for osteoarthritis.
A study by a group of Lithuanian researchers has found that
hot mud treatments and sodium chloride mineral baths may
relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis.
OA is the most common articular disease in the world
According to Medical News Today, Osteoarthritis (OA) is a
degenerative disease that causes pain and stiffness in the
joints, most commonly affecting the knees, hips, and hands.
OA is the most common articular disease in the world and
affects more than 20 million people, including 10% of men
and 13% of women aged 60 and older, in the United States,
alone.
The current first line of treatment is a combination therapy
that includes pain medication and non-pharmaceutical
treatments like physical and occupational therapy. OA can’t
be reversed but treatments can reduce pain, slow the
progress of the disease and improve movement.
Mud, minerals are less expensive, drug free interventions
The new study examines peloid therapy and balneotherapy
as potentially less expensive and drug-free interventions.
The first is the use of clay or mud to ease symptoms and the
second is the practice of immersing the body in mineral rich
water or mud. The findings were published in the
International Journal of Biometeorology.
The researchers wrote, “The treatment of OA using
pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical measures remains
a topical subject. The purpose of this study is to assess the
effect of natural factors (mineral water and mud) on
changes in the functional state of patients with knee joint
OA.”
Ninety-two participants – aged an average 64.6 years –
were involved in the study, with females representing 87%
of the group. All participants had low to moderate knee-joint
OA and their symptoms were graded on a variety of physical
measures, including walking speed, range of motion and
extension, and the speed with they could sit down and
stand up five times. Subjects were divided into three
groups. Over the course of one month, all groups received
physical therapy every other day, while the first group also
received mineral water baths, the second received mud
application procedures, and the third received physical
therapy alone.
The researchers found significantly greater improvement in
levels of stiffness, pain, and physical activity in the groups
that received either water or mud treatments combined with
the physical therapy than in the group that received
physical therapy alone. Symptoms were also better one
month later in the intervention groups than in the control
group.
Improved pain and functional state
They wrote, “Balneotherapy and peloid therapy effectively
reduce pain and improve the functional state of patients
with OA of a knee joint.”
Previous research has found that mineral water baths show
advantages in reducing pain and improving functional state
compared with freshwater baths, and that mud therapy
significantly reduced pain, stiffness and improved
functional state.
The researchers say future randomized controlled studies,
and larger studies, are needed to confirm their results.
Be sure to keep your guests informed about the latest
research on treatments commonly available at spas and
wellness retreats that may ease their symptoms.
03 | Spa Executive