Balneotherapy's role in treating patients with arthritic disease is much debated. More common in treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis, balneotherapy's efficacy for patients with osteoarthritis needs further exploration. Our systematic review included three randomized controlled trials examining the effects of various types of balneotherapy on osteoarthritis of the knee. Thermal water balneotherapy showed clinical benefit but no statistical significance for pain relief. Combination hot sulphur and Dead Sea baths were more statistically significant and clinically effective than single bath treatments for short-term measures of pain and function. A combination bath regime also had a significant effect on pain severity at onemonth follow-up. No significant long-term (three months) benefits were observed for pain or function. We conclude that balneotherapy in the form of combination baths has short-term benefits for pain relief and function, which suggests that balneotherapy may require a standard treatment regime for optimal efficacy.

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A brief summary and a critical assessment of this review may be available at DARE