OBJECTIVE: Baths containing radon have been used at health spas since the turn of the century for treatment of various rheumatic diseases. Clinical experience suggests a pain-reducing effect of radon baths. However, to date, no strictly scientific clinical study has been carried out in German-speaking countries to test this hypothesis. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In a randomized double-blind study carried out in the former radon health spa Oberschlema/Saxony (Germany), the pain-reducing effects of radon baths were compared to those of tap water baths on patients with cervical pain. All patients received, in addition, massage, physical training and health education. On the basis of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 46 patients were recruited into the study and randomized into the verum or placebo group. After a week of adjustment and acclimatization, each group received 9 baths over a 3-week period. The bathwater was prepared by addition of a canister of tap water or radon-containing water to the bathwater (temperature of 37 C). Each canister was marked with the patients number. Since radon is colourless and odourless, the patients could not find out what bathwater they had. The radon baths had an activity concentration of an average 3 kBq/L. Apart from the bath series, all patients received massage, physical training, and a health education program as concomitant therapy. The minimum pressure needed to cause pain at 16 typical myofacial pressure points was measured. In addition, subjective pain perception was determined with the aid of a visual analogue scale. Also, general well-being, pain at rest, and pain during movement were ascertained. The examinations were done during the course of a 4-week treatment, as well as 2 and 4 months after the onset of treatment. RESULTS: During the treatment, the values of all measured parameters showed marked improvement (pain-reducing, increased well-being) for both verum and placebo groups. After completion of the treatment course, however, these values gradually fell again in the placebo group. In the radon group, in contrast, all measured parameters showed an additional improvement in dependence on the time at the end of treatment. Pain-related complaints fell significantly during this time span. Three months after the end of the treatment, the pain threshold had increased by nearly the same proportion as during the 3-week period of balneotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: A randomized, double-blind study has shown that a 3-week treatment with radon baths still had a significant pain-reducing effect three months after the end of therapy.

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