SHORT AND LONG-TERM EFFECT OF SPA THERAPY IN CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN

The effect of spa therapy on chronic low back pain (LBP) wasassessed in a randomized trial comparing patients undergoinga 3-week therapy programme in a spa resort in France (n = 50)with patients receiving ambulatory care (n = 52). After 3 weeks,patients in the spa group had significant improvement in theirspine mobility and functional score (Waddell index) and a reductionin their daily duration of pain, pain intensity and drug consumption.The long-term effect was assessed after 9 months and showedcontinued reduction in pain and drug consumption, and improvementin spine mobility but no longer in functional score which returnedto baseline level. It is concluded that spa therapy has a positiveshort-term and a moderate long-term effectiveness on chronicLBP. KEY WORDS: Balneotherapy, Clinical trial, Low back pain