Objective: Medicinal bath consisting of sulphur and peat (humic acid) were investigated for the treatment of rheumatic disease.

Subjects: Forty patients with osteoarthritis were divided into two groups of twenty patients per group.

Design: A placebo-controlled double-blind study, according to the Helsinki phase three (III) study criteria, was followed. Patients were selected by inclusion and exclusion criteria. Sixteen anatomically defined trigger points utilized for analgesic effects were examined by means of a quantitative pressure threshold meter, and general patients were subjected to eight baths at 37 degrees C for twenty minutes, over a period of three weeks. The placebo baths were not distinguishable by either smell or color. All patients received physical therapy during this study.

Results: After second and third weeks of treatment, the average pain threshold and VAS scores of the sulphur-peat bath group demonstrated a significant improvement compared with the placebo group. The combination of standard physical therapy with placebo bath did not bring on significant analgesic effect.

Conclusions: Peat-sulphur bath is a better effective therapeutic measure in the treatment of soft tissue rheumatism, promising better relief from muscular pain than standard physical therapy.

Key words: Medical Hydrology, Sulphurous Peat Bath, Pain.

H.G. Pratzel, U.M. Aignerm, D. Wemert, B. Limbach, Prof. Dr. E. Sann.
Institute for Medical Balneology and Climatology, L.N.U. Munich.
Phys. Rehab. Kur Med. 2, 1992 (George Thieme: Stuttgart, NewYork), pp. 92-97