Evaluation of the Efficacy of Spa Therapy on Pain and Quality of Life in Patients With Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of spa therapy on pain and the quality of life in patients with chronic mechanical neck pain. Patients and methods:Seventy patients who applied to our outpatient clinic with chronic mechanical neck pain lasting for 12 weeks were included in the study. Patients were randomized either to spa therapy group (7 males, 28 females; mean age 43.08±9.76 years; range 26 to 66 years) or to exercise therapy group (5 males, 30 females; 46.45±9.65 years; range 27 to 65 years). Spa therapy group received a total of 15 sessions of thermal water, mud therapy, and classic massage to cervical region. Both exercise and spa therapy groups performed home exercise program once a day for 15 days. All the patients were evaluated before treatment, at the first week and at the third month after treatment, a total of three times. In each control; visual analog scale, global assessment of the patient (Patient's Global Assessment and Physician's Global Assessment), Neck Pain Disability Scale, and Nottingham Health Profile were assessed. Results: When the measurements at first week were compared to baseline, significant improvements were observed in all the parameters in both groups. However, the decreases in visual analog scale and Neck Pain Disability Scale at the first week after treatment were more significant in spa therapy group compared to exercise therapy group. We observed no statistically significant difference in all the parameters between two groups when the measurements at the third month were compared to baseline. Conclusion:The combination of spa therapy with exercise therapy is superior to exercise therapy alone in decreasing pain and improving functional capacity in the early period after treatment.

Comparison of the efficacy of mud-pack and hot-pack treatments in chronic non-specific neck pain: A single-blind, randomized-controlled study

“…In conclusion, Spa therapy + HE were shown to be more effective in reducing pain and increasing functionality in the short term compared to HE. [ 28 ] In our study, in accordance with these studies, thermotherapy administration with heated MP and HP treatments was shown to reduce pain, increase functionality and improve QoL in the short term in patients with CNP.…”

“…There are many studies in the literature about the efficacy of thermotherapeutic treatments for CNP. [ 7 , 27 , 28 ] A randomized-controlled study assessing the efficacy of naturopathic administrations in addition to local thermotherapy and acupuncture for CNP observed that complementary thermotherapy and acupuncture administered to patients supported reductions in pain and improvements in functionality. [ 27 ] A randomized-controlled study by Cramer et al[ 7 ] compared the efficacy of heated MP with a treatmentfree control group for chronic mechanical neck pain (CMNP).…”

Kaplica Tedavi̇si̇ Sonuçlarimiz

“…Afyonkarahisar doğuyu batıya, kuzeyi güneye bağlayan yolların kavşak noktasında bulunan ve termal kaynaklar yö- (20); farklı sular ve tekniklerin, boyun ağrıları ve buna bağlı dizabiliteyi azalttığı ve fonksiyonel kapasiteyi, yaşam kalitesini, boyun eklem hareketliliğini, dengeyi ve ruh halini iyileştirdiğini, relaksasyonu artırdığı bildirilmiştir. Bizim kliniğimizde boyun ağrılı hastalarda daha önceden yaptığımız bir çalışmada egzersiz tedavisine spa tedavisi eklenmesinin sadece egzersize göre, tedaviden sonraki erken dönemde ağrıyı azaltmada ve fonksiyonel kapasiteyi iyileştirmede sadece egzersiz tedavisine göre daha etkili olduğunu bulmuştuk (21). Yine ülkemizden bir çalışmada, kronik boyun ağrılı hastalarda balneoterapi ve fizik tedavi kombinasyonu, tek başına fizik tedaviye göre ağrı ve dizabiliteyi azaltmada ve yaşam kalitesini artırmada daha üstün bulunmuştur (22).…”