EUROPEAN STUDY SHOWS SPA THERAPIES IMPROVE CHRONIC BACK PAIN

The University of Vienna has performed research that suggests that spa therapies improve chronic back pain. The study, performed departments of Physiology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, showed people with chronic back pain showed significant improvement in general pain, back pain, mood and health satisfaction after three weeks of varying therapies at a spa resort in Bad Tatzmannsdorf, Austria. by mood, and health satisfaction

Participants spent three weeks at the resort in eastern Austria, where they received two to four spa treatments per day. The treatments included mud applications, carbon dioxide baths, massage, exercise, spinal traction, hydrotherapy and electrotherapy. The spa physician prescribed each subject's treatment based on individual health status and which therapies the subject was inclined toward. On average, subjects experienced about four of the available therapies, some more frequently than others, for a total of approximately 37 therapy sessions per participant throughout the three-week stay.

Although the study could not connect specific spa treatments with the positive outcome, the spa experience as a whole contributed to the improvements.