Evaluation Study of the Effects of Sulphurous Water in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis.

Study of the Effects of Immersion Baths in Sulphurous Water in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

The objectives are to evaluate the effects of immersion bath with sulphurous water in pain, joint mobility and quality of life in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Patients will undergo three weekly baths in sulphurous water and not sulphurous, twenty minutes each, for ten weeks.

The expected results are: reduction of pain, improved range of motion of the lower limbs with consequent increase in muscle mass improvement in postural balance, which will come due to the reduction of pain and improvement movements of the lower limbs; greater independence in performing the activities of daily living, better quality of life.

The baths were performed in individual tubs, properly disinfected, supplied with thermal water and sulphurous thermal sulphurous not at a temperature 37-39 ° C, which encompass the optimum temperatures for therapeutic bath. The baths lasted for 20 minutes. The subjects drank two cups of water, 300 ml before and after the baths, in order to avoid an imbalance water. Treatment consisted of 30 individual treatment sessions, three times a week, lasting twenty minutes each session, for ten weeks. The experiment was performed at the Therms Antonio Carlos, institution belonging to the Municipality of Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Inclusion Criteria:

We selected individuals of both genders, diagnosed with Osteoarthritis of the knee according to the classification criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) only grades I to III chronic pain at some knees, for a minimum period of three months.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with fibromyalgia;
• Individuals with respiratory diseases;
• Rheumatic diseases autoimmune inflammatory;
• Patients with uncontrolled thyroidopathies;
• Patients with injuries or amputations of lower limbs;
• Patients with psychiatric disorders or cognitive;
• Patients with a history of osteoporotic fracture;
• Patients with malignant
• Patients with infectious processes;
• Patients pregnant;
• Individuals who failed to enter the baths due to physical limitations;
• Were also excluded those who were engaged in other forms of treatment or using painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs for other diseases. Note: were not excluded participants who were diagnosed with osteoarthritis in the spine, herniated, or degenerative disc protrusions.