Apart from climatotherapy and spa therapy, combined treatment with salt water baths and artificial UV radiation (balneophototherapy) has been advocated for the treatment of psoriasis. As there is a lack of controlled studies on balneophototherapy (BPT), we conducted a randomized, one-blind, right/left comparison with salt water versus tap water in order to investigate the significance of the salt concentration in the efficacy of BPT.
Methods:
Ten psoriasis patients with chronic plaques on the elbows were included in the study. One elbow was soaked in 24% NaCl solution and the other in tap water. Subsequently, broadband UVB irradiation was administered. BPT was performed 4 times weekly with a total of 30 treatments.
Results:
A highly significant (P<0.001) decrease of the clinical baseline score was observed after 30 treatments; however, there was no significant (P>0.5) difference in clearance of the psoriatic lesions between the sites soaked in salt water and tap water.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that any additional benefit of soaking in salt water and tap water in BPT are unlikely to be due to the salinity of the liquids.
", pages = "22-25(4)", url = "http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mksg/ppp/2001/00000017/00000001/art00004" doi = "doi:10.1034/j.1600-0781.2001.017001022.x" }