Balneotherapy using thermal mineral water baths and dermatological diseases: a systematic review

Systematic review published in the International Journal of Biometeorology (2024) specifically examining balneotherapy — here using thermal mineral water baths as the primary modality — for dermatological diseases. The most recent systematic review of the dermatological evidence base in the knowledge graph, updating the findings of Matz 2003 and Jazani 2022 with trials published through 2023.

Scope

The review focuses on thermal mineral water balneotherapy rather than peat specifically. This is an important distinction: thermal mineral water, fango, and peat are all balneological modalities, but they differ in composition and mechanism. The shared framework here is the balneological treatment approach; the specific chemical agents differ across the studies included.

What It Found

The systematic review supports efficacy for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis — the two conditions with the strongest and most consistent dermatological balneotherapy evidence base — and covers other inflammatory and chronic skin conditions. Newer RCTs not captured in earlier reviews (Matz 2003 reviewed literature through the early 2000s) are included, providing an updated evidence quality assessment.

In Context

Protano 2024 functions as a contemporary anchor for dermatological claims. When the site states that balneotherapy has systematic review support for psoriasis or atopic dermatitis, Protano 2024 (alongside Jazani 2022) provides the most current version of that claim. Matz 2003 established the same finding 20 years earlier; Protano 2024 confirms it holds with two decades of additional research.