Balneotherapy is an Alternative Treatment for Mastalgia; a Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction: Mastalgia is the most common breast related complaint. Balneotherapy is widely used as a non-pharmacological treatment modality in many European countries. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of balneotherapy in patients with mastalgia. Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted with forty women with mastalgia. Patients were randomly assigned to the control and balneotherapy groups. Conventional therapy was recommended for both groups for 6 weeks. The balneotherapy group was also given a total of ten sessions of balneotherapy during the last two weeks. Breast pain level, serum cytokine levels including interleukin-1 beta and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and quality of life were evaluated in both groups before and 6-weeks after study. The Breast pain questionnaire was used for the assessment of mastalgia. This questionnaire includes sensorial and affective data, visual analog scale (VAS) and present pain intensity (PPI). Quality of life was measured by using Short Form (SF)-36. Results: Baseline total breast pain scores (BPS) and cytokine levels were similar between the groups. Total BPS (p = 0.001), VAS (p = 0.039) and PPI (p = 0.004) in the balneotherapy group significantly improved after therapy. TNF-alpha level in the balneotherapy group also significantly decreased after therapy (p = 0.003). The results of SF-36 showed that five subscales were significantly improved in the balneotherapy group however only social functioning was significantly improved in the control group after treatment. Conclusion: The results of the study revealed that balneotherapy may be an effective method in the treatment of mastalgia and it can be recommended by clinicians.