European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LOCAL STEAM APPLICATION AND WAX THERAPY ON KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS – A PILOT STUDY

Prathipati Gowri Nirupama, Prashanth Shetty, Sujatha K. J. and *Shashikiran H. C.

ABSTRACT

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is most common form of joint degeneration and is not curable it needs to be treated with long lasting harmless methods. Steam therapy (group 1) and wax therapy (group 2) are naturopathic modalities, which can be well utilized in treating Osteoarthritis. Though modern medicine has various surgical and non-surgical options, they are not without harm. So this study aims to study effectiveness of natural and harmless method of steam therapy and wax therapy and also compare its effectiveness with each other. Materials and Methods: 60 subjects, both males and females were recruited for the study. 30 in each group, that is steam therapy group and wax therapy group. Subjects were assessed at baseline and 10th day after an intervention. The collected data were analyzed by using appropriate statistical software. Results: Group 2 (Steam Therapy) showed a significant decrease in pain, when compared with the group 1 after the 10 days of intervention. Both Group 1 and Group 2 demonstrated no intricacies as they were unadulterated naturopathy treatment modalities. Group 2 indicated predictable abatement in the McGill scores in all the subsequent periods and there was long lasting relief. Conclusion: In terms of significant and long lasting relief in group 2 and absence of complications, we conclude that Wax Therapy is the preferred method of choice over Steam therapy for Osteoarthritis of knee.

Keywords: Naturopathy; Osteoarthritis; Steam therapy; Wax therapy; McGill.