To re-examine the effectiveness of spa bathing for chronic pain. The comparison study was between spa bathing and usual hot baths, with 41 patients, 7 with rheumatoid arthritis, 11 with cerebrovascular hemiplegia, and 23 with vibration syndrome.
The patients bathed once a day for 10min, at 40°C and then once a day for six consecutive days for 10min. at 40°C
There was not much correlation between blood circulation and chronic pain: but spa bathing showed a significant longterm improvement in lessening pain than did hot bathing. The spa bathing in lessening was most efficacious 120min. and 180min. after bathing.

The Raynaud phenomenon of fingers, a specific physical disturbance, frequently occurs in those who have used pneumatic vibrating tools such as chain saws for many years. Only a few pathological studies of this lesion have been reported although there are many clinical physiological studies. We conducted an autopsy of a 71-year-old man, who was a patient with cholecystocarcinoma and died of pneumonia. He had worked for 17 years using pneumatic vibrating tools and had been an out-patient of the surgical department, where he received physical treatment and spa therapy because he suffered from the Raynaud syndrome in his left fingers. The findings obtained from a microscopic observation of the finger tip skin of the corpse are summarized as follows:
1. Many dilated small arteries, accompanied by local thickening of the intima and torn medial elastic fibers, were noticed between the subpapillary and deep layer of the dermis.
2. Stenotic arterioles due to muscular hyperplasia of the media were relatively few.
3. Dilatation of capillaries was found in the subpapillary layer of the dermis, and dilatation of small veins, in the deep layer.
4. Atrophy was noticed in the peripheral neurofibers, Vater-Pacini corpuscles, and sweat glands.
5. The dermis showed sclerotic changes with marked diffuse fibrosis.

A comparative study on spa bathing alone and bathing in combination with herbar medicine was carried out on 21 patients with vibration syndrome of grades III and IV.
Eleven patients (group A) were treated with spa bathing alone; the other ten patients (group B) were treated with spa bathing in combination with herbar medicine (“Goshajin-kigan, ” “Bushi-powder” or “Touki shigyaku kago syuusyo syoukyoutou, ” “Bushi-powder”). All patients were male from 55 to 73 years old.
Subjective symptoms, capillary blood flow volume, skin temperature, and velocity of peripheral nerve conduction were examined before and after each treatment.
In subjective symptoms, the ratio of improvement in group B was significantly higher than that in group A, especially in “numbness, ” “coldness, ” and “discoloration.”
Volume of capillary blood flow in group B was significantly larger than that in group A. Skin temperature in group B was significantly higher than that in group A. However, no significant difference was found in the velocity of peripheral nerve conduction before and after treatment or between group A and group B.