What Is Halotherapy? And Does It Work?
Among the health conscious, and particularly among those with respiratory ailments, a treatment known as halotherapy (the inhalation of micronized salt) is gaining lots of traction these days. But what is it, and is it effective?
Simply put, halotherapy is the practice of inhaling micronized salt. A halo generator pumps an aerosol form of microscopic salt particles into the air, creating salt concentrations in the air similar to those found in salt caves. These salt particles are inhaled for the treatment of many conditions, especially respiratory ailments like asthma or COPD. Many people use halo generators when salt rooms or salt caves are not readily accessible; others use halotherapy as a supplement to their salt rooms to increase salt concentration even more.
To understand where modern halotherapy originates, we first need to go back nearly 180 years, to a cave in Poland.
A Brief History
In the early 1840s, a Polish doctor named Feliks Boczkowski noticed something unusual while treating workers in the Wieleczka Salt Mines. Unlike other miners who routinely experienced lung problems from breathing in the pollutants in the mines, Boczkowski realized his patients had very low occurrences of respiratory problems. Attributing this phenomenon to the high salt content in the cave’s microclimate, he published a treatise detailing his theories in 1843. A number of years later, one of his pupils opened the first salt inhalation clinic in Poland.
This wasn’t the first time people had drawn the connection between salt content in the air and improved respiratory health. Catholic monks in medieval Europe commonly brought the sick into salt caves and crushed the salt with their feet to release it into the air. Historical records even suggest salt therapy of some sort was implemented in the days of ancient Greece and Rome. But because of his standing as a medical professional and his documented studies, Boczkowski today is considered the father of modern speleotherapy and halotherapy.
Halotherapy Today
Fast forward to today, when salt therapy of various types has become increasingly popular for spa-goers and health enthusiasts to seek out high concentrations of salt in the air. People buy salt lamps or sit in salt rooms to breathe in the negative ions, which are believed to clean the air, improve mood, alleviate symptoms of asthma and COPD, and even treat skin conditions like eczema. For those who can’t afford to build a salt room or visit a spa, halotherapy often presents a welcome alternative because the salt in aerosol form replicates the concentrations that naturally occur in salt caves.
Does It Work? And if so, how?
Despite its long history, the use of salt as a therapeutic agent has not been tested extensively by the scientific or medical communities here in the U.S., although more testing has been done in Europe. While currently nobody really knows for sure how or why halotherapy works, a growing body of testing evidence does indicate consistent improvements in patients who utilize various forms of salt therapy, with no known drawbacks or side effects. This is leading more people and publications to take notice of the positive effects of both salt-infused air and negative ions, from Time to the New York Times.
Aside from the testing, the anecdotal evidence for the benefits of salt therapy is overwhelming, as thousands of people have claimed relief from severe symptoms of the following:
· Asthma
· COPD
· Allergies (particularly to pollutants)
· Sinus infections
· Stress
· Depression
· Eczema
· Psoriasis
· …and many other ailments.
When Is Halotherapy Recommended?
Because this and other forms of salt therapy have no recommendation from the medical community or government agencies, it’s important to specify that halotherapy is not a recognized form of medical treatment. However, the holistic minded often recommend it as a drug-free alternative form of treatment, or as a supplement to medication.
While not without its skeptics and critics, halotherapy actually comes from a history of positive benefits, as well as a growing body of studies demonstrating its effectiveness. As to whether it works definitively — it depends on who you ask. The skeptics will have their doubts, but perhaps the best people to ask are those who have actually experienced relief from it.
Or perhaps try it yourself.