Is salt therapy an effective treatment for smokers?
A common question with smokers. ↑
Here are the facts:
How Smoking Affects the Lungs
Normal vs inflamed air passage in smokersIf you are a smoker, you are probably aware of the inherent health risks.
Depending on the amount of cigarettes’ you smoke each day, and how long you’ve been smoking, you may start to notice issues with breathing. Getting tired or out-of-breath while exercising, for example, or just walking up a flight of stairs.
The gradual increased difficulty with breathing is associated with a build-up of tar — an ingredient in cigarettes, among a host of other chemicals that deposit within the alveoli within the lungs.
Understandably, most smokers are not ready to quit smoking.
The good news: Yes. Salt therapy may offer relief for smokers.
Salt Therapy for Smokers
Salt therapy, otherwise known as Halotherapy, is the practice of breathing in medical grade salt-rich air in order to reap the therapeutic benefits.
Salt therapy may help, if you’re a smoker and if you experience any of the following symptoms:
- smokers cough
- difficulty breathing
- shortness of breath
- mucus build-up
- tightness in the chest
- getting tired relatively quickly
Various clinical trials provide evidence that salt therapy can:
- detoxify the respiratory system
- reduce mucus build-up
- reduce inflammation
- boost immune function to promote healing in the body
- make breathing easier for patients of various respiratory diseases including:
Clinical Study Backing Salt Therapy for Smokers
In a clinical study performed by prof. Alina Chervinskaya, M.D., Ph.D, of the Institute of Respiratory Hygiene and Halotherapy, the conslusion was:
“Dry sodium chloride aerosol inhalations produce positive effect on the airways of tobacco smokers (versus placebo). DSCA relieves the main clinical signs of tobacco smokers (character of cough and sputum), improves local defense mechanisms and strengthens resistance of mucous membranes of tobacco smokers owing to decreased colonization activity of pathogenic microorganisms and increased SIgA.”
Conclusion
With all the therapeutic benefits that salt therapy can provide, it’s worth giving it a try — whether or not you’re a smoker. You are sure to find some much needed breathing relief.
Disclaimer
It’s important to note that salt therapy may only help to alleviate respiratory conditions. Salt therapy will not help with other health problems caused by smoking, and is not a solution or cure to smoking related illnesses such as cancer, Bronchitis, or Emphysema. For best results, you should quit smoking.
We hope you found the information above useful. Leave a comment below, or contact us if you have any questions.