What are the Benefits of Halotherapy?
What are the Benefits of Halotherapy?Listed below are just a few benefits of dry salt therapy, also known as halotherapy, that have been verified by clinical trials or credible studies.
Halotherapy and Asthma
A study in the May 2017 issue of Pediatric Pulmonology found that children with mild asthma who went for two halotherapy sessions per week for seven weeks gained greater improvements in their bronchial hyperreactivity (constrictions and spasms that cause asthma symptoms) than a control group did.
One asthma sufferer’s experience with halotherapy shows positive results in this CTV News Article: “McIntosh says visiting the salt cave regularly is helping control her asthma better than any medication ever did.”
Halotherapy and Bronchitis
A study in a 2014 issue of the Journal of Medicine and Life found that when patients with chronic bronchial conditions underwent halotherapy, it triggered anti-inflammatory mechanisms and stimulation of phagocytosis, a process in which cells called phagocytes engulf bacterial or viral particles to destroy them.
Halotherapy and Immune Function
Breathing in salty air “decreases the thickness of the mucous, thereby allowing the body’s innate clearing mechanisms to sweep away the secretions, improving drainage and diminishing bronchial sensitivity,” explains Dr. Joseph Marino, medical director of Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital in New York.
In addition, “the efficacy of halotherapy [may] be related to an immunologic effect by elevating T lymphocytes, which are one of our germ fighters.” Theoretically, this could translate into better immune function and greater protection from colds, flu and other contagious illnesses.
Halotherapy on Psoriasis and Eczema
In addition to the anti-inflammatory properties, the salts used in halotherapy have calming properties that are helpful for skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema, and these particular “salts contain magnesium, which offers therapeutic benefits to the skin,” says Dr. Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
“Epsom salt, which is magnesium sulfate, is commonly used as a bath additive for similar reasons.” In fact, bathing in water that contains magnesium-rich Dead Sea salt even improves skin barrier function and reduces inflammation in people who have atopic dry skin (an allergic skin condition), according to research in the International Journal of Dermatology.
Halotherapy and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
In a 2007 study by the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Târgu Mureș, people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) had fewer symptoms and improved quality of life after halotherapy. The study concluded: “Dry salt inhaler therapy may prove to be a useful adjuvant therapy in COPD as far as effort tolerance and quality of life is concerned.”
Halotherapy and Inflammation
Halotherapy triggers anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic responses in people with bronchial asthma or chronic bronchitis, according to 2014 research by the Journal of Medicine and Life. This study concluded that:
- The assessment of results achieved in the investigated patients with bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive bronchopneumopathy, after a specific halotherapy treatment, indicates the triggering of an anti-inflammatory (including anti-allergic mechanisms) mechanism and a decreasing trend of the inflammatory process.
- Data acquired indicate a decrease in the body’s sensitiveness and in infectious-inflammatory process in patients with bronchial asthma after HT treatment, and it also proves the need to extend the period or to repeat the halotherapeutic treatment.
Halotherapy and Cystic Fibrosis
A 2010 study by Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children concluded that “Hypertonic saline improves the LCI [Lung Clearance Index] in paediatric patients with CF [Cystic Fibrosis] with normal lung function.”
Halotherapy and Respiratory Diseases
This study in the Journal of Aerosol Medicine, A.V. Chervinskaya, Volume 8. Number 3, 1995 concluded that:
In clinical trials Dry Salt Therapy (a.k.a. halotherapy) has proven to be effective in relieving symptoms of a variety of respiratory and skin ailments. During one of the clinical trials, Salt Therapy resulted in improvement of the clinical state in:
- 85% of mild and moderate asthma cases
- 75% of severe asthma cases
- 97% of chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis cases
Halotherapy: You Should Try it for Yourself
Last week I had a wonderful opportunity to visit a salt room… Read more…Read about one person’s experience with halotherapy, and how one session showed remarkable improvement in her breathing. Brandi breaks down the benefits of halotherapy in many other areas such as stress, anxiety, fatigue, asthma, sinus infections and sinusitis, snoring and sleeping problems, cystic fibrosis, allergies, psoriasis, eczema, acne, cold and coughs, flu, athletic benefits and more…
Brandi describes her experience in detail, and explains her journey and appreciation of salt therapy — and how anyone can experience the same wonderful therapeutic benefits — regardless of the symptoms.