Could Salt Therapy Improve Your Health?

Belief in the potential healing power of salty air serves as the foundation for salt therapy, or halotherapy, a type of complementary medicine gaining in popularity as a natural wellness treatment.

Therapeutic “salt rooms” or “salt caves” offer the promise of better breathing, healthier skin and stress relief. But do they deliver? Let’s find out what the science says with functional medicine specialist Melissa Young, MD.

Types of salt therapy

A dry salt therapy experience exposes you to microscopic salt particles in the air within an enclosed space. There are two types of therapy rooms, according to the Salt Therapy Association:

• “Active” rooms feature machines that break salt apart and circulate the particles, allowing them to be breathed in and exposed to your skin. This would be a true halotherapy experience.
• “Passive” rooms are filled with large amounts of salt. Typically, a variety of salts ― Dead Sea, Himalayan, rock salt, etc. ― fill the climate-controlled space. These are typically more meditative settings.

The concept of salt therapy dates back to the 1800s, when Dr. Feliks Boczkowski noticed that workers in Poland’s Wieliczka Salt Mine didn’t have lung issues like workers in other types of mines.

Potential benefits of salt therapy

Search online and there’s no shortage of breathless testimonials about salt rooms. Anecdotally, people say they’re life-changing, especially when it comes to easing respiratory issues or infections.

When it comes to proven research, though … well, let’s just say there’s not a salt mountain of scientific evidence to support the claims.

“Sometimes, it can be frustrating that there aren’t enough well-designed studies looking at a particular treatment or the different study outcomes can be conflicting,” notes Dr. Young. “But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a potential benefit to that treatment.”

Here’s why people say they go to salt rooms.

Improved breathing

If you have trouble moving air in and out of your lungs, odds are, your condition is on someone’s list of health issues that can be made better through halotherapy. Various sites claim salt rooms can help address:

• Asthma
• Bronchitis
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary lung disease (COPD)
• Cystic fibrosis
• Respiratory allergies
• Chronic cough

So, how does this salty air make a difference? “Breathing in the salt particles appears to thin mucus, which allows your cough to be more productive and makes it easier to get phlegm out,” explains Dr. Young. “It gets things moving. That’s often key for people with breathing issues.”

But while studies suggest that halotherapy may be helpful for some respiratory issues, there’s not enough rigorous research with clinical trials validating the theory, she adds.

Infection fighting

The idea of using salt to clear gunk out of your sinuses isn’t exactly groundbreaking, says Dr. Young. Saline sprays and rinses are go-to methods to rinse out your nose and sinuses for better breathing.

But does breathing in dry salt accomplish the same thing? Again, there’s not enough research to verify the claim, says Dr. Young.

Healthier skin

Allowing salt-saturated air to flow over your body is said to naturally boost your skin’s hydration, leaving it feeling smoother and looking less splotchy. There’s a lot of chatter about balancing out pH levels and clearing up eczema, too.

Is it true? You can probably guess the answer. “There just aren’t any sound studies supporting that,” states Dr. Young.

Stress reduction

A dimly lit salt-filled room with soft music playing certainly seems like an ideal setting for meditation. “It’s an environment where you can calm your nervous system and reduce stress,” notes Dr. Young.

But the same could be said if you took out the salt component. “You could get the same effect without it,” she says.

Are there risks to salt therapy?

If you’re relatively healthy, spending a session in a salt room shouldn’t cause any issues, says Dr. Young. However, she offers a few notes of caution.

• You may cough more. All of those salt particles in the air may increase your coughing for a bit. “I’ve had patients go and say they ended up coughing a lot afterward,” shares Dr. Young. “It’s just something to be aware of.”
• There are no defined halotherapy standards. “It’s the Wild West, with everyone doing it a different way,” Dr. Young says. She suggests looking for a salt room in an office or spa where treatment is overseen by a medical professional.
• Beware if you have claustrophobia. “Some salt rooms can be on the small side, so they might not be ideal for you if you have problems being in confined spaces,” warns Dr. Young.
• It’s not the same as medicine. Don’t confuse a salt room session with medical care. “You don’t want to substitute salt therapy for any medical care you’re getting,” stresses Dr. Young. “That’s a way to run into trouble.”

If you have existing health issues or are pregnant, talk to your doctor before trying halotherapy to be on the safe side.

Is a salt room worth trying?

If you’re curious about salt therapy and don’t check any of the risk boxes, there’s no harm in trying it out, says Dr. Young. After all, salt rooms have been used by people in some form for almost 200 years.

“In general, they’re safe ― and a lot of people love using them,” she continues. “But view salt therapy as an extra to your healthcare routine and not a replacement for any existing treatment.”