Could you help heal your sinuses and lungs by sitting in a salt room? That’s what Viv Groskop set out to do.

Groskop has had asthma almost all her life. She got used to coming in last when running races. As an adult, her breath is audible and her sinuses are frequently painful. She would do almost anything to get rid of her chronic breathing issues.

As a result, Groskop decided to try out the Salt Cave in south-west London, UK. It’s a first for Britain, offering a new approach for helping hay fever, bronchitis, sinusitis, allergies, eczema and psoriasis.

When you enter the Salt Cave, you are surrounded by salt everywhere: floor, ceiling and walls. Groskop describes it as a “salty igloo”. Salt drifts everywhere, as the various surfaces shed it onto the floors. Each person entering has to wear a hairnet and shoe covers, in order to keep the room as free of dirt as possible.

Unlike a natural salt cave, clients are entertained by the sounds of waves and seagulls. In addition, the salt decor is purely for show. The real medical benefit comes from breathing in sodium chloride in an aerosol form. This is piped into the room artificially by a microclimate generator that mixes milled salt with air. In a real salt cave, this would happen naturally.

Clients report that breathing in the salt air (literally) allows mucus in the respiratory system to be loosened and coughed out.

This therapy is as old as the Greeks, when Hippocrates (famous for the medical profession’s oath) recommended it. However, current research gives it some support. A 1999 study out of Lithuania found that salt therapy resulted in improvement for the patient in 90 per cent of the cases.

Regardless, the western medical profession remains skeptical.

Some people get astonishing results. Tish Webster, a yoga teacher, saw results after three to four sessions. She’s been able to stop her anti-allergy medication.

Groskop was not as lucky. While her breathing improved during and immediately after the treatment was positive, later in the night her sinuses were worse. She tried for two visits, but decided not to continue.

Source: Guardian Online