Salt Therapy: Supports Breathing

Salt therapy, that is, inhalation of salty water vapor

Salt therapy is essentially the inhalation of air vapor rich in salt, i.e., inhaling salty water aerosol. The salt particles that reach the lungs adhere to the walls of the airways and exert their beneficial effects there naturally.

The healing effect of the air in salt mine caves has been known and applied in European medicine since the 1800s. Many "pilgrimage" to salt mines in Transylvania, Poland, Slovakia, etc., to inhale salty vapor. Seaside vacations are also recommended for lung diseases, allergies, and certain skin conditions due to the high salt content in the air. These places are less accessible today as only a few can visit such locations and the high prices make it unaffordable for most to undertake even a minimum one-week cure.

Far from salt caves and seashores, artificial salt caves and salt rooms try to recreate similar conditions. Walls are covered with salt bricks, and humidity is regulated. The salt particles released from the bricks create conditions almost identical to the natural ones.

You don't have to miss out on the beneficial effects of salt therapy even if there is no natural or constructed salt room near you. Today, you can purchase several types of salt therapy devices. 

Salt cave in your home?

Yes! Nowadays, you don't have to travel or spend a lot to enjoy the beneficial air of salt caves. You can produce it in your own home with the help of the SaltDome salt therapy device. 

Thus, you can stay in salty air for as long as needed to ensure beneficial effects. Therefore, nowadays effective salt therapy can be done comfortably in your home.

Product recommendation: SaltDome salt therapy device

If you want to produce beneficial salty air in the comfort of your home, choose the SaltDome ultrasonic salt therapy device. Read customer reviews to learn about user experiences!

Buy now! →

The beneficial effects of salt therapy 

In the lungs, salt particles attract water through osmotic effects. As a result, the viscosity of mucus decreases, meaning it becomes less sticky and adherent. Its clearance becomes easier, improving the lung's self-cleaning. Deposited pollutants and pathogens also leave with the mucus. 

Mucosal swelling also decreases, relieving or eliminating congestion, making breathing easier and symptoms lessen. 

Salt has a natural antihistamine effect (reduces allergic reactions), thus reducing inflammation.

In upper respiratory diseases (cold, bronchitis, sinus inflammation, etc.), by dissolving and aiding the clearance of secretions, it speeds up recovery.

Natural salt has disinfecting properties. 

Our grandparents utilized this, for example, in ham and bacon preparation. Meats were soaked in brine for weeks. Salt prevented spoilage by killing bacteria. Only a few very aggressive and extremely rare pathogens can survive in salt solution.

These are all beneficial effects of salt therapy.

Watch my film about salt therapy and its application.

Are there any risks to salt therapy?

NO. This is a 100% natural remedy with NO risks for adults, children, infants, and even pets. 

Salt therapy has no contraindications! The assumption that inhaling salty air raises blood pressure is entirely wrong. If it were true, everyone near seaside areas would have high blood pressure. 

Think about it! 

If salt therapy had harmful effects, seaside areas would be deserted. But this is not the case! Billions of people live along seashores, in salty air, meaning salt therapy has no dangers.

When can you expect beneficial effects?

Salt particles penetrate the lungs depending on their size. Particles larger than 8 micrometers stop in the oral cavity and throat; those between 5-8 micrometers settle in the large airways. Only salt particles smaller than 5 micrometers reach deep enough into the lungs to have an effective impact. From a therapeutic point of view, smaller salt particle size is most effective.

The longer the salt therapy, i.e., the longer you breathe salty air, the more salt reaches your airways and the stronger the effects. One or two treatments per month are good for rest but you can’t expect significant effects from such short and infrequent salt treatments.

This is a drawback of built salt rooms as well. While they could be excellent, you must travel there, pay for it, and thus cannot use them as long as necessary. Medical technology manufacturers have created devices that allow you to produce therapeutic salty air even at home.

You can expect the best effects if you spend several hours daily in the salt mist. The best time for this is at night, during sleep. A quietly operating salt therapy device on your bedside table envelops you in a beneficial "salt cloud" and delivers enough salt deep into your airways. The situation is similar at work. If your job binds you to a desk, a device placed there is also an excellent solution.

For which diseases does salt therapy provide help?

Due to its mucolytic, disinfecting, and anti-inflammatory effects, salt therapy alone can be sufficient to eliminate symptoms in mild cases of colds and allergies.

Used preventively, salt therapy can help you avoid many diseases and reduce the frequency of infections or flare-ups. According to a 2012 study by Semmelweis University's ENT clinic, salt therapy treatment of healthy children reduces the occurrence of upper respiratory illnesses (cold, croup, sinus inflammations, etc.).

For acute and chronic diseases, use salt therapy to complement medical treatment as detailed below. It strengthens the effect of medical treatment and accelerates healing.

Effective in both children and adults! Can be used safely without risks.

Do not apply salt therapy during the first few days of a feverish pneumonia.

Prevention and treatment of upper respiratory allergies

If you have been to the seaside, you might have noticed that hay fever (or even eczema), raging back home, "disappeared" or itchy eczema receded there. All of this happens unnoticed! Within 2-3 days, symptoms were significantly reduced or vanished, although you did nothing but breathe in the salty sea air.

In certain conditions, respiratory secretions accumulate and adhere, making them hard or nearly impossible to cough up, resulting in flare-ups of infections. Salt therapy greatly aids in dissolving mucus (by attracting water) and helps eliminate secretions. This also helps prevent flare-ups (aggravation of the disease).

It can be applied to prevent hay fever, pollen allergies, allergic rhinitis, respiratory allergies, and croup attacks – starting a few weeks before the "season."

Complementary therapy for lung diseases

Salt therapy can be used in treating many respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, COPD, cystic fibrosis, colds, flu. It complements and enhances medical treatment.
Salty air contributes to killing pathogens. Its main help is in dissolving mucus. It neutralizes foreign substances (dust, pollen, allergens).

Diseases and conditions in which salty air may be beneficial

• COPD, cystic fibrosis, acute bronchitis
• chronic sinusitis and frontal sinus inflammation
• hay fever, allergic rhinitis, respiratory allergies
• acute tonsillitis, mucous membrane inflammations
• cold, flu, and other respiratory viral infections
• smoker's cough, shortness of breath
• pneumonia (start salt therapy only a few days after onset)
• snoring
• industrial allergens, house dust, mites induced allergies
• eczema, psoriasis, neurodermatitis

Acute lung disease and salt therapy

Salt therapy is not medicine, nor a miracle cure for acute symptoms!

If you have a 40-degree fever due to pneumonia or have barely breathed for days due to a flare-up of chronic bronchitis, do not expect a few breaths of salty air to fix everything instantly. Salt therapy can be used alongside medical treatment, aids its effect, and accelerates recovery.

Skin diseases

• allergies caused by industrial and domestic allergens
• eczema
• psoriasis
• neurodermatitis

Which device do I recommend?

I consider the SaltDome ultrasonic salt therapy device the most effective. It ensures you can enjoy the beneficial effects of salt therapy comfortably at home, anytime, and for the necessary duration. The SaltDome device releases salty air into the room air, which you inhale. Microscopic salt particles reach deep into your lungs and exert their beneficial effect.

Product recommendation: SaltDome salt therapy device

If you want to produce beneficial salty air in the comfort of your home, choose the SaltDome ultrasonic salt therapy device. Read customer reviews to learn about user experiences!

Buy now! →

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Dissolving stuck mucus at home

One of the most significant effects of salt therapy is useful in lung diseases involving mucus production (e.g., COPD - chronic obstructive bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, smoker’s lung, asthma, etc.)

Salt particles inhaled into the lungs stick to mucus and attract water to liquefy it. This makes it easier to cough up. Airways clear, and within a few days coughing significantly decreases.

For someone with such disease, the SaltDome device is excellent for dissolving stuck mucus and secretions at home.

How regularly should salt therapy be applied?

If you go to a salt room and spend an hour there, it has no significant health effect.

For beneficial effects, salty air must be inhaled continuously and regularly. The ideal method is 2-6 hours daily inhalation of salty air. 

Home devices, like SaltDome, allow setting operation for 1, 3, or 6 hours. Hence, you can use it during sleep at night. You stay in one place, spending enough time in the salt mist. 

During the day, good air in your home is useless if you are not home. 

Salt therapy – how often is it worth visiting a salt room?

Take a look, check prices. One hour in a salt room costs about 1000-1500 HUF – meaning for a family of 4, one visit costs 4-6 thousand HUF. Plus travel expenses.

As said before, one hour of salty air has no significant effect. You need 2-3 hours daily for at least 7-10 days. The cost approaches 100 thousand HUF. 

Meanwhile, the SaltDome device costs 19,900 HUF. You use it as much and as long as needed, in the comfort of your home. 

Is salt therapy safe for children?

Salt therapy is especially recommended for young children. As mentioned, Semmelweis University doctors have proven its benefits in young children. 

There is no difference in treatment frequency or duration between children and adults. The more time children spend in salty air, the stronger the effect. As the method is completely side-effect free, there is no cause to fear any harmful effect. 

Not even for infants. If a newborn has older (kindergarten or school age) siblings, it can be especially useful, as older siblings "bring home" pathogens from the community, which may make the baby sick. Salt therapy can reduce this risk. 

How long can salt therapy be given?

Salt therapy can be applied daily, even continuously. 

Think about it: everyone near the seaside lives with such salty air, and there are no problems. So you can confidently stay long-term in salt mist. 

Salt therapy for joint wear?

Salt therapy has no significant effect on joint complaints. 

Salt therapy for thyroid?

Salt therapy has no significant effect on the thyroid gland and its diseases. 

Salt therapy for ears?

Salt therapy (inhalation of salty air) has no direct effect on ear diseases. 

Indirectly, however, it can help relieve symptoms. Salty air reduces mucosal swelling, including that of the passage connecting the throat and middle ear. If obstruction decreases, ear clearance speeds up. 

Decades ago, another “salt” remedy existed. For ear infections, a cloth bag was filled with salt, heated in an oven to 40-45°C, and placed on the ear. The warmth helped the inflammation to "melt in," allowing the infected secretions to drain more easily, speeding healing and relieving symptoms. 

Why might coughing increase after salt therapy?

In asthma or severe COPD with lots of mucus, prolonged salt therapy can increase coughing!
This happens because salt dissolves airway secretions which the lungs try to remove naturally by coughing! This is entirely normal but can alarm worried relatives because it seems salt therapy worsens the condition. More mucus and secretions are produced that need removal. Coughing intensifies for this purpose. 

Of course, this occurs only in the first few days! After a few days, much of the mucus clears, and symptoms ease.

Salt therapy or steroids?

Salt therapy acts much slower than steroid nasal sprays or medications. 

However, while regular steroids have side effects, salt is completely safe!

With sufficient time spent in salt mist, your symptoms will significantly lessen or disappear unnoticed within a few days. Mucosal swelling decreases, runny nose and itching stop, breathing becomes easier.