Halotherapy

This article is about alternative medicine using salt. For mining for salt, see Salt mine.

Halotherapy (also known as speleotherapy when practiced inside caves) is a form of alternative medicine which makes use of salt. Halotherapy is an unproven treatment that lacks scientific credibility.^[1] Spa owners attribute a wide range of health benefits to halotherapy.^[2]

The unique red salt mine in Belarus – Soligorsk.

Halotherapy spa in Slovakia

Norman Edelman of the American Lung Association suggests that, for people with obstructive lung diseases, halotherapy might be more than a placebo effect.^[3] He speculates that inhaled salt particles might thin out mucus, aiding patients in expelling sputum. However, a recent review of the research supporting halotherapy determined that, out of 151 studies on this topic, only 1 was a well-designed randomized controlled trial that met their inclusion criteria for a meta-analysis.^[4]

History

The earliest known mention of spa resorts dates back to the 12th century in Poland, where people were urged to bathe in mineral waters.^[5] Modern history of halotherapy dates back to 1843, when a Polish physician named Feliks Boczkowski promoted the idea of salt treatment after noticing that workers at salt mines, unlike other miners, did not have respiratory or lung problems.^[6] In those regions with natural karst caves and numerous salt tunnels and salt mines, therapeutic centers for people with asthma have been established since the 1950s, notably in Slovakia,^[7] Romania, and Ukraine, in addition to Poland.^[8]

Forms

There are several forms of halotherapy:^[5]

• Saline solution inhalations
• Dry salt aerosol inhalations
• Irrigation and lavage
• Saline and brine baths
• Taking the waters (crenotherapy)

See also

• Balneotherapy, the medical use of bathing
• Speleotherapy
• Thalassotherapy, the medical use of seawater