What Is Halotherapy And Why Should You Care?
One runner tried yoga in a room diffused with dry salt to breathe easier and get a relaxing stretch in. Learn more about the treatment.
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Do trippy treatments work for recovery? One adventurous runner shares her story of inhaling salt—all in the name of relieving tired muscles, reducing inflammation and soothing frazzled minds.
Halotherapy
Dust-like particles of dry salt are diffused into a warm room. All you have to do is breathe.
POSSIBLE BENEFITS: Breathing in salt-infused air may help with respiratory issues (like asthma and allergies), inflammation and skin health. Supposedly, Hippocrates recommended salt inhalation as a treatment for breathing problems. It was rediscovered in modern times when a Polish physician noticed those who worked in the salt mines had fewer respiratory issues. For true salt therapy, you must go somewhere that diffuses pure sodium chloride into the air. Salt walls alone do not provide true salt therapy.
MY EXPERIENCE: I actually combined salt therapy, infrared and a yin yoga session, and wow, it was the best I’ve felt in ages. I was told the more skin exposed, the greater the benefit. Adding the infrared and yoga felt fabulous—think gentle stretching and deep yoga breathing to inhale the salt particulates. Afterward I felt relaxed, stretched and was breathing without any sniffles, although my nose was running during the treatment. While mine was active, these sessions can be as simple as breathing. Some spas also offer massages in salt-therapy rooms for two feel-good treatments at once. I cannot wait to go to another session.
DR. JORDAN METZL, A SPORTS-MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: “People have been going to the Dead Sea for centuries for the salt. Am I going to say they’re crazy? No.”
COST: $20