This article was submitted by a customer of our Boca Raton location, T.C. :
I have COPD and I went to the beach numerous times for 35 minutes to breathe the salt air upon my MD recommendation. At the beach, my oximeter read 88 percent (not good). I went to The Salt Suite® with speculation. My oximeter registered 88 to 92 per-cent on day (1) one. Towards mid-way through the halotherapy session and without the use of my oxygen tank and following the breathing exercises provided by “The Salt Suite®” iPod, my oximeter rose to 97. At that moment, I became a halotherapy believer.
What is Halotherapy? Halotherapy is the inhalation of micronized dry salt within a chamber that mimics a salt cave environment. People spend 45 minutes in these specifically designated salt cave-like room, sometimes performing particular breathing exercises.
I wish to share my personal experience with halotherapy: salt (cave) therapy. I am a female senior citizen with COPD using prescribed medications, a nebulizer, an oxygen tank 24/7 and I am under medical care. I was hospitalized for 10 days (Dec 25, 2018 – Jan 5, 2019) and diagnosed with pneumonia and COPD.
I started receiving halotherapy at The Salt Suite® 45 days after my hospital release. I go 5 to 6 times a week for their 45 minutes session. I never use my oxygen tank while in the salt cave. For those who have COPD & Chronic Bronchitis, The Salt Suite® recommends to visit their salt cave 3-4 times a week for 30-60 days.
Week 1 {2/19-2/25/2019}: My first visit to halotherapy was on February 19, 2019.
I entered the salt cave with speculation and without using my oxygen tank, yet the oxygen tank was by my side; my oximeter registered 88 to 92 per-cent on day (1) one. Towards midway through the session (day 1) without the use of my oxygen tank and following the breathing exercises provided by “The Salt Suite®” iPod, my oximeter rose to 97. At that moment, I became a believer.
On my fifth visit (week 1) to The Salt Suite® my oximeter rose to 99 percent for a split second without the use of my oxygen tank.
Week 2 {2/26-3/4/2019}: My oximeter readings varied from 94 to 99 percent.
Week 3 {3/5-3/11/2019}: My oximeter readings varied from 96 to 98 percent.
Week 4 {3/12-3/18/2019}: On March 12, 2019, my oximeter read 100 percent. On that date, the oxygen reading fluctuated from 98 to 100 percent, consistently.
Week 5 {3/19-3/25/2019}: During this week my oximeter varied from 97 to 98. My oximeter reached 99 to100 percent on March 25, 2019.
Week 6 {3/26-4/1/2019}: Tuesday it was 98-99, Wednesday 98-100, mostly 99 & 100. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday it was also 98-100.
A pilot study was performed in Denmark in 2014 by Ulla Møller Weinreich, Tove Nilsson, Lone Mylund, Helle Thaarup Christiansen and Birgitte Schantz Laursen of Aalborg University Hospital on Salt Halo Therapy and Saline Inhalation. The results of this study indicate that both saline and salt halo therapy has a positive effect on walking distance. An improvement in FEV1% (FEV1% is the maximal amount of air you can forcefully exhale in one second) is registered in both groups although only statistically significant in saline inhalation. Patients receiving halotherapy had significant improvement of SGRQ. Halo therapy appears to be better tolerated than saline inhalation. However, further randomized studies are needed in this area.
Sadly, I could not find any unbiased scientific or clinical research tests on halotherapy performed in the USA; the ones I found in the USA are and continue being sponsored by pharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Paul Scanlon, a pulmonologist at Mayo Clinic said;
“The largest funding source for COPD research (in the U.S.) is the National Institutes of Health.” “There are a number of research studies that are done, are funded by pharmaceutical companies, testing and trying new treatments for COPD.”
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): Mayo Clinic Radio
All studies performed in Eastern Europe and on an international level agreed, that a scientific study should be conducted in halotherapy.
https://search.nih.gov/search?utf8=%E2%9 %93&affiliate=nih&query=copd+and+halotherapy&commit=Search
It would be great if U.S. universities, hospitals and doctors performed a joint unbiased scientific study on halotherapy in treating COPD without the aid of pharmaceutical companies and their lobbyists. Or perhaps, halotherapy research can be performed by the wellness centers under the supervision of U.S. universities, hospitals, doctors and organizations. Many who attend halotherapy are there for different respiratory issues and they all agree, it has helped them. Most have informed their MD that they are attending salt cave therapy.
I encourage everyone to give halotherapy a try, record their oxygen read before entering the salt cave, during their session and at the end of the session with an oximeter. You may be pleasantly surprised with your results.
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