Salt room for Valley’s summer air

A salt room is an oasis of fresh, healthy, salt-infused air.

by Pavel Gershkovich — 

The American Lung Association’s annual State of the Air Report ranked metro Phoenix as having the second dirtiest air quality in the nation. Phoenix also received a failing grade for ozone — formed when heat and sunlight react with nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The most common VOC sources are vehicle exhaust, gasoline fumes, power plant emissions and chemicals, such as paint.

Clean, fresh air is hard to find in the Valley during the summertime. A salt room, however, is an oasis of fresh, healthy, salt-infused air. It is a unique environment created by filling a room with salt from the Dead Sea, which is naturally antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. The room is coated from floor to ceiling with this salt, which is also misted into the room. This mimics the microenvironment of a salt cave.

Long-term treatment in a salt room has a positive impact on lung function. In various clinical studies, this environment has been proven to alleviate respiratory and skin ailments, ranging from asthma to allergies to eczema. The salt kills harmful bacteria in the lungs, clears mucus buildup, opens air passages and boosts the immune system. It does this naturally, with no side effects.

In ancient times, people traveled great distances to the Dead Sea of Israel for its healing properties. It is a unique place: far below sea level and so much saltier than the ocean that fish and other aquatic life forms cannot live in it — hence the name, Dead Sea. The Dead Sea has a much higher mineral content than that of ocean water, and sodium, potassium and magnesium have been proven to help detoxify the body, stimulate blood circulation, and relieve tension and muscle aches.

Salt therapy has been used medicinally across Europe and Asia for decades. Recently it has spread to Canada and the United States; so far there are eight centers in the U.S. Growing numbers of people are looking to reduce asthma attacks, allergies, COPD and a whole host of breathing issues. People with asthma, for example, have been able to reduce the use of their inhalers from several times a day to once in a while, after a few salt treatments. Many people feel lethargic in the summer because their immune systems are so busy trying to detoxify the air they breathe; they find great relief in a salt room environment.

Pavel Gershkovich, C.H.P., C.R.P., is the director of Arizona Leech Therapy and Salt Chalet Arizona in Scottsdale, Ariz. www.arizonaleechtherapy.com, www.saltchaletarizona.com and 480-621-6041.

 Reprinted from AZNetNews, Volume 30, Number 3, June/July 2011.