St. Louis Salt Room

Halotherapy is most prevalent in Russia, where doctors have routinely prescribed it for over a decade.  While every session is beneficial, multiple sessions allow most people to experience a period of remission from their conditions, as mentioned on our main page. 

Below is a short list of conditions and the recommended number of consecutive sessions, as used in Russian clinics and health spas.

Duration of Halotherapy Treatment

Pathology and duration of treatment (days)

Asthma – intermittent, mild 12-14

Asthma – moderate, severe 18-21

Acute bronchitis 12-14

Recurrent bronchitis 12-14

Chronic simple bronchitis 18-21

Chronic obstructive bronchitis 18-21

Pneumonia after acute stage 12-14

Bronchiectatic disease 20-25

Cystic fibrosis 20-25

Respiratory infections, influenza 5-7 or 2x/wk

for prevention

Vasomotor and allergic rhinitis, rhinosinusopathy 14-18

Chronic pharyngitis and tonsillitis 14-18

Adenoiditis 14-18

Chronic sinusitis 14-18

Acute sinusitis 3-5

Clearing after pulmonary tuberculosis 14-18

Hay fever 12-14

Multi-chemical sensitivity syndrome 12-14

Sick building syndrome 12-14

Smokers 12-14

After contact with industrial and household pollutants 12-14

Skin pathology 8-25

SOURCE:

MINISTRY OF PUBLIC HEALTH OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, Halotherapy Application in Treatment and Rehabilitation of Respiratory Diseases, Methodical Recommendation No. 95/111, Moscow 1995

Methodical recommendation was discussed and approved by the Scientific Board of the Institute of Pulmonology of the Russian Federation.

Clinical-Research Respiratory Center, St. Petersburg – Doctors A.V. Chervinskaya, S.I. Konovalov, O.V. Strashnova, N.G. Samsonova

Institute of Pulmonology of the Russian Federation, Moscow – Doctors A.G. Chchalin, I.D. Apulcina, I.E. Furman, A.A. Bondarenko, M.V. Samsonova

Pavlov National Medical University, St. Petersburg – Doctors M.S. Pluzhnikov, A.N. Aleksandrov, I.M. Raznatovskiy, N.N. Tretyakova, K.N. Monachov

PLEASE NOTE:

For best results, during a course of therapy, chronic sufferers should try to complete sessions as consecutively as possible - daily is best, but at least 3 times a week are usually needed for challenging cases. 

Back-to-back sessions - two in a row - can be greatly beneficial for sinus and skin conditions, though are not always recommended for chronic lung conditions.

ADAPTATION:

Russian doctors refer to the first session as the adaptation session.  Typically the body needs to become adapted to the salt room microclimate before healing takes place.  Having said that, many people complete this adaptation process during the first session and already notice positive effects.  A much smaller group will require more than one session for adaptation to occur.  Sometimes during adaptation some negative symptoms may occur, like a headache or some other discomfort, but these effects will normally be absent or diminish during subsequent sessions.  

INTERACTIONS WITH MEDICINE? 

There are none with this natural therapy.  Salt Therapy actually helps medications work more effectively, so less can be used.  Also concerning medicine, our bodies are all unique, so the one great flaw with medication is that no single medicine can be right for everyone.  Therefor doctors have to often try numerous medications and various doses before a patient can get adequate relief.  But then there are the inevitable side effects, and other risks of complications that are especially prevalent with many respiratory medicaments. 

Salt Therapy is universally beneficial to a great majority of individuals, due to using a mineral of nature which has been used for thousands of years for healing, and which is already present in every cell of our bodies.