Is Halotherapy Legitimate Evidence-Based Science or Just the Latest Pseudoscience?
Nick Lechnir, ACB, CPD
Vice President Education TM - Learning and Development Administrator at Optum Serve
Alternative therapy businesses seem to be continuously on the post for the most recent prevailing fashion, fad, or outlandish pseudoscience they can add into their offerings. It’s great to stay ahead of the competition by being ready to jump on an untapped wellbeing trend. However, alternative therapy treatment claims, to a great extent, are based on dubious claims ranging from ideas of radical adjustment to normal virtue.
Taking a skeptical approach, what do we really know about alternative therapy in general? The term “holistic” is tossed around to the point that it is destitute of all meaning. It is truly a feel-good showcasing term. How do we know whether anything is based on evidence-based medical science or just pseudoscience? We don't know, unless we examine each product or service carefully.
One particularly recent therapy to the list of alternative medicine is halotherapy. This essentially comprises of sitting in a room lined with rock salt – what is known as a "salt cave." Sitting in a common salt cave, prevalent in Poland, is called speleotherapy (yes, that’s the same root as spelunking). But in case there are no natural salt caves around here, no worries, you can just make one.
What will sitting in a room lined with salt do for your wellbeing? It seems as if anyone can just make up a list.
Organic Spa magazine tells us:
"The calming and detoxifying effects of halotherapy can support the immune, nervous and lymphatic systems. Additional benefits are reduced stress and headaches, increased energy, and better sleep patterns. Salt ions purify the air and may increase lung capacity and reduce physical ailments for adults, children and athletes. Treatments are recommended to help keep the body healthy during flu or allergy seasons."
Like all such alternative therapy treatments, it’s great for whatever afflicts you. The list of claimed benefits is long and sufficient enough to basically incorporate everybody, in order to maximize the potential target client base. However, treatment centers are cautious not to make any real wellbeing claims, opting to use pseudoscience buzzwords like “detox” and “supports X function.” They also use wishy washy weasel words like "can support" and "may aleviate."
In some cases, they will make particular claims. Since halotherapy “works” because of the negative ions and trace minerals users are allegedly breathing in, marketing is often targeted at respiratory problems. One company, The Salt Cavern, is even more ambitious.
They claim halotherapy is perfect for:
? chronic bronchitis ? asthma ? hay fever ? ear infection ? breathlessness, chest tightness ? pneumonia after acute stage ? bronchiectatic disease ? smoker’s cough (including secondary smoke) ? cough with viscous sputum discharging with difficulties ? dry, paroxysmal cough with distant rates ? dry rales (mostly with low tone) changing its localization during auscultation ? frequent acute disorders of respiratory tract ? pharyngitis ? multi-chemical sensitivity syndrome ? sinusitis/sinus inflammation ? respiratory infections ? respiratory allergies to industrial and household pollutants ? rhinitis ? tonsillitis ? eczema and more.
As you might suspect, there appears to be a lack of any solid logical evidence for any of these claims. That's not how the alternative therapy (and elective medication) world works. They have been known to make up nice-sounding explanations that appear wholesome, and as a result, make unconfirmed claims. They will back this up, of course, with anecdotes, not evidence-based medical science.
Is there any evidence for halotherapy? Jabeen Begum MD of WebMD says "Studies have found that halotherapy can have benefits for respiratory conditions, skin problems, and allergies. Salt is a natural and safe ingredient. It does not have any notable side effects." Okay. Sounds kind of promising.
But can halotherapy actually heal respiratory ailments? “Halotherapy may be a relaxing spa treatment, but there's little evidence about how well it works,” says Dr. Niket Sonpal, assistant professor at Touro College of Medicine. “Most doctors are still skeptical, including myself. The effect that [salt caves have] on anxiety and depression is considered to be a placebo effect.”
Some alternative therapy business owners will cherry pick any scientific study they can utilize to bolster their treatment claims, and then spread them around. In the case of halotherapy, promoters will regularly cite a 2006 NEJM study that found inhaling hypertonic saline fog may offer a reduction in symptoms of patients with cystic fibrosis. They extrapolate one thing from this one case to support the claim that sitting in a salt cave is therapeutic for all respiratory symptoms.
Well, let's examine that claim. First, sitting in a salt cave, even if some salt is added to the air, isn't the same as breathing in a hypertonic fog. Furthermore, in that particular study, patients were pretreated with a bronchodilator. And of course, cystic fibrosis is a very specific illness, and any results don't necessarily apply to any other respiratory disorders. So, it seems they left out some control variables and other important information.
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But all these scientific points of interest don’t seem to matter to folks who are trying to run an alternative therary based business. They appear to only be interested in citing science-based evidence only if it's for improving the marketability of their products or services. And if they are ever pressed to produce a peer-reviewed scholarly consensus to back up their claims, they can always say "Well, you can't prove it doesn't work. We have lots of personal testimonies that say it does indeed work."
Here's where critical thinking skills come in handy. You can always ask questions to get a better idea of what's really happening:
In conclusion, it appears that halotherapy or "salt cave therapy" has little to no credibility for the wellbeing claims made for it, and there's really no science-based medical evidence to back those claims. One may infer that it does set itself apart from numerous popular fashions in the alternative therapy industry, due to its distinctive approach.
However, it does take a bit of financial investment to build a salt room that may likely impress customers with a unique look and feel. But it’s not like reflexology, which uses existing framework and infrastructure. The initial investment likely means that halotherapy will be around for a while, probably with an ever-expanding list of claims, as alternative therapy business owners try to capitalize on their investment.
Have you known anyone who had an experience with halotherapy or salt cave therapy or have you had any experiences yourself? How did you feel about it? How do you feel about other alternative therapies such as chiropractic, reiki, chakras or healing crystals? What about Cannabidiol oil, or CBD oil?
I sincerely appreciate your interest and support. Our mission is to always provide great content in helping you learn more about critical thinking, communication, speaking, presentation and learning skills.
Always keep leaping forward,
NJ
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