Opinions please: I am thinking of creating a small salt retreat at the back of my house, what arevyour thoughts?

[Lilasimpson]

Hi all, I would like your opininion: i am a healthcare professional and would like to diversify. I suffer from eczema, my daughter from asthma and husband from insomnia... well I think most of it is due to stress, especially as dh will lose his job soon. We have a double garage at the back of our garden, actually looks like a mini house, maybe 40 square metres. Would lovebto convert it to a salt spa. The problems are: I am not sure it is feasible as I might need a bigger space. Even if it was, it is near a garage that repairs cars. My aim would be to create a completely peaceful atmosphere, where little kids with coughs, colds etc or adults could come to relax and heal from their conditions without too much medication. I could also help patients with their inhaler uses, advise on skincare or medication due to my background... I love the idea of natural healing and have always believed in that. I am so enthusiastic about this project! Would the fact that it is near a garage put you off as a customer? Would you be willing to try and if so how much would you like to spend? There is already a toilet, sink and loft but would need to rearrange everything to make it very attractive. Please give me your thoughts!!

[BertrandRussell]

Brian Dunning on halotherapy

[exWifebeginsat40]

wait, just so we're on the same page.

you, a registered pharmacist, want to advise people on asthma treatment in your garage, which will inexplicably be filled with salt (road salt? dead sea salt? saxo?).

uh-huh. let us know how that goes.

[BertrandRussell]

I think saltcave.uk might be a franchise..........

[PencilsInSpace]

This salt cave uk? The ASA upheld a complaint against them. You will need robust evidence to substantiate any health claims you make for this 'therapy'.

[littledinaco]

I have never tried a salt cave but it is something I have considered taking my DC to. I notice a MASSIVE difference with asthma when we can go to the beach regularly and have thought for a while it may be the salt. (Obviously this is purely anecdotal and may be conincidence, etc). I would be interested to try this regardless of scientific proof.

A lot of people are dismissing the idea but it doesn't mean there is not a business for this type of therapy.

If you can find a way round using your professional qualifications to give people advise then I think this would be a huge plus point.

Just out of interest, what were the benefits you noticed with your daughter? How often did you go? (pm me if you want).

Obviously a lot to think about-good luck!

[fingles]

Pp, it's much more likely that the improvement in asthma is caused by the cleanliness of sea air, as air gets progressively more polluted as you go further inland and away from sea breezes, generally.

[littledinaco]

Thanks finges. I am very open to it being nothing to do with the salt. The beach we go to is on quite an 'industrial' area so not sure how clean the air is?!
Also, I don't notice the same difference when we go to areas with 'clean air' that are not the sea. So remote countryside, large national parks, etc. Or would the air be just as polluted as it's still in-land?

[HopelesslydevotedtoGu]

So what are you building - an actual facility to genuinely treat people via hypertonoc saline, or just a feel good cave where people will pay to sit but it probably does f all for their medical problem?

If the former

• how will you ensure the air has the right concentration of saline? Will this need to vary for different conditions/ ages? Do you need special medical grade salt? How will you determine and monitor treatment protocols? One study you link describes people inhaling HTS every day for a year - is this what you are proposing and how much does this cost your customer? If less frequently - why? Where is the evidence of inhaling hts once a week being effective? Will people sit in this cave together? Isn't having someone with a hacking cold sitting with someone else with cystic fibrosis a lawsuit waiting to happen? If they all come individually will that be cost effective? Will you have adequate insurance in case someone has a fatal asthma attack in your cave and the family say the salt or the cold or the dust triggered it or they weren't supervised adequately? If you provide supervision will you really be earning enough to justify sitting there half the day? How will you clean it to stop people's sneeze droplets from being a risk? What are the potential adverse risks of hypertonic saline? Do you have insurance in case a patient feels the treatment has harmed them?
  

If the latter, just a feel good place - how good will it feel sitting in a garage?

If you are advertising yourself as a Pharmacist then patients - and your professional body and indemnity provider - will expect a professional Pharmacist level of care and evidence. Which you haven't described in this thread.

If you aren't doing it as a Pharmacist, just as a Lady with a nice salt cave, then I guess I would wonder how you will convince people to use your salt cave over the many other feel-good therapies.

[PencilsInSpace]

The first study OP linked to compared inhalation of isotonic saline and hypertonic saline and found no difference between the two groups (40 participants total). There was no control group who were not inhaling saline.

The second study alternated hypertonic saline and isotonic saline in the same group (20 participants) and concluded that hypertonic saline produced better results on one measure out of several. Again, there was no control group who did not inhale saline.

The third study, from what I can tell, involved mixing hypertonic saline with other drugs to see if it made the nebuliser steam up. It didn't have anything to do with patient outcomes.

This is not the sort of robust evidence you would need if you wanted to make health claims, OP.

[CoteDAzur]

"Cote D'Azur, complementary means homeopathy, acupuncture etc"

Yeah, I do actually know what it means.

How on Earth you square off your understanding of pharmacology (since you are a pharmacist) with homeopathy is beyond me, though.

Were you not taught at university that the more concentrated a solution is, the stronger it gets? And if so, how on Earthy can you mouth the word "homeopathy" with a straight face?