Salt rooms or manmade salt caves have become all the rage in Europe and the United States. Promoting health and wellbeing, these rooms are meant for relaxing and inhaling diffused salt particles to cleanse and rejuvenate your body. For the first time in the subcontinent, this concept has been introduced in Lahore through the Salt Cave Spa, which is located in Gulberg Galleria.
Along with being calming, sessions at the spa provide nonmedical therapy for health conditions such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, anxiety, cold, flu, congestion, dermatitis, ear infections and insomnia.
Salt helps draw water to the airways, thinning the mucus and improving the function of cilia or small hairs that help move the mucus away from the lungs. “We live in a polluted environment and that causes allergies to occur on a regular basis,” says Talhat Naqvi, Director of Public Relations at the spa. “We are importing breathable salt from Austria. Our machines vaporise the salt and release it into the air. I personally had a bad cough and ever since I started going to the spa, the fumes have helped in reducing it.”
“This is the second-largest manmade salt cave in the world,” says Abdul Ghafoor, owner of the Salt Cave Spa. “Salt has so many benefits for health as it is an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory. Salt air stops you from having a runny nose and allows for better breathing.” The salt room essentially works with vaporised salt that is diffused into the air and, which is then inhaled by the client. The salt being used in the cave comprises 84 minerals that are found in the composition of the human body, hence making it compatible with the body.
With a mini cave and play area for children, the spa is also beneficial for children with respiratory problems. “It is an effective form of non-invasive therapy for children between the ages of six months and 12 years, who suffer from allergies,” shares Naqvi. “It also helps in cleansing the colon. We advise our clients to take six sessions back to back to see instant results and then space the sessions according to their need.”
Interestingly, the Khewra Salt Mines near Kallar Kahar have a hospital inside that treats patients with respiratory issues. “Since the salt available at the mine is now vaporised, getting treatment there is a lengthy procedure,” explains Ghafoor. “We can achieve the same results at the spa in three sessions lasting 45 minutes each as opposed to getting treatment in the mine hospital, which takes up to three months.”
The cave has a futuristic feel to it, with textured walls lined with salt and the floor lined with a few inches of salt granules. In higher concentrations, the salt room can also help in revitalising the skin and fighting acne and other skin problems. “The anti-inflammatory and antiseptic nature of the salt kills bacteria and allows for skin to heal.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 6th, 2014.
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