Salt caves/Halotherapy Case Studies
Salt therapy has its origins from the salt mines and caves of Eastern Europe. Modern dry salt therapy has its origins from the salt mines and caves in Europe and Russia. Considering that mining jobs were usually recognized as dangerous to life and health, salt miners seemed to thrive on good health. They rarely had any respiratory issues and also looked younger due to great skin appearance.
Upon studying the effects of this phenomena, Dr. Feliks Boczkowski, who was not only a great doctor but also a very smart business man, founded and opened the first health resort facility at the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland in 1839. He offered salt baths by utilizing natural brine from underground and mentioned in his book, that staying underground can be even more effective in asthma treatment than inhalations.
In 1985 in Odessa, Russia, the Institute of Balneology, in collaboration with the salt cavers from Uzhgorod, developed the first Halotherapy device. This was a device that was replicating the grinding and crushing of salt that would disperse the particles into the air. One could say that Halotherapy was “born” in the medical environment, in former Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the knowledge of the halotechnology and established Halotherapy protocols became accessible to the rest of the world. Soon Halotherapy claimed its place in more commercial and wellness settings outside of the USSR in Eastern and Western Europe, Canada, Australia and finally the United States.