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With its respiratory and antimicrobial properties, salt- or halo-therapy has been tipped as a key wellness trend in light of COVID-19. As part of a recent series of Global Wellness Institute calls, experts helming a dedicated initiative shared their thoughts on the field.
Harking from Poland, halotherapy is typically offered as a dry treatment using a halogenerator to produce pharmaceutical-grade particles of salt for inhalation in an environment which mimics a salt cave microclimate with dry, cold conditions and no humidity. It can also be carried out through wet methods such as salt-water baths and pools and floatation tanks.
Initiative chair, Steve Spiro of Global Halotherapy Solutions, hosted the conversation and kicked off by highlighting the therapy’s benefits.
Research in 2009, by Russian professor Alina Chervinskaya, suggests that regular halotherapy use can both prevent contraction and relieve symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections.
A more recent paper, published in the Journal of Medicine and Life in 2014, demonstrates how halotherapy can trigger an anti-inflammatory response in people with respiratory conditions. This is a relevant quality as one of COVID-19’s most problematic symptoms is the influx of cytokine storm, a hyperinflammatory condition caused by an overactive immune system, which seems to be what is killing a majority of COVID-19 patients.
Moreover, halotherapy requires little to no therapist contact, which may help spa customers who are nervous about social distancing.
Medical spa owner Lisa Semerly highlighted that salt therapy will be attractive to operators because it doesn’t require labour costs and there’s an accelerated return on investment, as well as having an expansive potential target audience.
She added: “Salt therapy is capable of reducing respiratory symptoms as well as helping with stress reduction, improving overall immune response, easing dermatological conditions and can help athletes improve lung function and increase oxygen saturation to aid recovery.”
Dr Raleigh Duncan, chair and founder of Clearlight Infrared Saunas, concluded with a suggestion of combining infrared sauna therapy and halotherapy to make for an effective complementary treatment against respiratory viruses. The basis of combining the two therapies rests on the fact that the sauna’s dry and warm air will allow for deeper levels of penetration and better absorbency of the salt particles in the bronchi and distal airways.
Key manufacturers of salt-therapy experiences include Halotherapy Solutions, Klafs and Saltability, while Spa Vision and Drom UK distribute salt-therapy equipment.
STUDIES OF NOTE • Lazarescu, H et al. Surveys on therapeutic effects of “halotherapy chamber with artificial salt-mine environment” on patients with certain chronic allergenic respiratory pathologies and infectious-inflammatory pathologies. Journal of Medicine and Life. 2014
• Chervinskaya, Alina. Dry sodium chloride aerosol against acute respiratory infections. European Respiratory Journal, 2009.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2020 issue 3
Editor's letter: The fight ahead
There’s a huge job of work to do to build our reputation and win support in the corridors of power, says Katie Barnes
Spa people: Patrick Huey
The vice-president of spa and retail at Montage talks about his new role as ISPA chair, Black Lives Matter and how his spas are fighting back against COVID-19
Spa people: Rianna Riego
Wellness consultant Rianna Riego speaks out about racial discrimination in the global spa industry
Spa people: Anna Teal
The CEO of Aromatherapy Associates outlines the online innovations it's using to connect with customers in exciting new ways
Spa programmes: On the menu
How are spas changing their treatments and services now they’re staring to reopen again?
Interview: Lee Woon Hoe
Banyan Tree’s executive director of wellbeing tells Spa Business magazine why now is the right time for the group to launch its new wellness concept
Ask an expert: Spa design 2030
Spa Business magazine asks leading designers and architects to give their predictions about pandemic-proof spa models
Promotion: Trendsetting
Design specialists, The Wellness, worked with in-house engineers for Jumeirah to create a state-of-the-art gym for Talise Fitness at the Jumeirah Al Naseem in Dubai
Research: Manner of speaking
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Research: New perspectives
Two surveys in the UK highlight both spa operator and spa-goer insights as facilities across the country begin to welcome guests back
Promotion: The power of touchless
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Country focus: Best of British
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Promotion: Sustain and regenerate
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Supplier showcase: Premium Fitness
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With its respiratory and antimicrobial properties, salt- or halo-therapy has been tipped as a key wellness trend in light of COVID-19. As part of a recent series of Global Wellness Institute calls, experts helming a dedicated initiative shared their thoughts on the field.
Harking from Poland, halotherapy is typically offered as a dry treatment using a halogenerator to produce pharmaceutical-grade particles of salt for inhalation in an environment which mimics a salt cave microclimate with dry, cold conditions and no humidity. It can also be carried out through wet methods such as salt-water baths and pools and floatation tanks.
Initiative chair, Steve Spiro of Global Halotherapy Solutions, hosted the conversation and kicked off by highlighting the therapy’s benefits.
Research in 2009, by Russian professor Alina Chervinskaya, suggests that regular halotherapy use can both prevent contraction and relieve symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections.
A more recent paper, published in the Journal of Medicine and Life in 2014, demonstrates how halotherapy can trigger an anti-inflammatory response in people with respiratory conditions. This is a relevant quality as one of COVID-19’s most problematic symptoms is the influx of cytokine storm, a hyperinflammatory condition caused by an overactive immune system, which seems to be what is killing a majority of COVID-19 patients.
Moreover, halotherapy requires little to no therapist contact, which may help spa customers who are nervous about social distancing.
Medical spa owner Lisa Semerly highlighted that salt therapy will be attractive to operators because it doesn’t require labour costs and there’s an accelerated return on investment, as well as having an expansive potential target audience.
She added: “Salt therapy is capable of reducing respiratory symptoms as well as helping with stress reduction, improving overall immune response, easing dermatological conditions and can help athletes improve lung function and increase oxygen saturation to aid recovery.”
Dr Raleigh Duncan, chair and founder of Clearlight Infrared Saunas, concluded with a suggestion of combining infrared sauna therapy and halotherapy to make for an effective complementary treatment against respiratory viruses. The basis of combining the two therapies rests on the fact that the sauna’s dry and warm air will allow for deeper levels of penetration and better absorbency of the salt particles in the bronchi and distal airways.
Key manufacturers of salt-therapy experiences include Halotherapy Solutions, Klafs and Saltability, while Spa Vision and Drom UK distribute salt-therapy equipment.
STUDIES OF NOTE • Lazarescu, H et al. Surveys on therapeutic effects of “halotherapy chamber with artificial salt-mine environment” on patients with certain chronic allergenic respiratory pathologies and infectious-inflammatory pathologies. Journal of Medicine and Life. 2014
• Chervinskaya, Alina. Dry sodium chloride aerosol against acute respiratory infections. European Respiratory Journal, 2009.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2020 issue 3
Editor's letter: The fight ahead
There’s a huge job of work to do to build our reputation and win support in the corridors of power, says Katie Barnes
Spa people: Patrick Huey
The vice-president of spa and retail at Montage talks about his new role as ISPA chair, Black Lives Matter and how his spas are fighting back against COVID-19
Spa people: Rianna Riego
Wellness consultant Rianna Riego speaks out about racial discrimination in the global spa industry
Spa people: Anna Teal
The CEO of Aromatherapy Associates outlines the online innovations it's using to connect with customers in exciting new ways
Spa programmes: On the menu
How are spas changing their treatments and services now they’re staring to reopen again?
Interview: Lee Woon Hoe
Banyan Tree’s executive director of wellbeing tells Spa Business magazine why now is the right time for the group to launch its new wellness concept
Ask an expert: Spa design 2030
Spa Business magazine asks leading designers and architects to give their predictions about pandemic-proof spa models
Promotion: Trendsetting
Design specialists, The Wellness, worked with in-house engineers for Jumeirah to create a state-of-the-art gym for Talise Fitness at the Jumeirah Al Naseem in Dubai
Research: Manner of speaking
ISPA’s latest study reveals consumer attitudes in the aftermath of COVID-19. Josh Corman picks out the key details
Research: New perspectives
Two surveys in the UK highlight both spa operator and spa-goer insights as facilities across the country begin to welcome guests back
Promotion: The power of touchless
Spa and wellness innovator, Sammy Gharieni, reveals how his on-trend products are perfect for delivering high-value touchless treatments
Country focus: Best of British
We take a look at the standout concepts offered in the world-class spas that have opened in the UK over the last three years
Promotion: Sustain and regenerate
Sustainable skincare brand, Comfort Zone, has radically reinvented its entire Sacred Nature line, driven by the ambition to create some of the world’s first carbon-negative products
Interview: Emma Darby
Despite closing during in lockdown, some Resense spas still hit revenue targets. Its COO tells Spa Business magazine how
Promotion: Redefining the snowroom
Italian snowroom expert, TechnoAlpin, has collaborated with groundbreaking architectural practice, Snøhetta, to create a snowroom like no other
Medi-wellness: On good termes
Italy’s Long Life clinic, which offers anti-ageing science alongside water cures, is gaining greater attention post-lockdown. Sophie Benge pays a visit
Supplier showcase: Premium Fitness
Dormy House has partnered with Matrix Fitness to create two fully-connected fitness suites to take its offering to a new and more sophisticated level @DormyHouse @MatrixFitnessUK
Promotion: Sothys
Sothys’ beauty treatment designer, Séverine Monjanel, and training director, Isabelle Villey, talk to Spa Business about the company’s new authentic ancestral Indonesian treatment
Synergy – The Retreat Show, the global trade show for retreats, has launched a global research
initiative that will provide insights into the retreat sector from both consumer and industry
perspectives.
The Wellness Tourism Association (WTA) has published a non-regulatory global industry
framework designed to ensure the retreat market offers responsible experiences.
A new survey of UK and international spa practitioners shows that stress, burnout and
wellbeing concerns have caused one in three respondents to consider leaving the industry.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Anna Bjurstam has left her role as Wellness Pioneer at Six Senses Hotels and Resorts and
launched a new wellness, longevity and “consciousness consultancy” called Wahayla.
Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere, has opened today (10 July) in the Northwest of England
with a
1,715sq m Fairmont Spa that has been designed using a ‘Wellness without Walls’
concept.
Wellness hotels generating less than US$1 million (€932,700, £785,200) – or 10 per cent of
total revenue from wellness and leisure – recorded the strongest RevPAR and TRevPAR growth
in 2025 across categories when compared with 2024, according to the latest Wellness Real
Estate Report by RLA Global, produced in partnership with P and L benchmarking firm HotStats.
Lefay Resorts, the portfolio of two luxury wellness properties in Italy, has added emotional
dance classes and group cold plunge sessions in response to market demand for social
connection.
In the fast-paced world of fitness and wellness, where high-intensity workouts push us to
our limits and the sweat pours, the importance of efficient recovery cannot be overstated. [more...]
The MSpa Oslo series is a perennial bestseller in global markets. With innovative
engineering and premium performance, this completely portable spa line-up is expertly
designed to meet the needs of customers worldwide. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Prism Light Pod Prism Light Pod launched its first
whole-body red light bed in 2016. We
expanded with the Prism Li [more...]
