Put the tissues away. 
Here’s an alternative to get your sinuses clearer than prepubescent skin.
It’s called ~salt therapy~ and harnesses the power of super fine salt particles to treat your everyday breathing ills, from asthma to hay fever, snoring to cold and flu; it’s even been medically proven to improve gnarly skin conditions like eczema and acne.
Naturally, we wanted to test it out for ourselves so we sent our guinea pig health and fitness editor in for a squiz.
BUT FIRST, A BIT OF HISTORY
When Polish physician Dr Feliks Boczkowski noticed that workers of the local Wieliczka salt mines didn’t suffer any lung disorders that were common circa 1843, he put two and two together and theorised that the air in these ‘salt caves’ were helping prevent respiratory disorders, and even curing them.
From there, ol’ Boczkowski developed ‘salt therapy’, which involves sitting in a salt cave aka salt grotto, aka salt chamber and breathing in dense atmosphere as a way to ~heal~, clearing the airways and detox the body.
These days halotherapy is more common practice, a form of salt therapy that happen inside a man-made salt room, unlike seleotherapy which happens in an IRL salt cave.
HOW DOES IT WORK
Tayna Skrynnyk from Bondi’s Saltroom explains:
“Salt is antibacterial. As you know with the ocean water – it is healing, and people have been using salts for hundreds of years on wounds; to gargle. Inside the [salt] room, you will be able to see the particles moving under the light, and you will breath it in. It is so fine and will rest on your skin to treat eczema or psoriasis – and you can leave it on all day so that helps“
We enquire about its benefits for people with fucked up sinuses allergies and hay fever, and Tayna explains that it really depends on how severe the individual’s condition is. Some people see improvements to their condition after two to three sessions, and Tanya testifies that she hasn’t had the flu (“only a cold sometimes”) by frequently indulging in the therapy. PREACH.
P.TV ROAD TEST
Let’s be clear, ’cause my sinuses ain’t – I have the worst allergies and on a typical 365-day calendar year, I probably have about 20 good days where I can actually smell the world.Recently, this has been made worse by the fact that the schizophrenic weather. And on top of that, I’m recovering from a cold so when I went in for my appointment, my nose was perfectly blocked up for the roadtest.
[Entering salt room]Inside the dimly-lit chamber with its himalayan salt walls, salt ornaments and rock salt floors – the air smells powdery but not exactly salty.Tanya tells me the session will last 45 minutes – that most people take this time to sleep – and involves an aerosol salt generator (below) spurting out super fine grains into the room and me inhaling it them.
THE SEASONING MACHINE.
I get comfortable on the recliner. I’m ready to sniff me some salts of the earth.5 minutes – I hear a’ whirring as the machine starts up and the atmosphere in the room starts to get a lil’ dense.10 minutes – One nostril is still blocked (ain’t that the worst?) and there’s also a salty aftertaste in my mouth.15 minutes – OK, both nostrils are clearer, which is a bit cool – I wouldn’t say they’re operating at 100% yet, but I’m satisfied with this level of breathing.
*SNIFF*
25 minutes in – I’m not one of those people who can sleep in unfamiliar settings, so it takes me a few attempts before I fall asleep (for all of 7 minutes) – and even then, it’s that weird phase between being conscious and asleep. I often sleep with an open mouth but found I was able to breath through my nose while I was in the salt room. I even had a quick dream. Nice.30 minutes in – My skin, face and hands feel chalky and my lungs a bit grainy, but I trust that it’s a good thing. My lousy nostrils are a blocked again. I can hear the older gentleman in the next cubicle deep breathing and I hope he’s ok and not choking on the mad dust. He has a a bit of a coughing fit and being the germaphobe I am, I freak out internally and cover my mouth with my shirt.
DOES THIS MAKE YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE?
45 minutes in – I leave with a slightly blocked nose, but it’s better than when I came in, I think. When the session ends, I’m chat to Tayna, who tells me people usually use this as a preventative method, and that depending on the person it usually takes a few sessions to see real results.A few days later and my nose has returned to its natural blocked state. IMHO, if your allergies are being a bitch, why not try salt rooms? There’s no harm done. VICKS vapour rub and inhaling the ~salty beach air~ also work a treat, tho.
For more information on salt therapy, visit Saltroom.
