Salt as an Antidote to Phoenix Smog: Learn about the healing benefits of Dead Sea Salt, available in Scottsdale

We breathe smog on the freeway and fill our lungs with it when we hike. Open a window and it's inside the house. We know the famous Valley brown cloud is unhealthy, and now there is a way to cleanse the body of it by breathing deeply of special salt from the Dead Sea. Like many natural approaches to healing, salt room therapy is relatively new in the United States, but not so in the rest of the world.

For centuries, people have traveled to the Middle East for the healing powers of the Dead Sea. Today, a salt room – a small, white cavern lined with layers of Dead Sea salt that cover the floor and walls – disperses dry, aerosol microparticles of salt into the air. As they relax in a lounge chair for 45 minutes, the salt makes its way into the nooks and crannies of clients’ lungs. For many, the salt does a better job of clearing out infection and debris in their lungs than anything they have tried.

Table salt is 98 percent sodium chloride, but Dead Sea salt contains only about 10 to 15 percent; the remainder is comprised of healing minerals, many of which have natural anti-inflammatory properties. Their effect is to reduce inflammation in the entire respiratory tract, widen the airway passages, accelerate the transport of mucus, eliminate residual tar and foreign allergens and foster a stronger immune system. Allergies, chronic respiratory illnesses, skin disorders, infections and problems sleeping can be improved by inhaling the healing microclimate of a salt room.

Pavel Gershkovich, CHP, CRP, is the director of Salt Chalet Arizona and Arizona Leech Therapy at 5011 N. Granite Reef Rd., Scottsdale. For more information, call 480-621-6041 and visit SaltChaletArizona.com and ArizonaLeechTherapy.com.