A unique treatment for respiratory problems - The Salt Cave comes to Bexleyheath (From News Shopper)

A unique treatment for respiratory problems - The Salt Cave comes to Bexleyheath

11:54am Friday 29th June 2012 in Bexley By Alan Woods

A unique treatment for asthma, hay fever and bronchitis has come to Bexleyheath. Reporter ALAN WOODS tries it out.

THE sun has finally come out and with the fields a yellow sea of oil seed rape, this means one thing - the hay fever season is back.

I suffer each year and my Clarityn tablets from Boots stem the teary eyes, runny nose and sneezing to an extent.

When I heard about an alternative natural treatment for hay fever I put my tissue away and wiped my eyes to read on.

Recently opened in Avenue Road, in Bexleyheath, is The Salt Cave and tucked away next to Sainsbury’s, it is a bit of a cave itself.

One of just four franchises in the country, The Salt Cave offers a unique therapy for all chest conditions, ranging from asthma to bronchitis and hay fever to eczema.

The cave itself is designed to mimic an eastern European salt mine by using high dispersion, salty air to relieve breathing problems.

UK Franchise owner Denes Gal explained: “Our advanced system makes sure the air is cleaner and more sterile than in an operating theatre.

“When people sit in the cave for each one-hour session they relax with a book or watch TV and just breathe normally.”

Before entering the cave itself, I was asked to put blue plastic bags over my shoes in order to keep the environment completely sterile.

As I stepped inside, the atmosphere was eerily like a cave itself - the lights were dimmed and the entire room is coated in white salt, from the ceiling to the floor.

The only big difference was the flat-screen television on the wall.

I was asked to breathe normally during my hour in the cave so I took a seat on a reclined chair and read my book.

The adult room itself is spacious, seating up to eight people, while the equally sized children’s room takes six, due to toys and games filling up a bit more space.

Franchisee Danny Hoang says he expects it would take between 10 and 20 sessions to drastically reduce my hay fever symptoms, so I could not judge its effectiveness yet.

However, I did not sneeze while inside.

In between chapters of my book, I spoke to Dartford mum Kelly Murphy, who was with her two-year-old daughter Robyn Mitchell.

A Salt Cave user for nine months, Ms Murphy and her daughter have been at least 20 times now.

The 38-year-old, who lives in Shepherds Lane, said: “Robyn was diagnosed as asthmatic following a spell in hospital.

“You’ve got your traditional pharmaceuticals for asthma which are essential but this works in conjunction with that.

“She also has eczema and that went within two to three sessions and never came back - it was amazing.”

Ms Murphy, who previously travelled to The Salt Cave in Tunbridge Wells twice a week, added: “It’s worth trying and I think it’s like anything - they say don’t cut out the medication but it can definitely help the symptoms.

“It works well in conjunction with what comes from the doctor.”

Visit saltcave.co.uk