Do salt saunas have real benefits?
None that are proven yet. A few small salt room trials found mixed results for breathing. And if you have asthma, breathing in salt can set off an attack.
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Does a salt sauna have real benefits?
Not proven ones. The studies are few and small.
Asthma + Lung UK says salt therapy has helped some people with lung conditions clear mucus more easily. But it adds that the evidence is mixed and not everyone will benefit.
| Study | Who took part | What it found |
|---|---|---|
| Salt room trial, 2017 | 55 children aged 5 to 13 with mild asthma | Less twitchy airways and better quality of life. No change in breathing tests. |
| Cochrane review of salt caves, 2001 | 124 children with asthma, in 3 trials | Only 1 trial was well run. 2 found short-term gains in lung function, but there was too little good evidence to say if it works. |
| Review of salt rooms for COPD, 2014 | 1,041 people in 4 studies, only 1 a randomised trial (people put into groups by chance) | Can’t be recommended yet. Better studies are needed. |
| Salt inhaler trial, 2026 | 25 people with COPD | No change in how fast mucus cleared. Stopped early, so too small to be sure. |
Sources: Bar-Yoseph 2017; Cochrane; Rashleigh 2014; Thomsen 2026
COPD is a group of lung conditions that cause breathing difficulties. The trials we found tested breathing, not skin, sleep or stress.
So if you go, go because you enjoy it, not to treat anything. If you have a lung condition, ask your GP, asthma nurse or pharmacist first.
What is a salt sauna?
The name covers a few different things. Only some of them have been studied.
| Type | What happens | Studied? |
|---|---|---|
| Salt room (halotherapy) | You breathe very fine dry salt in a room built to copy a salt cave. | Yes, in a few small studies. |
| Salt cave | You spend time in a real underground cave or mine. | Yes, in 3 small trials in children. |
| Salt pipe | You breathe in tiny salt particles through a pipe. | Not in the studies we found. |
| Himalayan salt sauna | A warm room or sauna with walls of salt blocks. | We found no trial. |
Sources: Rashleigh 2014; Cochrane; Asthma + Lung UK; American Lung Association
Ask the venue which kind it offers before you book. A room with salt walls is not the same as a room that puts salt into the air.
Can a salt sauna help asthma or COPD?
Maybe a little, for some people. The best-run trial we found was in children with mild asthma who were not on preventer medicine.
All the children sat in a salt room for 14 sessions over 7 weeks. For half, a machine put salt into the air. The rest had the same room with no machine.
With the machine, airways got less twitchy and children scored better on a quality of life survey. But their breathing tests did not improve.
It was a small first trial, and the researchers say larger trials are needed.
For COPD, a review found it can’t be recommended yet. Two allergy doctors, writing in a medical journal, list halotherapy among unproven treatments for allergic conditions.
So keep using your inhalers as prescribed. Never stop or change a prescribed medicine without your prescriber.
Is a Himalayan salt sauna better than a normal sauna?
We found no study that tested one. The salt studies used salt rooms, caves or inhalers, not a hot sauna with salt walls.
The heat is the part with evidence. A review of 40 studies found regular dry saunas have potential health benefits. That came from ordinary saunas, with no salt.
So pick a sauna on comfort and price. If you have a heart condition, ask your GP before using any hot sauna. See what a sauna can do and how infrared compares with a traditional sauna.
Half or more of sauna deaths involved alcohol, and being alone was common. Skip the drink and go with someone. Check your weekly alcohol units too.
Is a salt sauna safe if you have asthma?
Ask first. Asthma + Lung UK says breathing in salt can irritate your airways. That can cause coughing and trigger asthma attacks or flare-ups.
More mucus can also make symptoms worse in the short term. And the American Lung Association asks how well rooms are kept, since warm rooms could suit bacteria.
Before you book a salt room or salt sauna
- Have a lung condition? Ask your GP, asthma nurse or pharmacist if salt therapy is safe for you.
- Keep using your inhalers as prescribed. Salt therapy is not a swap for them.
- Take your reliever inhaler into the session with you.
- Leave if you start coughing or feel tight-chested, and use your reliever.
- In a hot salt sauna, skip alcohol and don’t go in on your own.
- Ask the venue how often it cleans the room.
Sources: Asthma + Lung UK; NHS; American Lung Association; Hussain and Cohen 2018
Short of breath on everyday walks? See why you might get out of breath before trying any salt room.
When to speak to a GP
- You have asthma or COPD and want to try salt therapy. Ask your GP, asthma nurse or pharmacist first.
- Your treatment isn’t helping, you need your inhaler more often, or asthma stops your usual activities or wakes you at night. See a GP.
- You’ve had an asthma attack and recovered. See a GP within 2 days, even if you feel better.
- You have COPD and are more short of breath than usual. Or you’re coughing up blood, have pain or swelling in 1 leg, or your heart is racing, skipping or fluttering. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or call 111.
Call 999 during an asthma attack if you feel worse at any time or have no inhaler. Also call if your reliever doesn’t help at its maximum dose. That’s NHS advice.
Call 999 for severe difficulty breathing, such as gasping, choking or not getting words out, or a tight or heavy chest. Also call 999 for pain spreading to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. That’s NHS advice too.
On brown or black skin, colour changes may be easier to see on the palms.