Since opening in October 2016, the dry-salt therapy rooms, with their beach chairs and amber-glow salt lamps, claim to deliver relief to clients who suffer from respiratory or skin ailments, owner Cassandra Mays said.
After her daughter, Adrienne, developed debilitating environmental allergies, Mays began looking into alternative treatments, including salt therapy, also known as halotherapy.
“You’re cleaning everything out and as you open up your airways, you can breathe better,” Mays said. “And you don’t have all those toxins and pollutants in you.”
Mays said she first learned about the treatment while on a trip to the Dead Sea in Israel but could not find any facilities to try the treatment in the Greater Houston area.
After thoroughly researching the properties of Himalayan sea salt and halotherapy’s effects on ailments, Mays decided to open a facility near her hometown, The Woodlands.
“I took on a business that nobody knows about,” she said. “It’s not like a dentist office or a nail salon. Part of our work is educating people about this.”
From clearing the air passages of a 6-month-old client to soothing the eczema of a 96-year-old guest, Mays said the healing properties of Himalayan sea salt at Salt Remedy are said to help not just those afflicted by allergies and irritated skin but also by clients who have cystic fibrosis, high blood pressure and sleep disorders.
May said guests spend a 45-minute session sitting reclined in a calming dry salt room, while a machine called a halogenerator infuses microscopic particles of salt into the air.
The particles of sea salt are inhaled, which Mays claims help in loosening mucus in the nose, throat and lungs.
The inhaled sea salt also is believed to remove airborne pollen, Mays said. As a former competitive triathlete, she said this can help an athlete to boost lung capacity by clearing the respiratory system of mucus and pathogens.
“[It] helps an athlete consume oxygen in the right way to fuel them for athletic work,” she said.
Calming symptoms
Mays said the dry-salt rooms draw clients from all around Houston who seek relief from their environmental allergies and skin ailments. While 25-minute private appointments or 45-minute group sessions are booked online or over the phone, walk-ins are also accepted.
“I’ve got busy executives who travel a lot,” she explained. “My private room is for a 25-minute session where the concentration of the salt is tweaked so they can get the same concentration as a group session in a 45-minute room.”
For customers who travel frequently, the sessions reportedly help these clients keep their immune systems strong in preparation for long flights spent amid airborne germs, Mays said.
While Mays said the therapy is not a cure for ailments, many customers enjoy the therapy process, even after their symptoms have subsided.
“I’ve had a few people where this wasn’t for them for whatever reason. But more people than not are coming back,” Mays said. “Some people come and their condition clears up, and they really don’t have to come back. We recommend a once-a-month maintenance schedule to boost overall health.”
Mays said a second Salt Remedy site is in the works that will be similar to the first on FM 1488. She said wants the core goals of Salt Remedy to remain the same, helping clients gain energy and regain their ability to breathe.
With only about 200 such businesses in the U.S., and only a handful of those in Texas, May said she hopes the service can help medical patients who strive to avoid invasive procedures or reliance on prescription medications.
“It was a learning process, and even with all the tears, I wouldn’t have done anything differently,” she said. “I am learning so much and have grown just by starting this business of helping people.”
2330 FM 1488, Ste. 200, The Woodlands
936-271-7258
www.saltremedy.net
Hours: Mon. and Wed. 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Tue. and Thu. noon-7 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 9 a.m. 4 p.m., closed Sundays
