Salt Therapy Pillow

A salt therapy pillow is used as part of treatment for many chronic respiratory ailments. Salt can improve respiratory function in a wide range of conditions, from childhood asthma to cystic fibrosis in adults. A variety of methods for receiving the necessary salt have been devised.

The first use of salt for therapeutic relief was an offshoot of an observation by a German scientist that the salt miners of his town did not suffer from the same respiratory afflictions as the rest of the townsfolk did. This observation was made during the thick of the industrial revolution, in 1843. Thus, people suffering from bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, and other sicknesses would come to the salt mines for treatment. But how did we get from a salt mine to a salt therapy pillow?

As you may imagine, salt mines are not all that portable, so alternative methods of delivery were sought. Humidifiers were one of the first methods tried, as was breathing through a salt packed tube. Both saw moderate success, and as technology progressed, saline solutions in nebulizers also proved effective in combating respiratory distress. Since reclining can trigger or worsen many respiratory distress symptoms, it was only a matter of time before someone invented a salt therapy pillow to combat the effects in the position where they were at their worst. Today these pillows make sleeping that much easier for many who ordinarily would have to suffer through the night.