At first glance, sitting in a dark room with salt crystals at your feet, the walls and ceilings covered with pink rocks, sparkles of lights dangling from those rocks, and soothing music piped through hidden speakers appears to be more of a spa experience than a medical treatment. But Pamela Ray of Bowling Green is physical proof of the long-term medicinal benefits of what is called “halotherapy.”
Ray, 83, visits Be Happy Salt Cave at least six times a week, if not more when her busy schedule allows. Ray hasn’t had a cold or sinus infection in nearly a decade.
“I’ve been coming for years because I’m building my immune system,” Ray said. “When you go into the salt cave, the air is just so clear and clean and smells so good … It’s a good prescription for everything.”
The National Institutes of Health touts halotherapy as a viable treatment for respiratory ailments, including sinusitis, chronic bronchitis, mild and moderate asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
But how?
The Salt Therapy Association claims the use of pure sodium chloride in “active dry salt therapy” is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory and super absorbent, which aids in clearing respiratory passages.
Lexington Salt Cave
Lara Levine, owner of Lexington Salt Cave, said salt therapy requires the use of a halogenerator that grinds the sodium chloride into microscopic particles and emits them into the air.
“The benefit of the dry salt is that it’s so absorbent … It actually can get deep, deep into the respiratory system, down into the bronchial tubes,” she said. “It can open up and unclog bronchial tubes, similar to what an asthma inhaler might do. It also absorbs bacteria and pollen … the stuff that shouldn’t be in your respiratory system. It thins mucus so you can clear things on your own.”
Levine opened Lexington Salt Cave in April 2021, but the seed was planted 15 years ago following a “girls trip” to North Carolina that involved a visit to a local salt cave.
“We went to this cave on our last day, and we just sat in this meditative space … They played quiet music, and you just relaxed,” she said. “We just felt so rejuvenated. Our allergies were gone. We were calm. It was just a really unique experience.”
Fast forward to 2019, when she made the decision to leave her high-pressure sales and marketing job, become a certified yoga teacher, and start a business helping others.
“After this kind of epiphany—after yoga teacher training—I kind of woke up one day and said I could open a salt cave because there wasn’t one in Lexington,” she said. “It was almost divine.”
Levine’s dream of offering a peaceful space to support overall health and well-being was realized.
“Most people in Kentucky suffer from allergies of some sort, and if it’s not just twice a year, it’s year-round for a lot of people,” Levine said. “This is an effective treatment if people can carve some time out of their schedule, and the bonus is the mental benefits and the relaxation.”
Louisville Salt Cave
Tiffany Nugent experienced first hand the healing and relaxation properties of salt therapy. In February 2020, she was struck by a car as she was leaving work. At that time, she was vice president of human resources for UofL Health and extremely physically active.
“I was kickboxing. I was running. I ran the Derby miniMarathon twice, and it was just part of my life. I haven’t been able to do that since that day,” Nugent said. “I’ve experienced two back surgeries, shoulder reconstruction, and I’m partially paralyzed in my left leg.”
In addition to traditional recovery therapies, Nugent sought alternative, safe methods and started going to Louisville Salt Cave.
“I needed to find a solution that at least helps me manage my pain, knowing that this was going to be a multi-year journey for me,” she said. “I found salt therapy as a means to help with inflammation, because you can’t take ibuprofen every day, or it’s going to destroy your stomach.”
Nugent discovered there was more to salt therapy than just physical benefits. “It made me open my eyes and say, ‘All right, there’s a lot going on that I’ve got to process,’ ” she said. “Mental processing, I have found, is the most important part of your physical wellness journey. Because it doesn’t matter how much I do physically, if I can’t sit in that cave for 45 minutes and process mentally, it’s going to keep showing up physically over and over and over again.”
That’s when Nugent and her husband, Chad, decided to open their own wellness center in Crestwood. But fate intervened. Nicole Bartlett, then owner of Louisville Salt Cave, decided to close the Shelbyville Road location. Once word reached the Nugents, plans changed, and they purchased the location in July, while also getting the Crestwood location ready for its grand opening in November.
“I was like, wait a minute, first of all: It’s beautiful. All of the [salt cave] would have to come down because you can’t relocate it anywhere,” Nugent said. “Second of all, people who live in this area of town are not going to come to my space in Oldham County. So, I wanted to keep this space for people who are on a similar journey.”
The Nugents share the benefits of halotherapy at events around the region with their mobile salt tent. Chad said the tent has been instrumental in spreading the word about salt therapy’s tangible effects.
“Someone comes to me and I say, ‘Hey, sit in this thing for 5 minutes and watch what it does,’ and they come out and they’re snotting like a teething 2-year-old … and they can breathe deeper,” he said. “So, I think you get a lot of guys who are looking at this and are a little naturally curious. Then they get in there and they come out, and they’re like, ‘All right, I’m in.’ ”
Be Happy Salt Cave
Susan Polk’s first experience with salt therapy wasn’t a fortunate one. She and a friend visited a salt cave in Tennessee years ago, and it was anything but relaxing.
“Their salt cave was not soundproof, and I was real restless,” Polk said. “I thought, ‘I know how to meditate. I’m a yoga teacher, so I’ll do that.’ [Instead] I’m just sitting there looking around.”
Then, in 2016, as she was looking to open a massage and yoga studio in Bowling Green, her real estate agent suggested adding a salt cave. Polk agreed, but she wanted to make sure her guests had silent, peaceful visits instead of her unfortunate salt cave experience.
In addition to relaxation sessions in the cave, guests can book massages and yoga classes.
For Pamela Ray, sitting peacefully in the cave is enough. Originally from the seaside resort city of Brighton, England, Ray discovered that Kentucky air is a lot different from the air in her hometown.
“Everywhere I looked [growing up], I could see the sea,” she said. “In Kentucky, there’s nothing. This is the next best thing because I really miss it. So, I’m truly blessed.”