Holistic Care At The Salt Room Wesley Chapel!

Monica Crabtree says she has suffered from terrible asthma and allergies her entire life. Even into her 30s, she was a slave to nebulizers and inhalers, four different allergy medicines and constant disruptions of her life.

Knowing this, a friend of Monica’s  suggested she give the Salt Room Wesley Chapel a try.  

Now, four years later, not only is Monica an employee of owner Danielle Howard’s Salt Room Wesley Chapel, which is located right off Bruce B. Downs in the Windfair Professional Center behind Florida Orthopaedic Institute, she also is one of its top evangelists.

“We don’t want to oversell it,” she says, “but it changed my life.”

Salt therapy, also known as halotherapy, is essentially breathing in salt particles, which is supposed to help with several maladies. Salt therapy can treat upper and lower respiratory conditions like colds and flu, allergies, asthma, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, sinus infections, hay fever and emphysema. The anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of salt, according to the Salt Therapy Association, have been shown to help treat eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis.

At The Salt Room Wesley Chapel, there are explanations on the backs of cards explaining how the salt therapy can help with each of these issues.

Monica says the idea is not so different than other ways of taking advantage of salt’s holistic healing properties, like gargling with warm salt water to help ease a sore throat or breathing in the salty air near a beach, which has long been considered to be beneficial for your air passages even if it’s not medically proven.

In Monica’s case, salt therapy helped with her asthma and allergies. Although she was skeptical, she did one session and experienced some nasal drainage, prompting her to try another session. After experiencing the same results, Monica signed up for a one-month unlimited membership and began visiting the Salt Room four days a week.

She says by the third week, she noticed she was not using her inhaler as much, where before, she had been using it multiple times a day. She stopped taking Claritin D every day. Her nebulizer and other medications were no longer such a big part of her daily routine.

“Salt therapy isn’t a treatment for asthma,” Monica says, “and it’s not going to get rid of asthma or allergies, but it’s a complement to what you’re already doing.”

Asthma and allergies are barely a part of Monica’s life anymore. As one example, she doesn’t have to vacuum the house wearing an N95 mask with the doors open. When she does feel a little stuffy, she says a therapy session will help flush her out.

“I’m now 34 years old, and I love going to the doctor and finally being able to write “N/A” under what medications I am using,” she says.

Stories like Monica’s are the reason Danielle opened the Salt Room nearly five years ago. She recently sold her second Salt Room location, located at the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis Center, but is opening a third Salt Room in Citrus Park sometime this month.

Before opening her original location, Danielle had been driving her young son to The Salt Room Orlando for salt therapy and was thrilled with the results. She says her son has never been on antibiotics and has never had an ear infection.

A big believer in using what the earth provides — she also co-owns Lüfka, a refillable, zero-waste store that operates under the same all-natural premise — Danielle says there are plenty of natural alternatives to many of the medications provided by doctors. There is a time and place for medications, she says, but adds that they can be overused and often abused.

One of The Salt Room’s clients, an 88-year-old military veteran, had suffered for decades with sinus issues. After several salt therapy sessions, he said he could taste his coffee and smell his fresh-cut grass for the first time in 40 years.

“There are success stories that will make you cry,” Danielle says.

Relaxation & Results 

The Salt Room Wesley Chapel strives to be a relaxing and therapeutic oasis. It has two salt therapy rooms, each with three tons of natural rock salt covering the floors and walls. Clients can sit or lay in the room and relax as soft “spa”music plays in the background.

A top-of-the-line halogenerator also pulverizes pharmaceutical grade salt into small particles that are pumped into the room and inhaled.

Each room, which can be set to a variety of moods (see above) can accommodate multiple people and is even used for salt therapy yoga classes.

A children’s room (photo, right), with more than a ton of salt, also is popular. Children can enjoy books and toys while playing on salt that is providing potential health benefits.

While it is mostly known for its salt therapy, The Salt Room Wesley Chapel also offers other wellness services.

Dr. Stephen Dell-Jones, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine (DOM) and a Florida Health Department-licensed Acupuncturist, offers acupuncture and cupping, while master esthetician Regina Motter offers holistic salt room facials as well as other specialty facials, and Star Ryan offers organic hair coloring.

Danielle says Covid has helped place an emphasis on respiratory care and self-care. While the spread of the virus initially shut her business down for six weeks in 2020, this past year has been like a slingshot effect, making it her most successful yet. Clients are seeking her out for what they believe are the physical benefits of salt therapy, as well for the reduced stress and anxiety she says it helps promote.

“This is a passion,” she says. “It’s not a fad, it’s not going to come and go. We just want to educate people on the benefits of salt therapy, and the more people that try it the more they stay with it.”

The Salt Room offers individual 45-minute salt therapy sessions for $45, or you can buy monthly and yearly memberships for the therapy, as well as for the variety of other wellness services offered.

The Salt Room Wesley Chapel is located at 2718 Windguard Cir., Suite 102. It is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; 2 p.m.-6 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday; and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, visit SaltRoomWesleyChapel.com or call (813) 501-8578.