As a rule, the smaller the salt particles, the greater the health benefits for people suffering from respiratory conditions. While particles above 10 microns have no effects, those between 5 and 10 microns are able to reach the trachea (windpipe) and central bronchial area. Below 5 microns, they reach far into the lungs, and between 0.1-2.5 microns they penetrate deep into every corner of the bronchi (passages that connect the trachea to the lungs), bronchioles (finer connecting passages), and alveoli (small air sacs within the lungs). These particles kill pathogenic micro-organisms by dehydrating microbial cells, soothing inflammation, reducing the thickness of mucus, and restoring the body’s ability to remove both mucus and pathogens from the airways.
Potential side-effects are minimal. The amount of salt breathed in is extremely small, and will have no effect on people with conditions that are worsened by salt intake, such as hypertension. Some people feel a tickling in the throat, and sometimes, especially for bronchitis patients, in the days following there is an increase in coughing before a general improvement is experienced. Other salt therapy users have also been known to experience dyspnoea (breathing discomfort).
Importantly, there is no risk of a negative interaction with any other drug, making salt therapy an ideal complementary approach.