They have been used for centuries across the globe to manage various health ailments and induce relaxation. Last year on November 30, a salt room opened in Brookings, South Dakota.

Kristine Skorseth and Brenda Lanz founded Salt Serenity, a therapeutic salt room as an extension of their other successful business, Prairie Breeze Massage. Salt Serenity is located adjacent to the massage practice in the City Plaza Mall on Sixth Street near Goodwill and Midstates Flooring. Founder Skorseth has been a massage therapist at this practice for almost 20 years.

“We’re really just looking to help everyone with respiratory issues. Halotherapy or Salt Therapy has shown to be helpful for managing symptoms of such things as asthma and seasonal allergies,” Skorseth said.

Halotherapy is a therapy that uses salt to cleanse the sinuses and lungs. Pharmaceutical grade salt is micronized into tiny particles and blown into a room where patients breathe deeply. As these micronized salt particles fill the sinuses and lungs, the dry salt particles pull the allergens and environmental contaminants and are eliminated.

The idea came when Lanz visited Orlando, Florida six years ago and first encountered a salt room. She was intrigued by the experience and was eager for the opportunity to introduce one in South Dakota.

The salt room is small with dark woods and Himalayan salt blocks lining the walls. The lighting provides a dim, yellow light that fills the room as soft music plays in the background. Clients step onto the floor covered with Himalayan salt crystals and sit in one of several reclining chairs as the salted air is blown into the room from another room.

Both Skorseth and Lanz are excited to offer their services to South Dakota State University students looking for relaxation or a respiratory cleanse, including athletes.

“For athletes, the salt room is great for opening up lung capacity,” Lanz said. “Studies are being done in Europe with athletes to show how it is helping with increasing lung capacity.”

“Multiple sessions exhibit more results than one. Each session builds on the last,” Skorseth said. “The salt room is good for sinus problems and I think we’ve had a lot of our clients notice that too. People might notice that their noses start running as the salt starts to seep in and their sinuses start clearing up,” said Skorseth.

Anyone at any age can use the salt room. A single adult can schedule a 45-minute session for $28 and a child with an adult can have a 20-minute session for $30. Salt Serenity sees about 20 clients per week at this point and have seen children as young as 18 months.

Gretchen Lambrecht has been visiting the salt room once every two weeks for the past two months with

her six-year-old daughter, Finola. Lambrecht says that she’s dealt with sinus problems her whole life. “I had seen specialists who just kept telling me to take allergy medications. I didn’t want to do that. I had seen Kris {Skorseth} for massage therapy for almost 18 years and she told me about her idea for the salt room,” Lambrecht said. “After my third session, I noticed a major difference. The constant drainage from my nose and my sore throat both went away.”

Salt Serenity also offers retail products including edible salt, cook books utilizing the Himalayan salt block, and salt lamps. The business owners also plan to add a second room if their first is successful.

“We would say to just try it out,” Lanz said. “There are just so many advantages to salt therapy and we’re really happy when someone walks out feeling better than when they came in.”