Embracing Salt Therapy Improved My Asthma – Clare’s Story
16th Jun 21
Welcome to Wellbeing Umbrella’s ‘Walked A Mile In Your Shoes‘ interview with Clare Atkinson from Salt Revive.
Clare is an asthmatic who, with her husband, opened Yorkshire’s only salt therapy health spa after she discovered the age-old treatment for herself and says it dramatically improved her health, both physically and mentally. In the past Clare was a business analyst and here she shares with us the journey she took that led her to running her own salt therapy business.
What did life look like before you started your business?
Clare: “I was diagnosed with depression in 2017 and this led to physical manifestations of symptoms for me.
Having asthma meant that my lungs were my ‘weak point’ and I suffered with constant chest infections which led to not being able to breathe, time off work and multiple courses of antibiotics and steroids to help my body fight off the constant infections.
My asthma was relatively under control before the added stress of depression on my body. I never really thought or worried about my underlying condition before it started to take over my life.
Stress at work and a miscarriage led to my depression diagnosis which is when my symptoms started to become more serious.”
How did your health and wellbeing difficulties impact your life?
Clare: “Following my diagnosis, I was signed off work and ended being off for 6 months. I found myself is a dark spiral that I could not get myself out of.
This in turn led to me suffering with physical symptoms and my mental and physical health really suffered. I didn’t want to do anything. I couldn’t work and felt ill all the time. It was an awful period of my life.
I was desperate to feel ‘happy and normal’ again. I wanted to feel ‘well’. I had forgotten what it felt like to wake up and look forward to the day.”
Did you use any wellness therapies/ treatments at the time?
Clare: “Salt therapy was recommended to me to help with my breathing and symptoms of yet another chest infection.
At first, I declined, how could salt make me feel better! Luckily, I went along (just to appease my brother-in-law really) and was blown away by how much better I felt.
Not only had my mood been lifted (yes, salt can do that as well) but by the following morning, the chest infection had disappeared. Since I started having salt therapy, I have not suffered with one chest infection, which from having multiple in a year is just amazing.
My asthma is under much better control now and I can do much more now than I could before without having to use my inhaler.”
So, when did you become aware you’d like to help others similar to you?
Clare: “We opened our salt therapy health spa in October 2018 after realising that there was a huge gap in the market. We wanted to bring this natural, healing treatment to the people of Yorkshire.”
Who can use this type of therapy and how does this help?
Clare: “We help adults and children improve their lung health, boost their immune system and breathe easier, naturally.”
“We provide an age-old treatment called salt therapy, which has been around in various forms for thousands of years.
All you have to do is sit in our salt rooms on recliner chairs, enjoy the relaxing experience, soft music and candles and breathe deeply. It is so important to me as I never knew this treatment existed until I was at ‘rock bottom’ and my heath was so bad.
I want people to know about it before they get to that point and to see how we help improve people’s quality of life spurs me on to help even more people. Being able to keep some of our clients out of hospital is our proudest accolade.”
“Salt therapy can improve lung health, boost your immune system and help you to breathe easier, naturally. It is particularly for those suffering with respiratory conditions such as COPD and asthma. It can also help with symptoms of sinusitis, hay fever and bronchitis.”
In your experience, what misconception if any do people have about salt therapy?
Clare: “That salt therapy has in fact been around for thousands of years and has medical studies and clinical trials to back it. It’s not a ‘new-fangled’ therapy with no history!”
What hope can you offer to someone who is experiencing similar health and wellness difficulties that you did?
Clare: “That you don’t have to feel like that. There is a 100% natural way to help manage your symptoms with a host of other health benefits too. People often come for help with one particular thing and end up benefitting in so many other ways, such as clearer skin and a feeling of being cleansed and revived. All great ‘side effects’ from the power of salt!
Just try a natural alternative, research what could help you. It might not work for everyone – we’re all different, which is why the same medication doesn’t work for every patient – but just imagine if it did work.”
That’s a great note to finish on Clare, thank you for sharing, where can people find out more about you and salt therapy?
We can be reached via our website or social media pages.
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