I’ve found one type of treatment that keeps my guests coming back for more: salt therapy, also called halotherapy.
With salt you can offer more benefits to clients while improving your bottom line.
Lately, I have noticed a trend regarding the way spa clients approach their overall health and wellness: They want to make healthier decisions, and they are looking to get more out of their spa treatments now than ever before.
As a spa director, I had more to consider than just creating a stress-free environment where people can come to relax and have a good massage. Clients want more opportunities to improve their overall health and wellness in the form of added benefits from their spa experience.
This means that spa owners and practitioners need to stay ahead of this trend to keep guests coming through the door. Guess need to not only leave happy with their service, but also leave with their next treatment already booked.
Benefits of Salt
A few years ago we started adding Himalayan salt into some of the services offered on our menu. I had learned of the many benefits of Himalayan salt and saw it as an opportunity to give clients more of what they were looking for.
According to the book Water & Salt: The Essence of Life, by Barbara Hendel, M.D., and Peter Ferreira, Himalayan salt has 84 trace minerals. Once these minerals are absorbed through the skin, the salt helps balance the body’s pH as well as helps aid in proper metabolism, improving circulation and calming the nervous system. It also helps to reduce the signs of aging among its other benefits.
While few large-scale research studies have examined salt therapy, the results of several small studies done in the late 1990s also support its benefits.
Salt Therapy and Massage
An easy way to incorporate Himalayan salt into a session is in the form of a Himalayan Salt Stone Massage. The salt stones are warmed and applied during a full-body massage, giving clients additional heat to allow the organic trace minerals in the stones to penetrate into the skin and body, making it a truly therapeutic treatment.
Himalayan salt stone massage has been so successful in my business that it replaces the more traditional basalt stone massage and is offered for no additional time in the treatment room.
The added benefit of the healing minerals and versatility of the salt far outweighs what you can do during a basalt stone massage—not to mind the eco-friendly warmer and easy setup and cleanup. It’s quickly becoming one of the most requested treatments with a high rate of repeat clients.
According to a representative from the Salt Therapy Association, “only dry salt therapy is commonly referred to as halotherapy, which is a distinct modality that disperses 99.99 percent pure sodium chloride … into a room or chamber that is inhaled or falls upon the guest inside the salt room.
“This is only accomplished with a special device called a halogenerator … which crushes and grinds the pure sodium chloride into precise micromillimeter [sized] particles and that enable the guest to inhale the salt, which has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and super absorbent characteristics. Dozens of clinical studies have shown [these particles] impact various respiratory and skin conditions.”
Salt Therapy Add-Ons
Himalayan salt comes in many different forms—salt, stones, blocks, lamps, warmers—so it can easily be combined with other treatments such as a facial, foot or hand scrub, or body exfoliation.
There are also salt bricks available that allow you to economically convert traditional saunas into Himalayan salt saunas. These saunas produce negative ions, which reduces oxidation stress on the body.
Benefits to You
Your clients won’t be the only ones who win. Salt treatments also have residual benefits for the practitioner handling the product. Salt is antibacterial, antifungal, and antimicrobial, making it a natural disinfectant, so it’s easy to clean.
Any massage therapist, spa owner or manager knows that add-on services are a great way to improve your business. Offering more choices, such as halotherapy and other spa treatments, gives you the opportunity to provide healthier sessions for clients while also improving your bottom line.
About the Author
Ann Brown has worked in the resort spa industry for over 20 years. She has her BA in Business and is licensed as a esthetician, massage therapist, nail technician and cosmetologist. She is also the founder of Saltability, a manufacturer of Himalayan salt products.