Counseling Sheet

Agatha M. Thrash, M.D.
Preventive Medicine

The ancient Romans developed physical measures for treating minor and major illnesses, both acute and chronic, using various baths and massages. Many of the techniques have been passed down to the present time. One of the established treatments for disease and to make one feel good is called the salt glow. It is an easy treatment to administer, either to one's self or to another person.

The technique for the salt glow is quite easy. Take a bowl of salt, about one half to one cupful of medium fineness, not as coarse as the salt used in an ice cream churn, and more coarse than table salt. Moisten the salt so that it does not melt, but sticks together slightly. Step into a shower and wet the body all over. Step out of the shower, but preferably still in the shower stall or tub, take about one teaspoon of the moistened salt into the palm, rub the hands together to evenly distribute, and start rubbing the skin of one extremity; it is usually best to start with an arm. Rub the arm briskly up and down in a short friction-type movement, rubbing the skin with the salt firmly enough that a red glow develops. Use the other hand to apply the salt and friction rub the opposite arm. Repeat the procedure, rubbing the chest with the hands in a light but definitely frictioning type of rub. Take another lump of salt, rub it between the hands, tighten the abdominal muscles, and rub the abdomen. The procedure can be repeated until every portion of the skin of the body has been covered. An assistant can treat the back, or a towel can be used which has been rubbed with some of the salt to get the friction to the back. When the entire body has been covered, take a cool shower, turning around in the water, rubbing the skin briskly with a coarse washcloth. After 30 seconds of cool rinsing, step out of the shower and take a brisk rubdown with a coarse towel.

There are a number of uses for the salt glow, perhaps beginning with the usual type of non-serious disorders such as fatigue, tenseness, languor, or weakness. If you get up in the morning feeling unable to go to work, take a salt glow, and you will feel much better. A hangover can be treated in the same way, as can convalescence from any kind of infection.

If one has a cold, one of the best ways to stimulate the circulation is with a salt glow. Merely stand in the shower, apply the salt to the entire body, take a shower afterward, and rub down briskly with a coarse towel. Move quickly to bed and lie in bed for at least 30 minutes to enable the salt glow to "react." Failure to take the reaction period may result in nullifying much of the good effects of the salt glow, and may leave one susceptible to taking cold.

Another good use for the salt glow is that of chronic indigestion. Many disorders of digestion such as constipation, heartburn, diarrhea, and other afflictions of the gastrointestinal tract can be normalized by means of a regularly applied salt glow. A person who has diabetes will find that the skin functions better as a storage depot for glucose following the meal, and the blood sugar level can be kept more constantly at a low normal rate if a salt glow is regularly applied. We once saw the parents of a 6-year-old epileptic who suffered status epilepticus attacks bring him out of the seizure with a salt glow.

The salt glow should be avoided in eczema and some other forms of skin disease, but acne can be greatly helped by the use of a salt glow.