At first glance it is a normal bus parked in Prinsenbeek. But if you take a closer look, you will see that the coach on Viandendreef has been converted into a real salt room. People with lung or skin problems can go there to get rid of their problems. “There are about 2,500 kilos on the floor and against the walls,” says Anja Rood. Together with her husband Michael Wouters, she is the initiator of the Zoutbus.
It took almost four months of work, but then you got something. “It really was a lot of work, but I am very happy with it,” says Anja. “I had been driving back and forth to Dordrecht with my grandson for two years. For my own lung problems and the ear infections of my two-year-old grandson Yves. At one point I was so done with that. I wondered: is this possible? otherwise?”
“It feels like a salt mine in Eastern Europe.”
Anja and her husband have several dogs and therefore preferred not to have clients visit them. “Michael then came up with the idea of the bus: the salt bus.” Michael is a real handy Harry. The bus was stripped and redecorated.
“There is ten centimeters of salt on the floor and about four centimeters against the walls. During the session, medicinal salt is also sprayed into the room. It feels like you are in a salt mine in Eastern Europe,” Anja describes her. practice space.
Why salt? “People who used to work in the caves or salt mines had much better resistance. They were never sick. Salt provides more resistance and is disinfectant. It also ensures good lung condition,” says Anja.
“I literally offer my guests relief.”
That is exactly what the people who followed a fifty-minute session at a constant 23 degrees felt. “For example, they can take a longer walk with their partner. Salt loosens mucus, reduces the risk of inflammation and is good for the skin. I literally offer my guests relief.”
One of those guests is Romeyn Postma (16). “I was sick very often. Since I come to the Zoutbus twice a week, I have fewer complaints. I feel a lot better.” 62-year-old Marina Buijnsters has a lung problem. “The mucus remains stuck. I have now been to the Salt Canister six times and notice that the mucus is loosening. I feel fitter.”
Anja now has her own salt room at hand. “It is also relaxing. I now go to the Zoutbus twice a week and that is absolutely no punishment.”
“The fact that no research has been done into the salt container does not mean that it does not help.”
The Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital in Tilburg also works with salt atomization. Pulmonologist Bart de Brouwer: “When we see people with serious respiratory abnormalities or cystic fibrosis, we also have them nebulized with high salt concentrations of three to five percent.” It has been proven that inhaling salt in high concentrations has an anti-inflammatory and expectorant effect.
Because too little research has been done into the effect of salt chambers, De Brouwer does not actively recommend it. “But the fact that no research has been done into that bus does not mean that it does not help,” he says. “I can’t find any harmful effects from this. So who am I to fight it if it is not proven to be harmful. If it doesn’t help, then it doesn’t hurt.”
