salt lamps

[winfar]

after reading about how most people found the himalayian salt lamp helpful i decided to buy one.. i have been using iit in my living room morning to night and really found a great improvement in both my breathing and coughing up mucus.. however, afyer using it every day for one week, i am finding that i wake every morning really dry with a dry cough and an overpowering taste of salt.. in fact i feel i am slowly being pickled.. i really dont know whether to continue with the lamp due to feeling of excess salt particularly as i have a heart condition too and lose the benefit i am getting. i would like to know if other salt lamp users, of which there are many, are experiencing this problem?

[Mandy6513]

I have 2 of these in my living room and 1 in the bedroom and have never had any of the experiences you have so perhaps a trip to the doctor may be a good idea just to check

[O2Trees]

Hi winfar - Ive never heard of what you're describing but it doesnt sound too good. Maybe turn it off for a while and see if there's any difference? And if that doesnt work maybe it's just not for you. Be nice to know if anyone else has had your reaction.

I had a salt lamp once but no effects like yours. Mind you at the time I lived in a house below sea level which had flooded up to the picture rail in the big floods in 1953 and had salt right through the walls which found its way out and picked up the damp in the room. And the same happened to the salt lamp - it slowly started getting white blobs all over it as it absorbed the damp.

I use Himalayan salt all the time in my cooking and love it, much less harsh taste than standard salt. Perhaps you could grind it up for cooking if it's not fit for (your) purpose?

[Mandy6513 in reply to O2Trees]

hahahaha

02T i now have an image in my head of everyone grating their salt lamps on their chips

[O2Trees in reply to Mandy6513]

That would work

[Magpuss in reply to Mandy6513]

A new take on the Parmesan grinder 😄😄

[Hidden in reply to O2Trees]

Good morning winfar,

Mandy and 02Trees have both given good answers. I hope you find a solution to the problem very soon.

O2Trees

02T - You had a terrible time of it then in 1953. I vaguely remember my parents talking about how badly the East Coast had fared. We used to buy salt in blocks. One of my childhood jobs was to use a metal grater on the salt and put the crystals in a salt pig near the fire. I was always fascinated by the way the fire light bounced off the crystals.

[O2Trees in reply to Hidden]

Oh, I wasn't there myself, Jennifer - only bought the house when we moved down to Kent after my copd diagnosis in 2001. Salt still in the walls - it lasts at least 100 years Im told and it wreaks havoc with your decor, always finds a way to work through any barrier. No-one died here in Whitstable unlike on further up the east coast.

Nice description of the fire light. Ive not heard of a salt pig - did it keep the salt dry?

[Hidden in reply to O2Trees]

I can well imagine it being a nightmare, and your house sounds like one of many near where I live on the north west coast. Despite improved sea defences many properties are still battered every year by winter storms. Mine does not have a problem with sea water - we are built on what was marshland....my garden and garage think that it remains so in heavy rain....still, the frogs like it.

Salt pigs were stone jars with an opening at the side - I have a small ceramic one in my kitchen, complete with a tiny wooden spoon. I rarely use much salt now, but in the olden days copious amounts seem to have been added to most things. davidmellordesign.com/small...

[O2Trees in reply to Hidden]

Yes I've seen them, didnt know the name though. The sea is a mixed blessing isn't it? But i wouldn't live away from it now, certainly better than London pollution.

[teenieleek in reply to Hidden]

I wonder if the "pig" bit comes from the pottery they are made of because we used to gave stone hot water bottles when I was a child and they were called pigs too. A beige glaze on them.

[Hidden in reply to teenieleek]

Good morning teenieleek,

If you look at the original ones sideways on, they look like a pig's face and snout. I know what you mean for they do resemble part of the old stone hot water bottles

[MrsGLBJ in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the description and picture of a salt pig. Because, I was imaging it being an actually pig that was filled with salt and then put in storage somewhere to save the meat! WE LIVE & WE LEARN!!

[Hidden in reply to MrsGLBJ]

Understandable Mrs Mrs GLBJ, and logical thinking

My sister and her husband reared a pig when their children were small - naturally enough, the pig and the children played together. The children grew tall, the pig grew plump.. Father was out of work, money was tight and the children cried at the thought of their friend being killed. " Daddy, can you please just have one leg taken off?." He walked the pig up the bank to the local butchers - said it was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. The pig was killed, salted, and the children visited to stroke and say goodbye to their pal.

[Offcut]

I have had one in our lounge for more than a year and have not experienced that at all. Strange!

Be Well

[pergola]

I have a Him.salt lamp coming to me in the post, and am looking forward to any changes in my health. We can hope. I have planned to put it on the table opposite me - if the Christmas tree will let it!

[winfar in reply to pergola]

Really hope that the lamp works for you and you see a benefit. I would say I was the only one with this problem but I saw another person on amazon site asking why her lips were so salty. I don't know who answered her but the reply was "it's good for you"

[MoyB]

I have had a salt lamp for a number of months and use it most days but have never experienced any great effect one way or the other. I love the glow so like it as a lamp but I'm not sure it's making any difference. I certainly haven't been aware of being 'pickled'.

I bought a salt pipe too, but not sure how effective that was and now it sits on the shelf doing nothing.

It's always worth trying these things but what works for one may not always work for another.

Just a thought - might you have bought a lamp that's a bit too large for the size of your room? When I bought mine there were different sizes recommended for different sized rooms.

[winfar in reply to MoyB]

hi. no i bought a small one as i knew they were heavy. maybe i shouldn't have kept it on from i got up until i went to bed, but i have now seen a few people have mentioned the salty taste on lips which makes me feel better a d it's not just me. i will leave it off for a couple of days and try and try again but won't keep it on all the time. take care.

[MoyB in reply to winfar]

As you say, you may have overdone the time a bit, but that's soon rectified so you should be able to carry on using it. All the best XX

[poppyshola]

Hi Winfar.. its nice to know im not on my own with the salt thing .... my large himalayan salt lamp was bought by my daughter as this past few months have seen a decline in my bronchiectasis ... Ive already got Pseudomanas colonised and the other thing theyve spotted recently a few times is traces of Aspergillus ...

So bless her i think she got the biggest one (genuine one) she could find to help with my breathlessness and blocked sinuses ... And yes it worked a treat ... plugged in at night and next day I could feel air entering my lungs ... but my nose was dried out and a bit sore ... so that was quite impressive .. the other thing I noticed is that my lips were peeling on the inside ... So now im limiting the time I use it ... either all day or all night might be a better plan for me. . But not 24 hours ...

[JANESKYE]

This will be no use I think as the mail was two years ago, however. I have the most horrendous cough and salt taste with using my lamp. Used it for 1 week and it drys out all the mucous membrane in my throat and lungs..saying goodbye to it and yes I have a salt taste most of the time with my cough. I know I do not have an infection, it is only the salt lamp that has caused it. May not be right for everyone ?