If you have asthma you get used to feeling a bit inadequate. Blotchy-faced and itchy-eyed, I'm often on the verge of an inappropriate sneeze. At school I was last in cross-country running, wheezing my way over the finishing line. And in adulthood, my breath whistles and my sinuses throb. Which is why I'm not remotely bothered by having to wear a hairnet and sit in a room full of salt. I would do anything to rid myself of this respiratory flaw. My condition is mild and I have luckily never had an attack, but I have to use an inhaler twice a day, with another on hand for emergencies. How I would love to bin them for good and breathe free and easy.

    I have high hopes for the Salt Cave in south-west London. It is the first clinic of its kind in the UK, offering "drug-free relief for respiratory illnesses", such as hayfever, bronchitis and sinusitis, plus allergies, eczema and psoriasis.

    The "cave" is a bit like a salty igloo. There are salt drifts everywhere, underfoot and lining the walls. The hairnet and the shoe covers are to keep the room free of dirt, while the sound of waves and seagulls played inside enhances the weird, seaside effect. But the two tonnes of salt are purely decorative. The supposed medical benefit comes from breathing in sodium chloride aerosol, which is piped into the "cave" by a microclimate generator. This mixes milled salt with a current of air. The theory is that by breathing this in, mucus in the respiratory tract is loosened and coughed up.

    Salt inhalation has been around since the Greeks, when Hippocrates recommended it for respiratory problems. The only recent evidence, however, comes from the former Soviet Union; a 1999 Lithuanian study of 250 children and 500 adults found that salt therapy for an hour a day for two weeks improved respiratory results in nine out of 10 cases. Yet many western doctors are sceptical.

    This is a complementary therapy: helping control conditions rather than cure. Asthma UK says: "There is evidence that it can have a benefit but we don't know enough about it." Yet since opening in January [2009], the salt cave has picked up a host of regulars. Its director Sofia Benke advises patients to sign up for five to 10 one-hour visits （￡35 an hour or ￡260 for 10）. You should see an improvement in your condition after four or five sessions, she says.

    Tish Webster, 28, a yoga teacher from Earlsfield who has hay fever, spent 10 hours in the cave over the summer. "It wasn't until three or four sessions that it started to improve. I get congestion all the time and wake up with my eyes watering and sneezing. I used to take [anti-allergy tablets] every morning and I was able to stop altogether. I found it very impressive." She has even started teaching yoga in the cave: "Your breathing is much more effective."

    Hannah Cannock, 37, from Wandsworth, is mother to Toby, aged five. Her son has had asthma since the age of two and uses inhalers daily. She enrolled him for 20 one-hour sessions and after 15 or 16, noticed she was no longer "running into his room at 11pm to give him his inhaler in his sleep. He wasn't wheezy when running around either." Toby has also, for the first time in his life, had six months without needing antibiotics for a chest infection. Could the improvement be coincidence? "Scepticism is all very well if it's not you," Cannock says, "I will try anything for my son if it will help."

    I wish I could say my own experience was as positive. The seagull noises got on my nerves and I spent most of my time in the cave fidgeting. My eyes felt dry and itchy and my sinuses were twitching and streaming after five minutes. An hour later I could breathe more clearly than ever before, but I paid the price that night, as my sinuses rebelled. I was gasping for breath, needed my inhalers more than ever and had a stuffy nose for a week.

    I steeled myself for another visit, but the effect was the same. My breathing was initially clear, then came the sniffing and snorting. I really could not face another visit. let alone completing the course. There's nothing harmful about the "cave", and for people with a high tolerance for seagull music, it might even be pleasant. But the assault on my sinuses was too much to bear.

    There was, however, one unexpected benefit. I've fallen deeply in love with my inhalers. Ventolin, I'll never take you for granted again.


    盐疗治哮喘

    如果你有哮喘，你就老是觉得上不来气。我就是满脸布满斑点，眼睛发痒，还总想打喷嚏。学校越野赛，我总是最后一名，一路气喘吁吁地跑到终点。成年后，我的呼吸鸣音加重，鼻窦疼痛。这就是我为什么要不嫌麻烦，头戴发网，坐在一个满是盐的房间里。为了治病，我愿意做任何事。我的病情还不算太糟，没有窒息过，但是我不得不一天使用两次呼吸器，为预防万一手边还有一个。我多么希望有一天能把它们都收起来，能够轻松自由的呼吸。

    我对伦敦西南部的盐洞寄予很高的期望。这是英国第一个治疗哮喘的诊所，提供"无药呼吸系统疾病"治疗，如花粉病，支气管炎和鼻窦炎，还有过敏，湿疹和牛皮癣。

    这个"洞"就像是一个像咸的穹顶屋。脚底下、墙缝里到处都是盐粒。头戴发网、脚穿鞋套是为了保持房间干净，而屋内播放的海浪和海鸥的声音增强了神秘的海边的效果。但是，2吨盐纯属装饰。治疗主要来自呼吸氯化钠气体，"洞"穴气候发生器产生的气体由一根管道输送到洞内，混合有精细的盐粒的空气。其原理是，通过呼吸，在呼吸道粘液松动就会被咳出来。

    盐吸入疗法出现自希腊，希波克拉底提出用来治疗疾病。但是，最近唯一例子来自前苏联，1999年，立陶宛的研究发现，每天1小时治疗了两个星期，250名儿童和500名成人呼吸改善了，10例有9例个呼吸改善。然而，很多西方医生都持怀疑态度。

    这是一种辅助疗法：帮助控制病情发展，而不是治愈。哮喘英国说："有证据表明，盐疗有一定的好处，但我们对此了解甚少。"然而，自今年1月（2009年）开放以来，盐屋还吸引了不少回头客。经理索菲亚本基建议病人报名参加5-10个疗程，每次1小时（收费35英镑/小时或10小时260英镑）.她说，4或5次治疗之后，您应该能感觉到呼吸改善。

    来自厄斯菲尔德28岁的瑜伽教练迪斯。韦伯斯特得了花粉病，夏天在山洞治疗了10小时。 "到第3、4次时，呼吸开始改善，我总是憋气，醒来时眼睛流泪、打喷嚏。我每天早上服用（抗过敏片）,现在完全可以停了。我觉得疗效很好。"她甚至开始在洞穴教瑜伽："你的呼吸更顺了".

    五岁的托比的妈妈，37岁的汉娜。坎诺克，来自旺兹沃思。她儿子2岁时得了哮喘，每天使用呼吸器。她报了一个20个小时疗程班，15、16次后，她发现不用在晚上11点跑到他的房间，在他睡觉时给他戴呼吸器了。跑动时也没有呼吸鸣音了，这在他一生中还是第一次，他已经有6个月不需要服用抗生素来预防肺部感染了。是真有效还是偶然巧合？坎诺克说 "怀疑主义好的，如果不是你，","只要对儿子有帮助，我会尝试任何办法。"

    我希望我也可以说我自己的治疗经历很好。海鸥所发出的噪音让我的神经紧张，在洞穴里大部分时间我都烦躁不安。5分钟后，我就感到眼睛发干发痒，鼻窦痉挛，流鼻涕。一小时后，我呼吸比以往任何时候都顺畅，但晚上我也付出了代价，我的鼻窦炎犯了。我呼吸困难，比以往任何时候都需要呼吸器，鼻子一个星期都不通气。

    我又试了一次，但效果是一样的。刚开始，我的呼吸还顺畅，接着就打喷嚏，流鼻涕。我真的无法忍受再次治疗。更别说治完整个疗程。"盐洞"没有害处，也很舒服，人们得强忍海鸥叫声的噪音。我的鼻窦炎更是令我不堪忍受。

    然而，却收到了一个意外收获，我已经爱上了我的呼吸器。喘乐宁，我再也不敢小视你了。