speleotherapy

Speleotherapy (Greek σπήλαιον spḗlaion "cave") is an alternative medicine respiratory therapy involving breathing inside subterranean environments, such as a cave.

== History == Some sources claim that Hippocrates believed that salt-based therapies, including inhaling steam from saltwater, provided relief of respiratory symptoms. There are claims of improvements in the breathing of miners in Roman times and medieval times. Speleotherapy hospitals existed in Italy in the 19th century. In the middle of the 19th century, a clinic, founded in Mammoth Cave (Kentucky, USA), was intended for tuberculosis patients. However, a few months after the death of five of the patients, the hospital was closed.