Benefits of Epsom Salts Baths

– by MyVitabath

Epsom salts are one of the most popular bath additives, and they've held that rank for years. While the salts are extremely beneficial on their own, you can increase their power to soothe, health and relax when they're combined with other nourishing ingredients used in the Vitabath® Epsom salt collection.

Epsom Salts Explained

Epsom salt is officially known as magnesium sulfate, and the salts break down into those two components when they dissolve in water. When you soak in a bath filled with the dissolved Epsom salts, or magnesium and sulfate, the components enter your body through your skin, with the soak providing a host of benefits.

Epsom salts have a wide range of uses and benefits. These include:

  • Increasing magnesium levels, which is the key behind many other benefits
  • Alleviating pain and swelling from arthritis, sprains, fibromyalgia and other conditions
  • Soothing sore muscles after sports activities or a workout
  • Assisting with relief from stress and anxiety while promoting a good night's sleep
  • Improving digestion, treating constipation
  • Removing toxins with a detox bath that helps relieve stress and improve overall wellbeing
  • Relieving pain, redness and itchiness from sunburn, psoriasis, eczema and other skin conditions or infections
  • Treating infections
  • Providing soothing relief during pregnancy

The name "Epsom" originates from the area in England where magnesium sulfate is found in natural springs.

Epsom Salt for Increasing Magnesium Levels

Magnesium is an important mineral in the body, used in more than 300 biochemical reactions related to the nervous system and heart.

While magnesium is generally abundant in the body, many people are often lacking in this important nutrient. They may either consume insufficient amounts of magnesium on a regular basis, or elements in their diets may interfere with their body's magnesium absorption.

Soaking in Epsom salts can help restore the body's optimum magnesium levels. The more frequently you soak, the more magnesium your body can absorb.

Epsom Salt Bath for Alleviating Pain

Epsom salt baths can be highly beneficial for helping to alleviate pain from a wide number of causes. Sore muscles and cramps after physical activity is on the list, as is pain from sprained ankles or conditions such as arthritis and fibromyalgia. The magnesium content in Epsom salts is again pinpointed as the beneficial ingredient.

The body uses lactic acid and glucose during exercise and other physical activity, and sufficient magnesium levels can help the body produce both components. Athletes often have lower magnesium levels, which may be helped with regular Epsom salt baths.

Magnesium likewise gets the nod for helping to reduce swelling and pain from conditions such as arthritis and fibromyalgia. Like athletes, many people suffering from such conditions are lacking in magnesium.

Epsom Salt Bath for Relieving Stress, Improving Sleep

A warm, soothing bath on its own can provide instant stress relief. This, in turn, can help promote better sleep and overall relaxation. Add Epsom salts to the bath and the relaxation benefits increase even further.

The increased benefits are again due to an increase in magnesium levels, with adequate levels essential for both stress management and a good night's slumber. Magnesium assists the brain with creating neurotransmitters responsible for reduced stress and quality sleep. The nutrient is also believed to help the body create the hormone melatonin, which is also important for inducing sleep.

Epsom Salt Bath for Improving Digestion

Adequate magnesium levels are important for efficient digestion, and magnesium is often used to treat constipation and other digestive issues. The benefits appear to come from magnesium's ability to draw water into the colon, which can more readily prompt the removal of its contents.

Epsom salt can come to the rescue once again, with Epsom salt soaks assisting with digestion issues.

Epsom Salt Bath for Detox

Epsom salt is a key ingredient for detox baths, with magnesium contributing to the removal of toxins from the body. Removing toxins can, in turn, be beneficial for reducing stress, helping with weight loss and improving overall health and well-being.

Epsom Salt Bath for Soothing Skin, Treating Infection

While Epsom salt doesn't immediately cure an infection, it can contribute to its overall healing. Epsom salt baths are known to help draw out the infection while improving the effects of medication by softening the skin.

The ability to soften and soothe the skin is likewise beneficial for dry and itchy skin as well as irritated and inflamed skin. This makes an Epsom salt bath an ideal remedy for skin conditions such as eczema, contact dermatitis, athlete's foot and psoriasis as well as poison ivy and insect bites.

Epsom Salt Bath while Pregnant

Pregnancy may come with some of the discomforts outlined above, from sore muscles to increased stress. Epsom salt baths can help with them all. The skin-soothing benefits of magnesium can be particularly helpful for skin, while relaxation and enhanced sleep are benefits most pregnant women would most likely welcome.

Soaking in an Epsom salt bath while pregnant can be beneficial, although pregnant women should not ingest Epsom salts unless she has been specifically advised by her doctor.

With so many uses and benefits, you can easily see why Epsom salts remain one of the most popular go-to bath soaks. Use the salts straight-up or enhance their benefits even further with additional nutrients in the Vitabath line of Epsom salts. Browse the collection today.

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