MAGIC OF MAGNESIUM

We are active people! Running, working out at the gym, walking to class, sports, dance; our bodies take a toll after a lot of exercise and need some TLC! If you find yourself with sore muscles, sleeping troubles, swollen feet, bruises, or just not feeling like yourself, taking an Epsom salt bath can do wonders! Epsom salt, which is NOT table salt, is used to detox and relax sore muscles. The true component in an Epsom salt bath isn’t the salt themselves, but what they dissolve into once you’ve added them to your bath. Running a warm bath and adding these salts allows them to dissolve, turning them into magnesium and sulfate ions. These ions, when absorbed through the skin during a bath can help regulate essential bodily functions.

Magnesium the Historical Elixir!

One hundred years ago in 1917 Colonel R.D. Rudolf a professor of therapeutics published an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that summarized the history and use of Epsom salts. Discovered 300 years earlier in 1618 a small well in Epsom England seemed to produce water that cattle would not drink. Thinking the water must be medicinal the locals began applying it topically for an assortment of sores and infections. By 1688 physicians were ordering therapeutic visits to Epsom and the town became known as a spa town. By the early 1900s the medicinal effects of Epsom salts were well-established. In Rudolf’s publication he quotes Dr. N.H. Choskey concerning Epsom salts: “The anaesthetic effects resulting from its subcutaneous application however induced Dr. Henry Tucker of Philadelphia General Hospital to apply it for the relief of pain in local inflammatory condition with rather surprising results. For apart from the relief of pain and discomfort it was found that it controlled and eventually led to the cure of the inflammatory process.”Nearly 100 years later modern medicine and research is publishing peer-reviewed studies on the anti-inflammatory effects of Epsom salt baths.

Effects on Neuro-inflammation

Dermal inflammation may seem a very reasonable application for magnesium salt baths but what about chronic systemic inflammation that affects mood muscle tone neurology and sleep habits? Interestingly evidence exists for the use of magnesium salts in this realm too. Very recently a study was published in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy that sought to understand the role of magnesium salts in neuro-inflammation and oxidative stress. Test mice were given an injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to elicit neuro-inflammation and depressive-like behavior following treatment with either magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate (a magnesium salt) or the control pharmaceutical fluoxetine otherwise known as Prozac. Not only did this study reveal significantly improved immobility time and locomotion but also decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress in serum and the hippocampus. Magnesium salts effectively reduced neuro-inflammation which could impact mood neurological symptoms and sleep.

Adding one half or one cup of Epsom bath salts to a warm running bath should do the trick! Soak for 15 minutes and make sure you don’t have any open cuts before getting in to give you and your body a much needed soak. Our B. Witching Bath Co. Therapeutic Mineral Bath Soaks formulated with Epsom bath salt and Dead Sea salts are perfect for getting a healthy dose of magnesium while relaxing in aromatherapy water our signature scents and fragrances!