Most of us have tried soaking our feet in hot water baths to relax, especially after a long and tiring day.
Many people are unaware, however, that foot baths can improve physical and mental health in a host of ways beyond promoting relaxation. Research shows that immersing your feet in hot water for about 15 to 20 minutes each day is likely to have positive effects on your mood, energy levels, sleeping habits, and much more. It can help relieve aches and pains in not just the feet and legs as well.
Reflexology principles believe that the feet are important points of connection to the rest of the body. This means that caring for your feet can do a lot to boost your overall sense of wellbeing. Individuals with chronic pain or high-stress lifestyles thus have a lot to gain from working foot baths and other similar pain relief and relaxation methods into their daily routines.
If you’re currently dealing with pain, high stress or injury and looking for a podiatrist Singapore residents recommend, you may also want to read up on the healing power of foot baths. Supplementing the formal treatments you receive with therapeutic practices of your own can accelerate your recovery and make you stronger in both body and mind. The following are some of the most salient benefits you can get from soaking your feet regularly.
Reduce Stress
People all over the world are constantly looking for new ways to relieve stress, given the fast-paced, highly demanding nature of daily life today. Luckily, stress relief is one of the best-known benefits of foot baths, which are mentally and physically soothing by nature. A good foot bath can improve the quality of your sleep, concentration, creativity, and overall mood.
You can even try adding a few drops of aromatherapy oils, essential oils or botanical infusions to your hot water to maximise these effects. Lavender oil, for example, promotes relaxation and is also a natural pain reliever. Lemon juice, meanwhile, is known to be refreshing, energising, and stimulating. Try this for a boost to your awareness, concentration and energy levels.
Eliminate Fatigue
Surprisingly, foot baths can rejuvenate your body and mind even as they soothe you. You can expect your foot bath to not only prepare you for a good night’s rest but also help you wake up refreshed and energised the following morning.
Adding Epsom salts to your foot soak can replenish the magnesium ions within your body. Higher levels of magnesium ions in turn can raise stamina and energy levels, boost serotonin levels in the brain and lower blood pressure.
Elevate Body Temperature
The heat from a foot bath will gently increase your overall body temperature, relaxing stiff muscles and easing mental tension. This increased warmth can also stimulate activity in your white blood cells, enhancing your immune system’s overall ability to protect you from disease.
Stimulate Blood Circulation
Walking, running, standing and other instances of vigorous physical exertion can cause your feet to swell. A good soak in hot water is just the right thing to bring down this swelling, as the warmth stimulates blood circulation in your feet and lower legs. By facilitating the flow of congested blood throughout these parts of your body, a foot bath allows them rest and recover.
Alleviate Pain in Other Body Parts
The pain relief properties of hot foot baths extend beyond just your feet and lower legs, however. Studies show that foot baths can help alleviate a wide variety of painful conditions, such as headache, muscle cramps, toothache, joint pain, various kinds of rheumatism, haemorrhoids and others. Cold and flu symptoms like nausea, nasal and chest congestion, chills and cough may also be mitigated by taking hot foot baths every day for the tenure of your illness.
May Detoxify the Body
Some experts recommend particular kinds of foot bath for removing toxins and other kinds of impurities from the body, such as foot soaks that incorporate bentonite clay and other salts and minerals. Ionic foot baths, which require the hot water to be charged with positive and negative ions before soaking, are also said to have detoxification properties.
Adding certain substances to your foot bath may also help you eliminate foot odors and fungal infections. Epsom salts, for example, are ideal for this purpose. Cypress, cedarwood and tea tree oil are also popular additions to foot baths for their antiseptic, anti-fungal and deodorant properties.
Soften Feet
Soaking in hot water softens the skin of the feet and can help eliminate unsightly calluses, corns and dry skin. Foot baths also help heal ingrown toenails by softening the nail bed, making it easier for the nail to grow out and heal on its own.
Foot baths are a simple, inexpensive and easy therapeutic practice that you can integrate into your daily life, and the benefits of doing so are numerous and well-documented. It always helps to experiment with different ingredients and soaking methods to find what works best for you.
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