How to Use Epsom Salt for Health and Beauty

This drugstore staple is often overlooked in our search for the best health and beauty aids. But there are some good reasons to add this affordable compound to your shopping cart.

Epsom Salt—or magnesium sulfate—is a pure mineral compound and essential electrolyte that many of us need more of in our diet. It can help ensure proper muscle, nerve, and enzyme function, lower blood pressure, as well as relieve muscle pain and skin ailments. It can be added to water for soaking or drinking, or used for a body scrub or as a compress. Here's how you can incorporate Epsom Salt into your health and beauty routines as well as use it to help relieve certain ailments.

Soothe Sore Muscles or Bruises

Epsom Salt can reduce inflammation and speed up healing. Simply add two cups to a hot bath and soak for at least 10 to15 minutes. For chronic pain from activity or from conditions such as fibromyalgia, repeat the process at least three times a week.

Boost Energy

Soaking in an Epsom Salt solution bath can help the body absorb more magnesium. This compound can encourage the production of adenosine triphosphate, or the energy generated by cells.

Ease the Itch from Bug Bites, Skin Rashes, or Skin Conditions Like Psoriasis

Prepare a bath with a solution of two cups of Epsom Salt per gallon of water. Soak in the bath for 20 minutes in order to allow the solution to soothe itchy skin.

Remove Splinters

Create the same Epsom Salt solution (two cups salt per gallon of water) and use it to create a compress. Hold it against skin for 10 minutes before easing the splinter out with tweezers.

Exfoliate Skin

Mix Epsom Salt with a gentle oil or petroleum jelly to a paste consistency. Scrub all over skin—focusing on dry or rough patches—to help exfoliate dry skin cells and add some moisture to skin.

Volumize Hair

Combine equal parts conditioner and Epsom Salt and rub into hair. Leave in for 20 minutes and then rinse well. Style hair as usual.

Relieve Stress and Improve Sleep Quality

Soaking in an Epsom Salt bath has been shown to raise the body's level of serotonin, a chemical that helps you feel relaxed. It can also help to draw toxins from the skin. Try a bath right before bedtime to help you get ready for a great night's sleep.

 


 

Source:

Epsomsaltconcil.org: "The Science of Epsom Salt." Epsom Salt Council. 2009.
http://www.epsomsaltcouncil.org/