What are the Healing Benefits of Foot Soaks and Reflexology

Foot bath, foot detox, foot spa, foot reflexology and feet soaking are some of the body therapies that have been in practice all over the world for decades and are currently still being practiced.

Soaking your feet in warm water or luke-warm water has been proven to be one of the best home treatment activities you can do; soaking feet has various benefits beyond ultimate relaxation of your body and muscles. It flushes out toxins in the body, increases the absorption of magnesium, reduces stress, depression, and anxiety, relieves muscle aches, pains, and cramping and it even eradicates odors. In addition, you can treat foot fungus, and help to regulate blood sugar levels.

A foot bath is simply the best home treatment particularly for individuals with health complications like migraines, toothaches, neuralgia, flu, a profound hacking cough, cramps, menstrual and ovarian conditions, heartburn, pneumonia, asthma, or any sicknesses identified with contamination of the body. Foot baths and feet soaking work hand in hand and they are often used to solve the same problems.

Reflexology is a body therapy that entails application of appropriate pressure to given points and areas on the feet, hands, or ears. Reflexology aims at given points of the body because collectively those points affect the whole body, and overall it is believed that our body is wired to the legs therefore it is the legs that handle a lot of pressure from the entire body hence, the growing popularity of foot reflexology.

Reflexology targets the feet and other designated parts of the body and detoxing is a short word for detoxification; this is a medical practice that is intended to remove or neutralize toxins throughout the body. Toxins are everywhere, for instance in the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and even in common home products that we use daily.

Here are some benefits of feet soaking:

1. Foot soaking and reflexology increases blood circulation

Immersing your feet in hot or warm water increases your body temperature and, this in return, stimulates high blood circulation and therefore reduces blood inflammation which is caused by congestion of blood in blood vessels. Inflammation of blood in blood vessel, if it is not controlled through such practices, may result in vacuities or other complications of the body.

Reflexology improves your blood circulation to vital organs resulting in quicker healing and regrowth of any damaged cells in the nerve system.

Foot reflexology, foot spa and foot soaking is important during pregnancy when you want to increase blood circulation in the body, the three of these reduce the risks of post-natal depression.

Foot reflexology has the capability to stimulate the nerve system and blood circulation that helps your body increase your energy levels, stimulation of the central nervous system, prevent migraines, inflammation and other conditions of the nerve system.

2. Foot soaking eliminates toxin

There are claims that foot soaks contain some substance and minerals that have the power to detox the body. Experts claim that some foot spas remove toxins from your body right through the feet. Foot detox and foot spas are treatment processes that draw toxins from the body into a tub of water that changes color in the process depending on the organs being detoxed.

This treatment is very simple; it only takes 30 minutes to remove toxic substances from the body through the feet; the process requires electronic device spas called an array and they warm the water.

The process of detoxing the body sometimes is called reverse osmosis depending on the procedure applied.

Detoxing is intended to reduce or neutralize toxins throughout the body. Detoxing is applied to improve body immunity, reduce swelling, burns calories, encourages normal blood sugar, and assists cardiovascular health and responses to foreign substances.

Related: The Best Ways to Get Rid of Leg Cramps

3. Foot bath eliminates stress

A foot soak calms the body and mind. This enhances cognitive functions of the brain and boosts creativity, it adds tranquility, and overall moods change by unwinding your mind after a stressful day of work.

It is super fantastic therapy for relaxing your whole body and getting the desired benefits of hot water; even if you don’t have time to wash your entire body there are outstanding benefits by doing a foot soak that are medically proven and satisfying to apply.

It’s very pleasing to do it anytime and anywhere with the aid of a medic or even alone. Foot bath is applied to treat insomnia – that restless feeling which results in sleeplessness. Foot spa and foot bath are known to help get proper sleep and reducing the symptoms of insomnia hence improving the relaxation of the mind and the body

4. Foot bath reduces depression and anxiety

Depression and anxiety are associated with the psychological or mental state of a person. Depression drains your energy, desires and hope, as well as decreasing your personal drive to feel better. Overcoming depression may not be quick or easy, but it is highly possible to manage it in this way.

Depression brings a negative spin on everything and every situation, including the way you know yourself, the situations you have encountered, and your future expectations. If you find yourself in such a situation there is always a remedy to stop your worrying by taking a  foot bath, foot spa, and foot reflexology collectively to solve the situation.

Depression can be dealt with through body therapy which minimizes pressure in the body and therefore bringing about the relaxation of the mind and body.

Foot bath, foot spa, and foot reflexology can help you remove anxiety, confusion, and anger through the help of reflexology. The relaxation side of reflexology can extend to calmness and help with any signs of depression and anxiety.

5. Foot soak reduces pain

When you walk, when you bend; when you step up and move down throughout the day, you exert pressure on all of the small body parts. Now, if you are overweight, you movements can take a toll — over-taxed joints can lead to tingling in your toes or even throbbing ankles, swelling or arthritis and these may result in foot pain, and this pain causes discomfort therefore, experts advise that after your daily work you need to take a foot bath or foot soak in order to reduce strain on your feet.

Sometimes body pain therapy can be very relaxing. So, having a massage may bring about the image of a spa instead of a visit to a medical office. Reflexology, where the medical practitioner massages your feet with his/her hands, is an approach that may reduce stress and pain at the same time.

The pressure applied during foot reflexology is meant to facilitate a physiological response in the body. The brain responds to the sensory experience of pain because the brain creates pain in response to emotions or cognitive responses to factors that influence the mind, like moods or external factors, like stress. You can reduce the pain when managed through reflexology.

Hot water has the power to eliminate pain in our body.  So, a warm footbath removes conditions like pelvic pain, cramps, prostate problems, headaches, hemorrhoids, chest congestion, joints and rheumatic pain, toothaches, neuralgia, flu, a profound hacking cough and menstrual pain and many other conditions

Hot water is believed to be the instant best healer of pain not only on our feet but also on the whole body.

Related: How to Remove and Prevent Calluses Naturally

6. Foot bathing reduce fatigue

Everyone gets worn out from time to time. Fatigue usually affects the quality of life for people with many forms of arthritis-related conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, psoriatic arthritis, or osteoarthritis. Your lack of body energy may be stimulated by your inflammatory disease and other health-related issues, as well as lifestyle and medication side effects.

Fatigue can also be a result of lack of sleep. Insomnia may trigger fatigue and a non-refreshing sleep, where your sleeping position or staying asleep for some time can be a challenge. Sleep apnea, is a condition in which breathing is interrupted when sleeping and this can also contribute to poor sleep, which can lead to fatigue.

It is proven that bathing your feet or, the whole body, in hot water increases the body temperature which in return enhances blood circulation in the body, thereby making the body active.The activeness of the body relaxes the muscles making the body feel fresh and fatigue-free.

Fatigue may be managed through other therapies such as a feet spa which activates the dormant muscles and thereby enhances blood circulation.

Foot reflexology, on the other hand, contributes to reducing fatigue by helping to stimulate the flow of blood in the body through the constant application of pressure to the affected muscles. As a result, blood circulation increases hence making the body active.

Environmental toxins are increasing everywhere entering our bodies through our food, water, and air.  These toxins affect our body responses hence resulting in fatigue.  A foot detox is applied to help reduce the number of unknown chemicals that our body consumes daily.

Foot detox not only helps to remove poisons in the body but also reduces body fatigue.

7. Feet soak softens and beautifies the feet

Athlete’s foot is one of the fungal infections that affects the toes. The toes appear reddish and peel skin. Athlete’s foot causes burns and itchiness on the foot.

Applying foot soaks eliminates fungal multiplication by killing the fungal causative agents that facilitate its growth and, at the same time, it keeps skin tender and beautiful. Hot water, can be used to treat callouses and warts. After soaking, you can file your feet with a pumice stone to help get rid of hardened skin and this too will contribute to the softer and more tender skin.

8. Feet soaks help removes odor

Your feet are the natural dwelling place of millions of bacteria, which arise from sweat and enter your skin cells. These contribute largely to smelly feet.

Lifestyle choices are important factors to consider when treating foot odor. For example, try wearing shoes made of leather that allows air circulation unlike having shoes made of plastic. Poor aeration contributes to foot odor. Soaking your feet in hot water helps eliminate, or reduce, foot odor by getting rid of the bacteria that make them smell.

Feet soak is an all-time medicine for smelly feet.

9. Foot bath warms the blood

Foot baths enhance body temperature and, with the increase in temperature, body tissues become active, followed by muscle and mental tension being reduced

Foot bath also improves the pumping of blood in your body and boosts immunity of the body. With cool and warm temperatures blood inflammation is reduced.

10. Helps regulate blood sugar levels

There are many cases of blood sugar problems, increase in weight, and chronic fatigue issues, and these are due to the body’s excess toxic load, which prevents complete metabolism and leads to inconsistent body energy production within cells. As a self-protective technique, fats hold on to the toxins and block them from being released through the bloodstream.

As a result, your body fails to metabolize and burn fat in body cells, making it almost literally impossible to lose weight, especially those who have a belly.

Also, these fat cells initiate inflammation that causes a sensory immune body response that, in return, may result in spikes in cortisol, adrenaline or blood glucose.

Meanwhile, the liver is under tremendous stress and strain because it processes the food while dealing with the problems associated with diabetes. Therefore, foot detox is applied alongside foot soaks to reduce the level of toxins in the body and this improves liver operations and enhances good health.

11. Increase and absorb magnesium

Magnesium is one of the basic minerals in our body. It enters the body orally in most cases however you can get additional benefits from magnesium by absorbing it transdermally; that is, in the form of foot soaks or bathing with dissolved magnesium chloride hexahydrate salt flakes.

Soaking feet, as many health professionals have discovered, achieves remarkable results in healing muscle pain or swelling. The cheapest way to prepare your body skin for maximum absorption of magnesium chloride is to first lubricate and condition it well with precious plant oils and butter. The therapist separates and loosens muscle fiber, which releases tension and helps increase a healthy blood flow, which then delivers more oxygen to cells and thus encourages healthy living.