Pain from epsom salt soak?
 

Fellow soakers;

Has anyone else experienced pain from soaking your feet in Epsom salts?

I have just pulled my feet from the water (lukewarm) on my 4th day of trying an Epsom salt soak because it was causing burning pain. Has anyone else had this happen to them? Should I continue - push through the pain for a greater good, so to speak, or stop?

I also take magnesium supplements. Could the epsom salts be too much?

Any comments are appreciated.
Doxie

Doxie, how much are you putting in the water? How much water?

:hug:

Another question...is there any pain with a plain water soak? Is this city water? Are you smelling any strong chlorine smell?

Questions questions...fun huh? :wink:

But really, you shouldn't be having pain. :hug:

Answers to questions
 

All;

Thanks for all your questions and input!

I used about 1/4 cup of epsom salts to 4 quarts of water. The water is city water (No smells) and is lukewarm, maybe I should try cooler water and good point about trying a soak with nothing added. I will.

Anyone or anything else?

THX~
Doxie

You are NOT crazy!
 

I'd followed Mrs D's instructions to the letter and 'did it'....
Don't know why, but after less than 2 minutes in the 'bath' I near jumped outta my skin!.
I'm taking my magnesium internally, thank you! No side effects, unless too much.
Some of us are more sensitive to such things than others... just chill and go an alternative route.

Thanks
 

To All;

Thanks for the input.

Dahlek - glad to know I'm not alone, nor crazy (maybe a little). I believe that you, like me, get some relief from a cool (not cold) surface. I wonder if our nerves are related! :rolleyes:

As stated here and repeated by my docs, symptoms of PN can be as unique as the person who has them!

Grazie,
Doxie :grouphug:

Oh dear..... today I just bought a little soaking tub and some epsom salts. I also take magneseum supplements. Now I'm kinda of hesitate to try it...:confused:

I have never had pain from epsom salts. I always soak in the tub and don't use foot baths.

You may be using too much. I'd cut back to an ounce/gallon, maximum.

4 quarts is not very much water. At high concentrations it might sting like any salt would on any open areas of the skin.

Examine your feet and see if you have cracks in the skin, or athlete's foot, or any open areas. People with numbness in the feet often have small injuries they don't notice.
Now would be the time to find these areas, before they become infected with something. (fungal or bacterial).

I use about 4 ounces in the BATH TUB... soak up to my ankles.
Sometimes I will sit in it for a while too. It is totally relaxing.
Getting out you have to be careful... epsom salts make things slippery.

In a small dishpan size tub the 4 ounces would be too concentrated I think. But you could use it for compresses that way. I've done that on vacation where there is no bath tub.
I did my knee that way and just kept rewetting the cloth, with the concentrated salts..worked really well.

Well I did my big soak today, and checked the bag of epsom salts I use for it, and it said 2 CUPS per gallon! That has to be a typo..error!

I NEVER use that much! I put in my typical small dixie cup and it was splendid. I go up past the ankles, because my left has that old surgery scarring, and that ankle bothers me sometimes.
( I had a cavernous hemangioma removed from the top of that foot when I was 12).

It gets hot here in Texas...duh..I have used cold water straight from the tap..which in the summer is not cold :rolleyes:. It's very refreshing and soothing. Cools me off too. :D

But I would say never more than a 1/4 cup if even that to a large foot tub.

Well, I finally did my first epsom soak in a small plastic dish tub. I just put in a pinch of the salts to luke warm water. I'm happy to say it all worked out and felt very nice. Thank goodness for that, because my feet are really getting worse and any additional relief that I can find is wonderful....

Epsom salt soaking?
 

If the pain continues I would see a Dr. I had a problem with the bottom of my feet; eventually it became excruciating. Ended up with 3 seizures all tonic clonic. I was told usually when you have a fluke seizure; their is an underlying problem. See your primary physician you should take pain killers for a short time, and probably need an ant-inflammatory. I would ask for a referral to a Rheumatologist...Sometimes it takes an illness to be highly symptomatic for you to get the attention you need. Good Luck!

Dear Friends,

Is there a therapeutic component in Epsom salts that can relieve symptoms of PN?

Also, I don't understand the relationship between taking magnesium, and soaking in Epsom salt, which Hope15 remarked on but did not specify, could you explain please?

Thanks.:)

Patty

Epsom salts have magnesium in them. Magnesium is absorbed a little thru the skin, and it improves circulation where the person soaks. Small blood vessels close up during inflammation and nutrients in the blood then cannot get to where they are needed.

Magnesium also works orally, but in parts of the body that are not receiving good blood supply it doesn't reach where it is needed.

Magnesium helps with pain because it blocks calcium which activates the NMDA receptors in nerves that signal pain response. So magnesium is calming and reduces discomfort.

Epsom salts are especially good for people with Raynaud's syndrome, where the hands and feet get really cold. My son uses soaks for his hands when they bother him.

If you soak in a bathtub for a while (up to an hour) that has epsom salts, your muscles will be more relaxed, your skin softer and you will in general feel much better.

mrsD,

Thanks for that information. I will surly give Epsom salt a try, since in addition to having having PN, I was diagnosed with Raynaud's syndrome and have had that disorder since a very young age. My toes actually turn blue!:eek: at times. My fingers are not as sensitive, but still are affected.

I have a hard time keeping my feet mainly toes warm, as I sit here I have a little foot heater, my husband thinks I am crazy.

For me having Raynaud's is really an annoyance due to I live in WNY, where we have more cold than warm weather, and I am a snowmobiler.

I just starting taking magnesium pills, so I am hoping for some good happenings from that as well as the Epsom salts.

Patty

hmm my epson salts ,,aaron brand, says 1/2 cup to quart and apply cloths soaked in this....or 2 cups to the bath tube for a bath......

Yes, on the bag of Epsom salts I have, it says that as well. 1/2 Cup to a quart of water would probably be about right. For myself, I would never use that much. I also do not take baths (I shower) and I have not had to apply soaked cloths with it.

I get crampy feet from the water if it's too warm not from the Epsom Salts. If the water is really lukewarm, it will take away any crampiness in my feet that I might have. Everyone is different even those with CMT. Some like it really warm and it works for them. But not for me.