Epsom Salt Lotion
 

I find that Mrs D's tip of soaking my feet in an Epson Salt bath really works and dulls down the tingling and burning. however, it's not always convenient to be able to soak your feet when you need to.

I read on the forum about Epsom Salt Lotion which sounded just the ticket. I live in the U.K. and I couldn't find it or anything like on sale here. I've now sent three emails to the U.S. manufacturer Mortons asking where I can source some an have received no reply which is very disappointing.

Finally I have resorted to making my own using the following recipe which works really well and I thought I'd share it with you:-

Ingredients:
Hot water – about 50ml
Epsom Salt – approximately 4-5 tablespoonfuls (I keep on adding the salt to the water for as long as it dissolves – usually 5 tblsp)
White Petroleum Jelly – 5-6 tblsp
Natural Cocoa Butter Cream – 2-3 tblsp

Start by adding the salt into the hot water and boiling it
for a few minures (make sure the salt is dissolved), then add
the Petroleum jelly and mix it in.
Once you get a white, creamy mixture,add some cocoa butter cream and mix again.

And that's it. You get approximately 250 – 350 ml cream.

A few drops of lavender oil if you like a scented cream.

Put it in a container a leave in a cool place for it to set.

The ingredients are quite cheap and I have found that it works really
well. It is probably more greasy than the commercially available ones because of the petroleum jelly, but if you don't use the jelly the lotion is too thin and won't rub in properly.

Also one other tip is to use an old saucepan for this because it is difficult
to get the smell from the pan once you've used it for this.

I hope this helps for anyone like me who has difficulty sourcing the
commercial lotion.

That is very enterprising of you!

http://www.iherb.com/Kirkman-Labs-Ma...oz-113-g/38169
iherb.com ships to UK...but this is probably too pricey, compared to yours, but it has a special cream base to carry the magnesium thru the skin. 100mg/gram measure. Using 2 grams a day would last about 60 days.

You might ask your pharmacist locally if he has transdermal gels, available for you to purchase. You could mix it that way. Less fuss. Another base to try is Aquaphor...it incorporates liquids better than pet. jelly alone.
Instead of cooking it on the stove you can microwave it.
A short cut is to put all ingredients in a slightly larger jar (you can purchase an 8oz or 16 oz ointment jar at a pharmacy.... have your mag dissolved in some water a head of time. Put it in the wave and heat for 15 secs. Check it, and do 15sec more if needed until everything is melted. It doesn't have to be hot, just melted. Then put the lid on and shake vigorously for a minute --
the Aquaphor ingredients will suspend the liquid pretty well. Then put in the freezer for an hour or so. It will quickly gel with no mixing, if you did it right. Don't leave long in the wave...as it can catch fire (petroleum distillate)--hence 15 sec bursts to avoid this. . Do NOT wave it with the cover on. (just put some paper over it in case it spits. If it needs to, you can repeat this until you find the right time periods to use. This is how we make some topicals in the pharmacy.(large orders with heat stable ingredients.) This uses little equipment, and gives a nice finished lotion in the end. Most pharmacies will sell you the jars you need. (In order to shake this hot stuff up you need a good jar like the pharmacy jars. Reused food jars may leak.) Making it in the jar is handy because it stays in the jar and doesn't need to be moved at all.

Much of the weight of the epsom salts is water already as the crystals have water attached. I see Aquaphor is available now in UK too... you can try to get it by the pound, as that is most affordable. Here, WalMart sells it. My husband uses it on his psoriasis.

Thanks for that. I have now found the Kirkman brand on sale in the U.K. at Tesco direct. I tried to post the link but the system won't let me until I have 10 posts or more on the forum.

It's quite expensive, but I suppose nothing is really that expensive if it works.

Yes, it has always been pricey. It was one of the first creams that came out, many years ago. At one time you could only buy at the manufacturer's site. But now it is generalizing to the public.

It comes with a scoop to measure out what you need. It is the only one with a measure to give a stated concentration of 100mg /gram. One doesn't need to lather it on either...a little goes a long way. The better base will carry more thru the skin.

You can also make compresses of a concentrated solution and apply that way. I did that on a vacation once. I just recharged the cloth over and over and it worked for my knee just fine.
I would leave the compress on the skin for several minutes at a time. Enough would leech thru that way.
This was less messy but time consuming.

There is also Epsom-It... but it tends to expense too. The foot version has fragrance, but the body lotion which is the same formula does not.
I found on Ebay UK:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EPSOM-SALT...-/260580971595
It is a bigger size than the Kirkman jar.