Modern life revolves around work, leading to various physical and mental health imbalances. Besides adjusting your lifestyle and seeking medical help, you can also try “foot baths” (soaking your feet), ancient wisdom from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
As early as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in China, there were records of using herbs to “fumigate, steam, soak, and bathe” the body, known as “fragrant baths.” These baths emitted a pleasant herbal aroma and offered numerous health benefits.
Why are herbal foot baths beneficial for health?
TCM believes that six of the body’s twelve meridians start in the feet, with the liver, spleen, and kidney meridians being the most important. These meridians govern sleep, emotions, digestion, and the reproductive system. Soaking your feet can help unblock these meridians, using external heat to promote blood circulation and metabolism throughout the body. Good blood circulation in the feet benefits all internal organs. Additionally, adding herbal ingredients to the foot bath allows the skin to absorb the medicinal essence, enhancing the health benefits.
Health benefits of foot baths
1. Improve sleep quality
Both Western and Chinese medicine recognize the benefits of foot soaking for sleep. Modern medicine suggests that hot water stimulates the nerve endings in the feet, which can inhibit the cerebral cortex, accelerate blood circulation, relax the overloaded brain, relieve fatigue, and help you fall asleep faster.
TCM believes that insomnia is related to the liver. The liver governs the body’s energy and blood circulation, and soaking your feet can help unblock the liver meridian, reducing stress and aiding sleep. Adding calming herbs like lavender and rose to the foot bath can enhance blood circulation and promote sleep.
2. Reduce dampness and aid digestion
Busy work schedules can lead to missed meals or prolonged sitting, hindering blood flow to the intestines and causing constipation, indigestion, and bloating. Prolonged sitting, combined with constant air conditioning and a salty diet, can lead to excessive dampness in the body, resulting in a heavy feeling, edema, and recurrent eczema.
Add lotus leaves and ginger slices to the foot bath to reduce dampness, which helps eliminate water retention and improve blood circulation. To aid digestion, adding lavender, which has antispasmodic effects, can help relieve stress-related gastrointestinal discomfort and bloating.
3. Alleviate cold hands and feet
The feet are farthest from the heart and rely on calf muscle contractions to return blood. People with poor blood circulation are particularly prone to cold hands and feet. Soaking your feet in warm water dilates the blood vessels in the lower limbs, allowing blood to flow downward, which promotes overall blood and lymph circulation, driving away cold and boosting immunity.
Adding herbs like cinnamon and ginger to the foot bath can enhance circulation, alleviating cold hands and feet.
4. Relieve menstrual pain
Foot soaking promotes blood circulation and warms the liver meridian, which can help alleviate menstrual pain caused by internal cold, qi stagnation, and blood stasis. It also aids in the expulsion of menstrual blood. Adding antibacterial and pain-relieving herbs like large wind grass and mugwort can enhance the benefits.
Steps and tips for herbal foot baths
- Boil the herbs first, then mix them with warm water: Boiling the herbs releases their nutrients. After boiling, simmer for 15-20 minutes, pour into a foot bath container, and mix with warm water to adjust the temperature.
- Water temperature is slightly higher than body temperature; stop when sweating slightly: Too hot water can burden the body. If the water temperature is 40-42°C (104-107.6°F), soak for 10-15 minutes. If it’s 38-39°C (100.4-102.2°F), soak for 20-30 minutes. Prolonged soaking can strain the heart. Stop when your back and forehead slightly sweat.
- Do not soak your feet too frequently: It’s recommended to soak 2-3 times a week. Overdoing it can be harmful.
Situations where foot soaking is not suitable
- Severe hypertension or cardiovascular diseases: Soaking can dilate blood vessels in the lower limbs and lower blood pressure.
- Foot wounds or cracked heels: Soaking wounds in water can increase the risk of infection, especially for diabetics with compromised immune systems.
- After meals, exercise, or on an empty stomach: After eating, the gastrointestinal tract needs more blood for digestion, and soaking can lead to insufficient blood supply to organs, causing indigestion. On an empty stomach, soaking can cause blood to gather at the body’s surface, reducing blood supply to the brain and causing dizziness.
(This article is adapted from “The Many Benefits of Foot Soaking! Understand the 4 Key Health Benefits with Herbal Ingredients!” provided by New Translation Health Magazine.)
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