The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Growing Pains, Leg Pain
Posted by Mama To Many (Tn) on 10/29/2018
★★★★★
My 12 year old son is growing fast. A couple of nights ago he was having terrible pain in his legs. My husband remembers these "growing pains" from when he was a child.
My son is pretty hearty and doesn't usually complain about pain and he was clearly miserable.
I had him take a bath with about 1.5 cups Epsom salt in it. He was skeptical but desperate. (OTC pain medicine had not worked.)
Within 5 minutes of getting into the tub his pain subsided.
He soaked for at least 20 minutes and went to bed pain free and woke up still pain free.
During growing seasons, some extra magnesium is probably in order. A daily tablespoon of blackstrap would probably be a great idea to increase minerals, including magnesium.
~Mama to Many~
Seizure Control
Posted by Maureen Roy (Maine, U.S.A) on 11/15/2007
★★★★★
I had to post something here because a couple of months ago I saw a post from someone who said, "Anyone who has seizures, something that has worked well to control or rid people's seizures is epsom salt." ....their words were something to that effect. Well, that got me intrigued and excited. I had been looking for ways to get off my meds for years. I have been reading books and looking...everywhere on the net for...something! And that post got me started. Well, I now have a blog about my story - I have been off my meds for more than a month and it has now been almost a month since I have had a seizure. That is just amazing and has been unheard of for me for the past 18 years! Now, I am not a doctor and I am not saying this is what EVERYONE should do. We are all different. But, this MAY help people who have been looking for answers, help, guidance on what could work for them in the right direction.
Arthritis
Posted by Elle (Concord, New Hampshire) on 04/26/2007
★★★★★
I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at 11. At 18 (and it a lot of pain) I was given a book on curing arthritis naturally and set about doing it. One of the main proponents of the book was Apple Cider Vinegar. I took a cocktail of 2 teaspoons ACV, 1 teaspoon honey and 8 oz hot water twice a day. Within 2 or 3 weeks the flareups had ceased. It should be noted I also cut back on red meat and citric acids (they are everywhere!) which I discovered were a major trigger for me. And I took epsom salt baths twice a week. When I went back to my dr and had blood tests done my RA factor was down to a 2. (I have no idea what it was before but I am pretty sure 2 is almost nothing!) That was 25 years ago. I still have RA technically but I rarely have a problem with it. The first inkling I get that its sneaking back up on me I go back to the ACV. I still avoid my trigger food which have come to include, believe it or not, green beans. I believe trigger foods are different for everyone - only you can figure out what they are. I have not been on meds or seen a rhumatologist (sp?) in all that time. Thank god for ACV. Only for it I would be a cripple now instead of living the very full life that I do. I have to say that it makes me so mad that there is a very simple cure for RA and the medical world is not out there shouting about it. So many people suffer needlessly with this disease. If you have RA you owe it to yourself to go out there and find out what works for you. Find your triggers, try ACV, read all you can on natural cures. There is no magic pill - but there is a way and its all in your own hands. Goodluck and Good Health. Elle
Aches and Pains
Posted by 05/25/2008 (Nowhereville, PA)
★★★★★
If you have menstrual cramps, charley horses, eye twitches or any other kind of muscle cramps or just general aches and pains, try epsom salts baths. Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) is an excellent source of magnesium, much more bio-available and less expensive than supplements. You can soak in it in the tub, or make a spray from 4oz by weight of epsom salts dissolved in 32 fluid oz of distilled water. Put the epsom salt/water mix in a spray bottle and spray it on after your shower (rub it in like lotion all over). This is a home made version of "magnesium oil" (magnesium chloride), only made with epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) instead. Magnesium from epsom salts is very well absorbed throught the skin and doesn't loosen the bowels like oral magnesium supplements do. If you want to use magnesium chloride to make homemade "magnesium oil", get some unscented magnesium chloride bath salts and proceed as for "magnesium oil" made from epsom salts. Since I started using epsom salts, my skin is no longer dry...due, I think, to the sulfer content of epsom salts. If you feel up-tight, tense, anxious, nervous, crampy, etc., take an epsom salt soak. Exercise, and stress of all kinds, depleats magnesium, which is why an epsom salt soak after a work out or a stressful day is so good for you.
Sepsis
Posted by Margie (Oregon) on 08/07/2018
★★★★★
Epsom salts dissolved in as hot as water that one can tolerate draws out all the toxins from sepsis. It needs to be repeated as needed.
First-hand knowledge, In the 50's, as a child, I was pushed off my bike by some bullies and badly scraped my hand on the street. Not long after sepsis set in.
My Mother, a Nursing Sister (in the days that nurses were 'real' nurses) soaked my hand for a few hours in that hot and constantly reheated solution. The next day I was fine.
Later in life, in my 60's I used the same protocol after hurting my lower leg while gardening. The red line running up my leg was the warning. It took a couple of days but no doctor visit and the sepsis was totally drawn out. No after effects, sepsis gone!!
Arthritis
Posted by Jill (Shoreham By Sea, West Sussex, England) on 07/15/2012
★★★★★
I also have arthritis to the extent that my specialist has recommended a knee replacement. I'm now following the honey/cider vinegar diet and taking three or four hot Epsom salts baths a week. The baths are amazing - I can walk down the stairs after my bath where before the bath I can only take one stair at a time. Epsom salts, honey/cider vinegar vs. Major surgery? No competition! I'm not old - 48 - and my arthritis is advanced but attitude, diet and lifestyle are helping.
Sciatica
Posted by Aldo (Brisbane, Australia) on 06/04/2009
★★★★★
Epsom Salts Worked for Sciatica!
My mother came down with sciatica last week. Immediately she went to see my brother, who is a chiropractor. That helped her a lot but the pain and discomfort was still there for her. Since then she was resting her leg as often as she could and taking pain killers when needing to walk on it for any extended period of time. When I heard about it, I had a look on this site and noticed the epsom salts testimonials. I suggested that she try having an epsom salt bath and to drink a couple of teaspoons of it with a glass of water also.
Well, I called her this morning and my mother was so excited! She said that she had a bath for about 30 minutes (and read a magazine!) with 2 cups of epsom salts on Wednesday night before going to bed. She also drank a glass of water with 2 teaspoons of epsom salts with some honey to improve the taste. She said that she slept so peacefully that night and woke up in the morning with NO PAIN! She was over the moon!
On Thursday, she drank a couple more glasses of water, epsom salts and honey and she plans to have another bath tonight (Friday). There has been no sciatica pain since waking up Thursday morning.
Thank you to Jean and Gwen for posting your results, the good news has now spread to our family too and we are passing it on to others. God Bless.
Seizure Control
Posted by Violet (Torrevieja, Spain) on 10/14/2007
★★★★★
Epsom Salts is a cure for Epilepsy. I have recommended it to various people and given a talk about it in a local clinic in London...it works!! Even for grand mal fits and for young and old alike. Half a teaspoonful in orange juice each morning, and the fits will stop. I approached the Epilepsy Society about this, but they don't want to know!!! My granddaughter has started taking it, when all else failed and she hasn't had fits since.
Seizure Control
Posted by Dianna (Austin, TX) on 01/05/2009
★★★★★
i have had gran mal seizures since i was in my teens. the doctors could never find anything wrong and i took dilantin for years. somehow along the way i also found that if i took cal-mag (calcium magnesium liquid) it helped. well it took me years to realize that soaking in epsom salts help too. recently i have started having seizures again and realized that i had not been taking my epsom salt baths for a while. i even rub the salts on my body to exfoliate... so i started taking a little bit orally mixed with VCO too - just to get it back in my system. it really makes me mad that doctors do not tell people about this. they have to know that epsom salts have magnesium in them... a doctor had told me about cal-mag in the first place... but no one ever mentioned epsom salts. i guess they are too cheap!
btw - soaking in epsom salt baths also helps bi-polar people feel better.
djh
Mama's Magnesium Musings
Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 03/20/2017
★★★★★
I was out of town and realized I had forgotten my magnesium supplement. The easiest and cheapest solution was to get some Epsom salt. I was looking at the directions to see how much to take and was noticing the directions for using it as fertilizer. And the information about the sulfur content.
We talk a lot about the benefits of magnesium from taking epsom salt baths. But I don't recall mention of benefits from the sulfur content. (Maybe I just didn't notice.)
The sulfur in MSM and DMSO and even garlic are important to the healing benefit from those things. Sulfur is a critical element needed by the body.
While I don't mean to reduce credit from the magnesium in Epsom salt, maybe the sulfur is playing an important role too. I am guessing that I would get more nutritional benefit by using Epsom salt for my internal magnesium supplement. But ugh. It doesn't taste good. If anyone has any ideas on improving the taste, please share!
Maybe the sulfur content is part of why Epsom salt soaks work well for infections.
And maybe Epsom salt would be better in some cases that magnesium oil, which is made from magnesium chloride.
Well, I am just thinking out loud here. Does anyone else have any thoughts about the sulfur content in Epsom salt?
~Mama to Many~
Eczema
Posted by Esther (Tacoma , Washington) on 07/15/2009
★★★★★
My son just arrived last week from San Diego with my 3 yrs old grandson who is in a terrible state with eczema. They are spending a fortune on Dr. and Ointments. I took my little grandson and put him into Epsom Salts baths for the past four days and the bleeding has stopped he is not scratching and it is drying out. I remembered that people came from all over the world to Israel for the salts baths at the dead sea so I applied what I learned from living in Israel and it is working. At first it hurt him but after a minute he was fine with the salt water. Try it. Esther Golden Pavek.
Food Sensitivities
Posted by Gayle (Mountain Home, Ar) on 03/27/2011
★★★★★
Epsom salts has lots of remedies and more than I thought. One of those that wasn't mentioned that works for me is a food reactions remedy. I have candida and if I have eaten dairy or another sensitivity food, I will get very bloated and have heart irregularities and espsom salts in water takes the problem away within 20 minutes. The only remedy a doctor recommended was charcoal. I would like to find another way to help with the food sensitivites when needed. Thanks for your site.
Aches and Pains
Posted by Susan (Brisbane, Australia) on 01/19/2008
★★★★★
I have been taking epsom salts all year every morning a few spinkles in my 500m water bottle (room temp water) and my aches and pains have all but disappeared. I remember my grandmother always put epsom salts in her tea each morning just a few sprinkles and she said so she did not get arthritus. Well I have to say I think it works but what I want to know is too much bad for you internally anyone know thanks
Cold Sores
Posted by Jean (Franklin, Wi) on 08/18/2009
★★★★★
No idea where I ever got the idea to try this, but it has worked every time for me. When I get a cold sore, I put a crystal of epsom salt on it. It stings for a bit, but within a short period of time the pain is down, a few hours I know its already on the mend, and the next day its usually about 1/2 to 2/3 cleared up. It only needs to be done once.
Acne
Posted by Amanda Rene (Anderson, CA) on 10/22/2008
★★★★★
Prepare a bath as directed on the epsom salt container. Do not use ANY soap, bubble bath, etc in this bath. Soak in it for a couple minutes. Then, using a washcloth, scrub the skin for a minute or so. Soak the area in the bath for 20 minutes. Towel dry. Do this daily or every other day.
I found this out accidentally and I was pleasantly surprised to see it had an effect on my rear-end acne. I've been trying to get rid of it for 2 months! Soap and exfoliators seemed to make matters so much worse. After the first two soaks, the skin appeared softer and no longer red and inflamed. The cyst like formations were going away! I've been doing this for a week now and my skin looks and feels so much nicer now. I still have a few bumps but I bet they will be gone in another week. I hope this works as well for others as it did for me!
Aches and Pains
Posted by Mike (New York) on 10/07/2011
Completely agree. I make my wife an Epsom salt bath any time she is complaining of cramps or not complaining and just showing the physical pain with some weird expressions on her face. And for the guys that like to Gym and do some lifting, an Epsom salt bath is excellent to help with muscle recovery and ease that stiffness and pain following a serious workout. I got some recipes and health on google, wiki.
Gallbladder Stones
Posted by Enzyme (Pdx, Or) on 04/18/2011
Actually, Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate.
Aches and Pains
Posted by Beth (Costa Mesa, Ca, Usa) on 12/12/2010
I have very tense neck and shoulders and was recommended to take an epsom salt bath. I went and had a deep tissue massage and then came home and soaked in an epsom salt bath for a half hour. The next evening I felt achy and with a fever and then proceeded with diareha. The symptoms only lasted for 2 to 3 days. Could this be the absorbtion of the epsom salts into my system or was this just a mild bug? Any ideas?
Aches and Pains
Posted by Nessoregon (Gp, Oregon) on 09/09/2011
I have had this happen too. I was told after my massage to drink lots of water, as the muscles release toxins that need to be flushed.
Aches and Pains
Posted by Cate (Melbourne, Vic., Australia) on 09/15/2011
Magnesium, and lots of it. Magnesium in a bath (epsom salts) and liquid mag. in water/juice.
Aches and Pains
Posted by Sande (Oregon) on 10/23/2015
Ha, that is the same thing that happened to me. I got a deep tissue massage and all of a sudden my head was fall of mucus but it was clear and I blew through about five Kleenex. The next day I was suppose to start a bar-tending job and man I had fever and diarrhea and all my joints hurt. We were detoxing from the massage and it was all good after that but you are suppose to drink a lot of water after one of those....just saying
Cold Sores
Posted by Tina (Sylvania, Ohio, Usa) on 03/28/2011
★★★★★
Yes, Epsom Salt works for me when it somes to cold sores. I had one developing on my lip, I popped the lump, then held some epsom salt on it twice that day and by the next day the area was flat and healed.
Seizure Control
Posted by Catherine (Wellington, New Zealand) on 10/25/2008
My journey into nutrition started in the 70's with Adelle Davis' books. She recommended magnesium (epsom salts) for Epilepsy. I have told this to various people over the years and offered them the books to read, amazingly they didn't want to do the research, preferring the allopathic methods of treatment. Ms Davis was also a strong proponent of folic acid to prevent spina biffida! This has only recently been taken seriously..but her evidence could have saved much untold misery for unfortunate families during these intervening years.
In one of her books Ms Davis referred to another nutritionist from the 40's who opined that unless magnesium levels in the diet were improved, within a generation we would't be able to tell from the backview the difference between boys and girls!!! Well girls used to have waists (18" to 22") and boys always had physiques, maybe lack of magnesium affects the hormones somehow.
