My muscles have been very achy lately and the internet tells me to do bath soaks with Epsom salts. I understand that warm water helps to relax muscles, but how does salt in the bath help? Do our bodies actually absorb Epsom salt through the skin to a degree that it actually makes a difference, or is it more a relaxing/scent/placebo? What mechanism is happening that the Epsom salts contribute to?
Similar vein: baking soda, magnesium, etc added to baths – do they actually help? What works best?
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Gate control theory. Essentially you provide your brain with enough non painful stimuli like heat, water pressure, buoyancy, etc that the pain signal is more or less over ridden. It’s the same reason you grab a stubbed toe or ice an injury. Sure, there are some thermal effects, but hot and cold can only penetrate a few mm, which is way more superficial than your muscles. You do on the other hand have an extremely high number and variety of receptors at the superficial level of skin.
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