Can a simple footbath tell you what you need to know about your health?
Spring is here! Time to open the windows, clean the cobwebs, and purge the clutter. What if spring cleaning doesn’t mean just your house? Perhaps many of us could benefit from a little “bodily” spring cleaning as well. We don’t know about you, but we could spend time detoxing all that coffee, hot chocolate, and holiday cookies that the cold weather tempted us to devour. Sometimes, you just don’t have the wherewithal to embark on a full wellness experience to really purge all that we’d like, so we started with an ionic foot detox.
He said: We were in a bit of a time crunch this month so we decided to try out our local wellness spa/ tanning salon/auto body repair shop ( I could be wrong about that last one) for a quick therapeutic rest and relaxation treatment. We decided that a thirty minute Ionic Sea Salt Detox Foot Bath would do just fine. This particular foot bath used sea salt and an electronic ionizer to encourage cells to release waste, much the same way you would brine a turkey at Thanksgiving.
So the nice young man working there brings out my salty foot water tub, plugs an electric pump into the wall socket, and plops the other end in the water. And that was the moment I started questioning the safety of this particular activity. So after quickly conquering my fear of electrocution, I sat down in the massage chair and tentatively put my feet in the water. The bath was nice and hot at first, and I did notice my feet begin to tingle after a few minutes. After thirty minutes of elevator music and shoulder rubs from the massage chair, my time was up. I looked down to dry my feet and realized my water had turned an orange-yellow color. Apparently, like a mood ring, the water in this bath will change color based on what might be ailing you the most. In my case, it indicated joint or artery problems (ruh-roh). This was a nice, relaxing experience that might be a great place to start on your wellness journey.
She Said: I can’t say that I ever gave much thought to foot detoxes, due to conflicting opinions about them. But hey, it’s quick and easy, and doesn’t hurt anything, so why not? I was hoping for a little relaxation with the experience, akin to the foot baths at the pedicure stations. But alas, no one was there to massage my tootsies. The wellness facility was nice, but the foot detox stations were just two side-by-side cozy chairs cordoned off by a floor-to-ceiling curtain in the front lobby. I got to hear what everyone walking through the front door was there for and listened to slightly-too-loud bossa nova/lounge-style music sung by unrecognizable vocalists. Not exactly my idea of a place to unwind, but that’s just this particular spa. Anyhoo, I rolled up my leggings, dipped my feet in the hot water, sat back for 30 minutes with a shoulder and neck massager, and read a book.
At the end, I rinsed my feet and peeked at the water. It was still clear, but with a few black and red specks. Apparently, that is an indication of the presence of heavy metals and blood clot material. Gross! John thought it was just fuzz from my socks, but upon closer inspection, it was not fuzz. Not sure exactly what I should do with that information, but it’s safe to say I may take “spring cleaning” a bit more seriously.
