Detox baths can be a great little evening ritual to supplement your healing. I personally really like taking one at the end of the day to help relax and also detox a bit before bed. Detox baths work to pull toxins from your body into the water. You don’t want to stay in a bath more than 20min because then you start to reabsorb the toxins.

Here are some tips and tricks for the ultimate detox bath.

Dry Brushing

Dry Brushing before a detox bath can help stimulate your lymphatic system and also opens your detox pathways so you can detox more. I use a brush like this. You typically start on your arms and legs and work towards your heart in circular motions on the skin. Start off slowly as your body gets used to it. There are lots of links online with videos and more details on how to dry brush.

Epsom Salts

Epsom salts are a great base for detox baths. They are very effective at detoxing and also help boost your magnesium levels. It's best to use about 2 cups. If you have a CBS mutation you may want to see how you feel with these. It may be a bit too much sulfur. I buy these salts by the large bag on Amazon.

Make sure to not put any lotion on for a while as you may continue to sweat even after the bath. This is ok, it is just your body continuing to detox after the bath and release toxins stored in your fat cells.

If the water is too hot you may induce a herx reaction so make sure to test it out and see what works well for you. Epsom Salts can potentially help calm a herx by increasing the livers ability to produce bile from the magnesium sulfate that is absorbed through the skin so you will have to try it out and find your sweet spot.

There are mixed theories on whether you should rinse or not after an epsom bath. Some say it's best to wash off any toxins you just sweated out, others say the bath water rinses the toxins out and as long as you get out before 20min you are not reabsorbing. I say do what feels best. I personally never rinse off and seem to get the benefits. When you start epsom salt baths you may feel a bit light headed and hot after the bath and want to lay down right away, so just towel dry off and relax. If you have the energy for a rinse, then rinse. It's all about listening to your body.

Baking Soda

Baking Soda is a great alternative if you are unable to do a lot of Epsom Salts due to a CBS Mutation. It's also good to add 1 cup of baking soda to an Epsom Salt bath to reduce some of the chlorine in the water. If you do a pure baking soda bath aim for 4-8 cups per bath. Bonus is it will leave your skin feeling really soft:)

Essential Oils

I love adding some essential oils to my bath. The trick is to pour them onto your salts / baking soda and then pour it into the water so they diffuse. If you just pour oil into the water it never really mixes.

Try to use a better quality oil such as Doterra or Youngliving.

Bath Accessories

If your drain is fairly low, it can be annoying to not be able to fully fill the tub and really soak. You can get a deep water bath plug to let you fill the tub up more.

A bath pillow can also be a nice accessory. I did a session with a medical intuitive and he said that I was putting pressure on my Occipital Nerve when I was bathing and getting my hair washed a salon. I realized I was resting the lower part of my head on the edge of the tub right where my Occipital Nerve is! Since then I have been using this bath pillow and I must say it makes the bath much more comfortable.

After A Bath

Its best to lightly dry off and not put any lotion on for about an hour after your bath. This allows your pores to remain open and continue sweating out any toxins.

Its good to soak for no more than 20 min. After that your body starts to reabsorb toxins.

You should do a detox bath at least 2-3x per week but you can do them every night if you would like to as well.

Happy bathing!