An unpublished test of Epsom salt absorption
Three articles on PainSci cite Waring 2006: 1. Hot Baths for Injury & Pain 2. The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain 3. Does Epsom Salt Work?
PainSci commentary on Waring 2006: ?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided wherever possible.
Magnesium and sulfates in the blood were measured and found to be higher after people had Epsom salts baths. No therapeutic effects were studied or claimed. The results seem straightforward. However, this study was never peer-reviewed and published in a scientific journal or repeated by other scientists — it has only ever been available as a PDF from the website of the Epsom Salt Council, an industry lobby group that is “Eager to let everyone know the benefits of our product … to help spread the word about the wonder that is Epsom salt. You see, we're wild about this pure, time-tested mineral compound and its dozens of uses.”
Despite the obvious potential for bias here, Waring told me in personal correspondence that her experiment was straightforward and conducted independently.
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This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Association of Lumbar MRI Findings with Current and Future Back Pain in a Population-based Cohort Study. Kasch 2022 Spine (Phila Pa 1976).
- A double-blinded randomised controlled study of the value of sequential intravenous and oral magnesium therapy in patients with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component. Yousef 2013 Anaesthesia.
- Is Neck Posture Subgroup in Late Adolescence a Risk Factor for Persistent Neck Pain in Young Adults? A Prospective Study. Richards 2021 Phys Ther.
- Sudden amnesia resulting in pain relief: the relationship between memory and pain. Choi 2007 Pain.
- Photobiomodulation therapy is not better than placebo in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Guimarães 2021 Pain.