An unpublished test of Epsom salt absorption
Three pages 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:
- Long-Term Effects of Repeated Injections of Local Anesthetic With or Without Corticosteroid for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Randomized Trial. Friedly 2017 Arch Phys Med Rehabil.
- Cannabis-based medicines for chronic neuropathic pain in adults. Ateş 2026 Cochrane Database Syst Rev.
- Effect of exercise on depression and anxiety symptoms: systematic umbrella review with meta-meta-analysis. Munro 2026 Br J Sports Med.
- Optimizing elastic band resistance training for Metabolic Syndrome components in older adults: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of randomized controlled trials. Saez-Berlanga 2026 Arch Phys Med Rehabil.
- Prevalence of Tendon Rupture and Tendinopathies Among Patients with Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Derived From United States Administrative Claims Data. Gillard 2024 Cardiol Ther.