You’ve been putting hours in at the gym, showing up on the mat, hitting the trails. You’re sleeping like a baby, your endorphins are through the roof, but while your mental state is damn near soaring from that delicious trainers’ high, physically you’re feeling … sore. Here’s the deal: Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just getting started, if you’re physically exerting yourself in new and challenging ways, your muscles are going to respond. But keep in mind, you have to feel the burn before you feel the benefits. Luckily, stocking up on things like salt soak bags and making your own DIY treatments at home can help ease the tenderness and encourage you to push through the pain.
Among the countless self-care rituals peppering your social media feeds, we’re convinced salt soaks are being vastly underrated. Bath salts serve various purposes and offer a wide range of benefits, from soothing muscle aches to treating athlete’s foot, softening dry, cracked skin, reducing feelings of anxiety, foot odor, lowering blood pressure, aiding in the healing of body piercings and more.
Salt baths and soaks are also easy to assemble: All you have to do is add a few scoops to a warm bath, or mix a teaspoon of salt with hot water to create a paste. And because a little goes a long way, it’s worth investing in these large salt soak bags for a long-lasting supply of relief.
Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
1. Purely Northwest Tea Tree Oil Foot & Nail Soak
Constantly on your feet? Long distance runners, sprinters, teachers, waitresses and anyone else who stands from dawn to dusk needs a stock of this salt soak bag underneath their bathroom sink at all times. The Purely Northwest Tea Tree Oil soak was designed for the soles: Formulated with extra-strength therapeutic grade essential oils — including tea tree, lavender, peppermint and eucalyptus — and a combination of epsom and sea salts, it’s a gentle soak that even the most sensitive skin types can benefit from. It can be used as a foot-focused soak, combating odor, calluses and athlete’s foot, or a full-body soak to soothe sore muscles.
Image: Amazon.
2. Dr. Teal’s Epsom Salt Bath Soaking Solution
It wouldn’t be a complete list without Dr. Teal’s salt soak bags. Dr. Teal’s sets the standard for salt baths and soaks, with each bag dedicated to a specific ailment. Formulated with pure epsom salts, a range of natural essential oils like lavender, spearmint, eucalyptus and coconut, plus other soothing ingredients like honey and ginger, the product can be used as a full-body soak post-workout or formed into a paste for spot treating specific muscle groups.
Image: Amazon.
3. Ancient Minerals Magnesium Bath Flakes
The Ancient Minerals salt soak is a mixture containing only one ingredient — organic magnesium flakes, aka magnesium salts — and is free of parabens, harsh chemicals, unnatural preservatives and fragrance. The flakes are pure, genuine zechstein magnesium chloride which is sourced 1500 meters underground in the Zechstein Seabed. It’s the purest magnesium source in the world delivered to your bathtub. Fancy, huh? As for their effects, prepare to be amazed — not to mention relieved. Take one to three cups of dry flakes and add them into a foot bath or full tub, and enjoy a nice soak for 30 minutes or more, depending on necessity (and desire, and time). For an even more intense soak, you can add up to the full 8 pounds of flakes into a warm tub. The longer you soak, the more at ease you’ll feel from stress, sore muscles, headaches, joint pain, cramps and more.
Image: Amazon.