It sounds too good to be true: Can merely sticking your ft in a bathtub of scorching water cease a migraine assault? Some folks swear by it. In a single video on TikTok—which has greater than 21 million views and 15,000 feedback—an individual standing in a steaming bucket says it eased signs in lower than 5 minutes.
In fact, social media is just not probably the most dependable supply of medical data. And migraine isn’t only a unhealthy headache: It’s a fancy neurological drawback that may trigger crushing, debilitating head ache and different signs. However regardless of the various therapies and self-care approaches on the market, the seek for fast-acting cures might be irritating.
So earlier than you waste time on this explicit DIY strategy versus one other one, we requested specialists to weigh in on whether or not there may be any sturdy scientific proof that it may well assist.
What specialists suppose
Hydrotherapy—a broad time period for utilizing scorching or chilly water to deal with medical circumstances—has been a part of conventional therapeutic practices “for 1000’s of years,” Melinda Ring, MD, government director of the Osher Heart for Integrative Well being at Northwestern College Feinberg Faculty of Drugs in Chicago, tells SELF.
But it surely’s not clear whether or not foot baths assist folks due to a placebo impact or if there’s another profit. A well-liked clarification on social media is {that a} scorching soak lessens ache by diverting some blood move to the decrease limbs and away from the pinnacle. However Fred Cohen, MD, an assistant professor of neurology at Icahn Faculty of Drugs at Mount Sinai in New York, tossed some chilly water (heh) on that concept.
It’s an “old-school concept” that dilated vessels trigger migraine, Dr. Cohen tells SELF. Plus, he says, if blood have been pulled out of your head rapidly sufficient to deliver prompt symptom reduction, you would possibly faint. He speculates that immersion would possibly as an alternative have an effect on the nervous system not directly. The warmth might stimulate nerve cells within the periphery of the physique, which in concept would alter the ache alerts reaching the mind throughout a migraine assault.
Though nobody is bound why it really works, there may be some proof that it does. In a single research printed in 2016, 40 folks with persistent migraine tried a particular hydrotherapy routine. The researchers assigned half the group to take customary migraine treatment, whereas the remaining additionally used baths and ice massages.1
The remedy was fairly intense: Individuals submerged each their ft and arms in scorching water for 20 minutes (and included a five-minute ice therapeutic massage of the pinnacle) on daily basis for 45 days. Ultimately, the hydrotherapy group did report a much bigger drop of their headache depth and frequency in contrast with the medication-only group.
It’s completely affordable to offer foot bathing a attempt since it’s so easy and protected, Dr. Ring says. For instance, you would possibly give it a go when you’re ready on your treatment to kick in, she says.
Dr. Cohen has an analogous view: “I might inform a affected person there’s not sufficient proof to validate this, but when it really works for you, that’s cool.”
The right way to do it
As we talked about, foot bathing is unlikely to do you hurt, however be certain the water isn’t too scorching, Dr. Rings notes, as scalded ft will solely add to your distress.