What Is An Ionic Detox Footbath?

An ionic detox footbath involves the immersion of your feet into a tub of warm water into which an ion generator emits positive and negative ions. The ion flow is intended to extract toxins from the body. You should consult a physician before using a ionic detox foot bath.

Significance

A typical ionic detox footbath last from about 20 minutes to an hour. You are required to soak your feet into a footbath filled with warm water. Attached to the footbath is the ionic equipment, which passes a small, unnoticeable current through the water. You simply sit there and relax while the footbath does its work.

Function

The premise underlying the ionic detox footbath is that the ions will flow through the body and attach themselves to negative particles, such as toxins, within the body and draw them out into the water. Healthy New Age explains that if the water changes color from clear to yellow or green, this is supposed to indicate that your liver, kidneys and bladder are undergoing detox. If the water turns orange, the toxins are being eliminated from your joints and it will become deeper in color as more toxins are removed.

Features

According to Healthy New Age ionic detox footbaths claim to help relieve swelling of the feet and legs due to edema, remove toxins such as heavy metals from the body, as well as relieve symptoms of osteoarthritis, gout, acne and dark circles beneath the eyes.

Misconceptions

According to Dr. Stephen Barrett, M.D., this form of therapy, also known as aqua detox, is a scam. Barrett explains that aqua therapy's claims are completely unfounded because many of the conditions that are listed are not related to toxins in the body. Also, positive and negative ions are unable to enter the body to withdraw toxins. Furthermore, the skin is not able to excrete toxins.

Considerations

Detoxification takes place in the liver. Toxins in the liver are broken down and modified so that they can be filtered by the kidneys from the blood and into the urine. They are then eliminated from the body through the urine.