Baking Soda & Epsom Salts

Baking soda and Epsom salts are inexpensive and employed as internal and external home health remedies for a variety of everyday ailments. Baking soda is a commonly carried item in supermarkets and Epsom salts are easily found at the drugstore. It’s not unusual for people to use baking soda as a replacement for chemically based cleaning products.

Baking soda offers homemakers a green way to conquer a dirty job without inhaling toxic fumes. The Montgomery County Maryland Solid Waste Department recommends cleaning oven spills by covering the area with baking soda and scrubbing the spill with steel wool when the oven cools. Use baking soda as a cleaner in the bathroom to remove soap scum and mildew. Deodorize your carpet by sprinkling baking soda over the surface and vacuuming 20 minutes later.

Some home remedies recommend the ingestion of baking soda to relieve indigestion, bad breath and urinary tract infections. While some people find taking small recommended dosages of baking soda and water reduces symptoms of certain health conditions, ingesting a large amount of baking soda can be extremely dangerous. According to information provided by the University of Maryland Medical Center, a misconception exists among athletes and coaches that “soda loading,” drinking baking soda, before competitions increases endurance. This is not true and may result in symptoms including convulsions, muscle spasms and vomiting.

Those with sore muscles, splinters and itching caused by bug bites and poison ivy may find relief with an Epsom salt compress or bath. The Epsom Salt Council recommends a solution of two cups of Epsom salt per gallon of water to create a compress that can be applied directly to the affected area. To soak your body or feet, add two cups of Epsom salts to a standard sized bathtub filled with warm water. Soak no longer than 20 minutes.

Use Epsom salt to give yourself a home pedicure or spa treatment. The Epsom Salt Council suggests removing calluses by soaking your feet for at least five minutes in a bucket of warm water mixed with a half a cup of Epsom salt and scrubbing off the dead skin with a file or pumice stone. Give yourself a spa treatment after a hot bath or shower and massage handfuls of Epsom salt over your wet body, and rinse, for an exfoliating effect.

Ingesting Epsom salts as a laxative or tonic may result in a calcium deficiency or an overdose of magnesium, according to information provided by the University of Maryland Medical Center. Kidney patients are more susceptible than the general population. A magnesium overdose results in serious health problems including severely low blood pressure, vomiting, confusion, tachycardia, coma and death.