The principle of foot bath to help sleep
1, when the feet are soaked in hot water, the blood vessels on the feet will expand, making more blood flow to the peripheral blood vessels of the lower limbs, making people more likely to feel sleepy.
2. The human body is rich in peripheral nerves, which are very sensitive to the cold of hands and feet, and the feet are also the parts with the lowest temperature on the body surface. When the feet are cold, the nerves will not relax and it is difficult to fall asleep.
Three types of people should not soak their feet.
First, patients with varicose veins and patients with thrombosis
When the feet are soaked in hot water, the arteries of the lower limbs dilate and more arterial blood enters the lower limbs, but the reflux ability of the veins does not increase. For patients with venous diseases with poor reflux or obstruction, blood stasis will be aggravated.
In addition, soaking feet in hot water can also cause capillary rupture. If patients with venous thrombosis are taking anticoagulants, the bleeding will be more serious. Therefore, patients with varicose veins and thrombosis should not often soak their feet with hot water, which is easy to aggravate their condition.
Second, patients with arterial occlusion of lower limbs
Patients with lower extremity arterial occlusion are prone to lower extremity ischemia. Although hot water soaking feet can dilate blood vessels and increase arterial flow, it is useless for occluded blood vessels.
Soaking feet with hot water may lead to "stealing blood" in patients with arterial occlusion of lower limbs, making lower limb ischemia more serious and aggravating the condition.
Third, patients with diabetic foot
Diabetic foot can be divided into three types: neuropathy, ischemia and mixed type.
Ischemic patients are similar to patients with arterial occlusion, and foot bath is not recommended.
Some neuropathy patients often feel cold hands and feet, so they are keen on soaking their feet, but the problem of neuropathy will lead to the failure of patients' feeling of pain and water temperature. There could be severe burns. I don't know.
Benefits of foot bath
1, western medicine perspective
The foot is farthest from the heart and the blood circulation is poor. Soaking feet with hot water can dilate blood vessels in feet, promote blood circulation, make metabolism more vigorous, and discharge more waste when metabolism is faster.
2. From the perspective of Chinese medicine
Chinese medicine believes that different parts of the sole of the foot correspond to the internal organs of the human body. Soaking feet with hot water has the functions of dredging meridians, harmonizing qi and blood and improving immunity.
Matters needing attention in foot bath
The best temperature of foot bath water is 40 degrees, not more than 50 degrees. If the temperature is too high, there is a danger of scalding, and if the temperature is too low, it will not achieve the purpose of soaking feet. The foot bath time varies from person to person, but it is best not to exceed 25 minutes. If the time is too long, it will easily lead to more blood flowing to the lower limbs and increase the burden on the cardiovascular system. In addition, it is not advisable to soak your feet immediately after a meal, which is not conducive to the digestion and absorption of food.