How To: Make Your Own Soothing Bath Soak For Sick Days

I spent half the weekend doing everything I could to not catch what my boyfriend had: sore throat, runny nose, itchy eyes and fatigue and the other half dealing with having caught it. Cold weather, hail, sore throat, a trip to Ikea, it was the perfect storm. Only one good thing comes from being sick (not counting getting to gorge on really bad tv/movies) and that's permission to really luxuriate in a bath and then get directly into bed, no matter the time of day or night. Here's how I make it count:

I like bath stuff for sure, and have an array of powders, soaks and bubbles, but when my nose is clogged and my body is sore, I call in the big guns.

Homemade Bath Soak (For the Sniffles and Aches):
2 Cups of Epsom Salts
4-6 drops of either lavender or eucalyptus essential oils (or both)
at least 15 minutes of soaking in hot, but not too hot water

Many of you already know about how great epsom salts can be (they're not just for old people!), they help soothe sore muscles and calm the nervous system, plus they're really cheap at the drugstore.

So when I'm sick, I crawl into this soak and it helps to soothe my body and clear out my sinuses before I climb into bed. It also gets me nice and warm before I slither into bed and pass out. It was especially nice this weekend with the cold weather since I don't like turning the heat on at night, I got the bed nice and warm right away and stayed cozy all night.

Image from Kelly's Craftsman Comfort.

Comments (8)

Nice paint color. Can anyone ID it?

Add ten to twenty drops of glycerin to your recipe and you gain an extra moisturizing boost.

Thanks for the recipe, Laure, and the glycerin tip, Aldyth. I have fibromyalgia and am also recovering from a wicked sinus infection, so this is right up my alley.

add a few drops of mint essential oil to the eucalyptus and it really helps decongest.

I used to love taking baths but now that we are entering another year of a water shortage and the Soviet of Los Angeles is patrolling water usage, I have had to give up this part of my life until gentler conditions permit.

Toss a couple of chamomile tea bags into your bathwater with the salt and oils, and you've got my anti-cold recipe.

And I'm Canadian so you know it's been well-tested. ;)

I like to make bath teas! 1 1/2 cups of dry milk, 1/2 a cup of epsom salt, 1/8th cup baking soda, 2 tbsp corn starch makes a basic milk bath. Then from there, I add the herbs of my choice, usually 1/2 cup each. My favorite combo is chamomile flowers, lemongrass, and yerba mate. Then I take the mixture and scoop it into organza bags and tie them shut. I stuff each one pretty full, remembering that the epsom salt and milk will dissolve. I bring one quart of water to a boil, remove it from the heat, add the teabag, and cover it. Steep it for 20 minutes, then add it to the bath. :) Luxurious. And you can adjust the recipe or dump extra epsom salt directly into the bath.

LA - baths save way more water than most peoples' showers, so go ahead! Unless you're doing both... But seriously the "Soviet of LA" are 100% correct to be closely controlling water usage - you SoCal Folks DO live in the desert!