Detoxifying Foot Wrap?

April 2, 2007 6:28 PM

Detoxifying Foot Wrap? It's like that patch I guess but that's not it. From memory, a friends' ex mixed up a concoction like a paste wrapped the soles of their feet in it with cotton strips and then saran wrap. The next morning the paste from his was an awful brown but hers was just black. The expression on her face while telling me this has me convinced of it's powers.

Fairly sure it's a TCM thing. The elusive detoxifying foot wrap. No I do not wish to come to your day $pa. I would much rather stay home, sit in a bean bag and marvel at my icky feet thank you. At best somebody will have a recipe and at worst a new goose. I hope it doesn't turn out to be something truely dreadful...

posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har to health & fitness (21 comments total)

There's this or that. The efficacy of both are powered by wishful thinking.
posted by jamaro at 6:41 PM on April 2, 2007

TCM = traditional Chinese medicine.
posted by jamaro at 6:47 PM on April 2, 2007

Google says this or lemon juice..? (Also note that juices are prone to turning brown without actually removing any "toxins" from your feet... the difference in browning can easily be explained if one person's feet are warmer inside the wrap then the other person's.)
posted by anaelith at 6:58 PM on April 2, 2007

At best somebody will have a recipe and at worst a new goose.

You're looking for something like this.

However, I have some land in Florida to sell you...
posted by frogan at 6:58 PM on April 2, 2007

From the first link, at Amazon:

Good For Persons who...... Have body parts swollen, or bruised...hands, feet, arms, legs etc Are short of energy or elderly, get easily fatigued Drink or/and smoke or are weak in immunity from taking medications for a long while. Suffer from pains in parts as arms, legs and shoulders Suffer from shortage of sleep or insomnia Are cold in physical constitution Stand or walk for a long time or engaged in works requiring lots of physical tensions Have to drive or work on the computer for a long time Consume lots of energy, like athletes or homemakers with many household chores

Weak...athletes. Easily fatigued...insomniac. Walk for a long time...work on the computer.

I don't know anybody it isn't good for! Wowza, etc.

But. You want to go soak your feet. Epsom salts mixed with pleasant-smelling oils or herbs will do a better job all around. The 'Queen Helene' Footherapy stuff is nice, and cheap to boot. They will both be nice for your feet.

Allow me to also recommend sleeping with a layer of Vaseline on your feet (with socks on); it doesn't quite confer the benefits you're looking for, but you will, I promise, end up with nice soft feet.

Re. Maybe there's a magic hat you could wear, too.

What, like this? That's just mean. And funny.
posted by kmennie at 7:32 PM on April 2, 2007

previously
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:13 PM on April 2, 2007

Ha ha yes a magic hat the very thing. Oh I just clicked the link... ass. Stop making fun of me. But seriously some of our greatest medical solutions are shamelessly stolen from plants. Hands and feet absorb tremendously, they seem to sweat ok too so... Tourmaline seems to pop up in a few. I know it has dust and dirt attracting qualities though I would think the colour would only be relevant in relation to these qualities.

And yes I had read the previous comments and personally agree that those patches likely are a load of hot cock. Just like all that magnet therapy bs. But I'm familiar with the ear candles, through an intelligent woman in a medical profession who spoke highly of them.

And when it comes down to it if all I need is a placebo that satisfies my logic does it not work all the same?

And quit pickin' on me...unless it is funny.
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 9:10 PM on April 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

Magic hat.
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 9:21 PM on April 2, 2007

And quit pickin' on me...unless it is funny.

I think you're mistaking justifiable skepticism with mockery. No one's making fun of you specifically, they're making fun of the hoaxes that these pseudo-scientific quacks try to pass off as "homeopathic medicine." It's always been popular among charlatans to frame their wonderful discoveries as simply "old science, rediscovered" -- they've been doing it for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. As long as there's fear of the scientific method, they'll be suckers ready to buy whatever the "holistic, old-fashioned, back-to-nature" hucksters are selling.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:23 PM on April 2, 2007

It is funny. Ha ha "load of hot cock".
posted by crabintheocean at 10:52 PM on April 2, 2007

Seconding what Civil_Disobedient said. Do this if it amuses you, but don't expect any health benefits. This reminds me of the people who eat activated charcoal products for a week and are amazed that they shit black (thus clearing the "toxins" from their body). It's pseudoscientific garbage.
posted by chrisamiller at 11:44 PM on April 2, 2007

I work on my feet all day, in construction boots. The steel toe etc. Wool socks. Long hours. Just pounding my feet.

I use a peppermint foot cream, ]ok, The Body Shop[ which I'd bet is the secret ingredient you're looking for. It really wakes up the feet, smells great, feels great...what more can I say¿

I'm rather skeptical of this term, 'detoxifying' feet. WTH does this mean¿ What about the rest of the body. If you eat shit, well, what would you expect. If I pound back a litre of scotch, this foot wrap is going to 'detoxify' me¿

What of the whole body. How about a sauna and eating/living well¿ Gold bond. Bah./ I say placebo. Walk in the ocean, there's a detoxifying thing, free to those near one.

This turning brown thing, yep lemon will, left exposed.

I say Peppermint ]Patty[.

Moroccan kitchens serve fresh hot peppermint tea after a meal. It helps digestion, maybe there's a connection there somewhere. It's right soothing, the operative word.
posted by alicesshoe at 11:53 PM on April 2, 2007

No no, not offended. All afternoon I've been shaking my head thinking magic hat and laughing. Paying out on me was not the purpose of the question. On the other hand funny is funny, anyway.

My fakts (Harvie Krumpet) are assorted and I believe all kinds of things are possible. It was mentioned briefly in one conversation about a year and a half ago. Obviously I found it rather interesting. The impressions I remember are that it wasn't for anything specific just 'toxins' with a spoken definition of cigarette smoke, late nights ect. Not food related.

Unspoken, a deffinite mental aspect, your own and what rubs off from others. Couldn't say if that would manifest as a tar like substance but physical evidence of these types of stresses would surely be present. Pawpaw Ointment draws out splinters. Maybe you can maybe you can't. Maybe I just want to believe it as showers that can never be long or hot enough well, can never satiate me.
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 2:14 AM on April 3, 2007

Generally, when things draw out "toxins" without being able to name how it works, or while having a laundry list of things it is supposed to fix, they are fake. There are plenty of ways to naturally cleanse the system, like eating the proper amount of fiber every day and having a healthy GI tract, but most of what you hear about cleansing is hooey.

And yeah, lemon browns with time and air exposure.
posted by Loto at 5:02 AM on April 3, 2007

I'd take what alicesshoe is offering with a grain of salt too. Peppermint lotion, while a great product, is no more a detoxifier than anything else listed here. The refreshing feeling is simply due to menthol, which is triggering cold receptors in your skin. But hey, at least it does something which is scientifically proveable. :)
posted by artifarce at 5:59 AM on April 3, 2007

There's a poster for something like this that you use as a footsoak on the wall at the health food shop near my grocery store. Grosses me out every time. But if none of these answer your question, and you're interested in knowing what that product is called, let me know, as I need to buy yogurt anyway.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:44 AM on April 3, 2007

Yes I am interested.
I think we need to redirect forget for a moment whether it works or not. What is it most likely to be? Yeah no lemons she would've been able to tell me that. She said she didn't know. I got the impression they weren't everyday ingredients. She looked away slightly embarrassed either she felt dumb for not remembering or it was something she felt was slightly unmentionable. Neutral type odor, maybe slightly unpalatable looking but not terribly revolting. No sensations, weirdness or discomfort. Next morning the paste that was on the soles of her feet was now black and kinda tar like. This really repulsed her and especially as his were brown. He'd done it before though.
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 7:36 AM on April 3, 2007

Powdered elephant foot. Clearly, it would make any mere human's feet far more fit. Someone mentioned TCM, no? This would cause your friend's embarassment. I know I would be embarassed to admit I used some endangered species body parts for questionable medicine.
posted by Goofyy at 5:59 AM on April 4, 2007

I can't even begin to imagine where they may possibly have obtained any of that type of thing. So no. Though I don't believe anybody would be embarrassed. Ashamed, outraged, sickened or perhaps proud and boastful. I suspect Elephant faeces may be another story though.
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 7:34 PM on April 22, 2007

I finally made it to that grocery store. The product they're advertising is called 'Ion Cleanse' and it's a foot bath. The guy in the store indicated that Google would pull up all kinds of info about it.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:59 AM on April 29, 2007

Livers detoxify. Feet sweat.
posted by meehawl at 5:59 AM on August 12, 2007