DETOX FOOT PADS

Detox foot pads are small pads or wraps that are applied to your feet, with the purpose of stimulating your feet into expelling toxins. Foot pads come in a variety of shapes and sizes but are generally the size of your hand or smaller. Some are wrapped around your feet, others are smaller and held onto the bottom of your feet by an adhesive, and most use the same method: apply them to your feet when you go to bed, take them off in the morning, and use them only once.

As with other foot detox methods, the purpose of the detox foot pads is to draw toxins out of your body through your feet; the methodology is a little different from the foot bath though, since there is no hot water involved. The foot pads use a variety of herbs and/or chemicals to provoke your feet into 'shedding' toxins. It works kind of in a reverse way to the nicotine patch and other patches which slowly release substances INTO your skin. Foot pads contain substances which stimulate the skin to expel toxins as a reaction. Kind of like when you touch your tongue to a chocolate or other food you love, you start salivating, expelling saliva. The warm water in foot baths opens the pores and the herbs or chemicals instigate your body into moving the toxins outward, and in the case of foot pads the herbs, chemicals and other substances built into the pads perform the same action.

Detox foot pads are becoming quite a fad, and as with most 'hot' products, both the good and the bad appear. Since the entire premise behind foot pads is in how well their active ingredients 'suck' the toxins from your feet, the more reputable makers will be using proven substances and the disreputable makers will be using cheap substances. If you buy those made by a large company and they cost a little more, chances are better they'll be doing more for you. As anywhere, you get what you pay for... usually. Cheap detox foot pads might feel just as nice on your feet, and you'll still sweat into them so it might look like something's happening, but remember that it all boils down to how well those pads draw toxins through your feet, and exactly what kinds of toxins those pads are designed to draw out. You'll find the most competition is among the Japanese makers, who generally claim the whole premise of foot detox originated there, and they have quite a marketing battle going on for their foot pads. You will find them touting exotic high-grade vinegars, since vinegars are commonly the chief ingredient of foot pads. You'll see names like bamboo vinegar, wood vinegar, bamboo oil, eucalyptus, and other more common additives to the foot pad ingredients are more mundane things like cornstarch and plaster which aid in absorbing fluids. Many also use tourmaline for it's negative-ion properties in drawing out toxins.
     Below: Three examples of detox foot pads available, and the foot pads applied to the feet with an adhesive wrap.

There is currently much talk, even controversy, about exactly 'how beneficial' detox foot pads are. Many say it's a scam, others swear by the results, and medical studies vary. I think it's safe to take the middle path: ANY (safe) process that draws even a little of the toxins from your body is a good thing and will help your health to some degree, but at the same time it won't be a cure-all for all your health problems. But detox foot pads are affordable, much moreso than many detox methods... so I say, if you only pay a little, and it does you some good, that's a great start.