As winter arrives, many frail individuals, even after lying in bed for a long time at night, still have cold hands and feet, and it's unlikely their sleep will be good either. For such people, trying Chinese herbal foot soaks before bed can be beneficial.

Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that when yang qi enters the yin aspect, the body enters a state of sleep; when yang qi exits the yin aspect, the body awakens. Therefore, sleep difficulties, early awakening, and other sleep disorders are actually caused by various reasons leading to an imbalance of yin and yang in the body.

Chinese herbal foot baths can stimulate reflex zones and meridians on the feet through the effects of heat, allowing the medicinal properties to be fully absorbed by the body through osmosis, thereby promoting health, well-being, and disease prevention and treatment.

Below are shared four Chinese herbal foot bath recipes, which everyone can use under the guidance of a physician according to their own conditions.

Sleep-inducing and Calming Recipe

Ingredients: Polygonum multiflorum, magnolia bark, costus, safflower, each 10 grams.

Benefits: Soothe the liver, relieve depression, nourish blood, and calm the spirit. Suitable for people prone to irritability, insomnia, and anxiety.

Polygonum multiflorum nourishes blood, calms the spirit, dispels wind, and unblocks collaterals; magnolia bark relieves depression, calms the spirit, promotes blood circulation, and reduces swelling; costus promotes blood circulation, alleviates pain, and regulates qi to relieve depression; safflower promotes blood circulation, regulates menstruation, dispels blood stasis, and alleviates pain.

Warming the meridians and dispelling cold formula

Ingredients: Perilla, mugwort, fennel, devil's claw, and Wujiu each 10 grams.

Benefits: Warming the meridians, dispelling cold, expelling wind and relieving the surface, invigorating blood and stopping pain. Suitable for people with cold aversion, cold hands and feet, stomach and spleen deficiency cold, etc., especially those with yang deficiency and weak constitution.

Perilla expels wind and dispels cold; mugwort dispels cold and stops pain, and relieves dampness and itching; fennel dispels cold and stops pain, and regulates Qi and stomach; devil's claw expels wind and dispels dampness, and relaxes muscles and activates meridians; Wujiu dispels cold and stops pain, and lowers inversion and stops vomiting.

Clearing the liver and draining fire formula

Ingredients: Mulberry leaves, summer cypress, rose, and Huangpi each 10 grams.

Benefits: Clear heat and remove fire, clear liver and bright eyes, promote diuresis. Suitable for people with liver and gallbladder damp-heat, such as dry mouth and bitter taste, dry and itchy eyes, yellow urine.

Mulberry leaves dispel wind-heat and clear liver to brighten eyes; summer cypress clears liver and removes fire, dispels masses and reduces swelling; rose promotes qi to relieve depression, harmonizes blood and alleviates pain; Huangpi clears heat and dries dampness, removes fire and detoxifies.

Kidney-tonifying and menstrual-regulating formula

Ingredients: Leonurus japonicus, Angelica sinensis, Radix Paeoniae Rubra, Achyranthes Bidentata each 10 grams.

Benefits: Warm the meridians, activate blood circulation, tonify the kidneys, and strengthen the tendons. Suitable for people with irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, and sore waist and knees.

Leonurus japonicus activates blood circulation and regulates menstruation, promotes diuresis and reduces swelling; Angelica sinensis nourishes blood, activates blood circulation, regulates menstruation, and alleviates pain; Radix Paeoniae Rubra clears heat, cools blood, disperses blood stasis, and alleviates pain; Achyranthes Bidentata removes blood stasis, promotes menstruation, tonifies the liver and kidneys, and strengthens the tendons and bones.

Specific instructions

Add Chinese medicine (or place in a bag) to water, soak for 15-20 minutes, then boil. When the liquid temperature reaches 37-42°C, you can soak your feet, or add an appropriate amount of cool water to adjust the temperature. When soaking your feet, make sure the liquid covers the ankles. Do once a day, and it is recommended to do it 1 hour before bedtime, lasting for 15-20 minutes.

Precautions

⭐ Avoid excessive temperature, otherwise it may stimulate the local skin or cause excessive sweating, making the nerves more excitable, which is not conducive to falling asleep.

⭐ Pregnant women, those with menstrual cycles, as well as patients with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, lower limb varicose veins, and thrombosis should exercise caution when soaking their feet. Children with delicate skin should appropriately lower the temperature or shorten the foot-soaking time.

⭐ It's ideal to sweat slightly and have the local skin gently turn red during foot bathing. After soaking the feet, pay attention to drying them promptly and keeping warm.