What do magnesium and sulfate ions do once they cross the skin?
There might well be a therapeutic effect, but we have no information about what it is, how it works, what it works for, how strong the effects are, and so on. The increased levels of these ions shown by Dr. Waring’s experiment are small, about a 10% increase on average. It could be quite different in the tissue fluids — she didn’t measure that. Regardless, it is still completely unclear what effects these ions could have on your tissues when they arrive. There is no doubt that magnesium sulfate has effects on physiology. Several effects are reasonably well known, including a few common medical applications. There are unpleasant effects, too. Judging from the established medical uses of Epsom salt, there is definitely no particular reason so far to believe that having more magnesium or sulfate in your blood is going to be much use to you — unless you have eclampsia or tetanus or autism.15 It’s particularly important to understand that there are many types of muscle and joint pain that h
