Can Soaking Your Feet in Hot Water Relieve a Migraine?
- On TikTok, people say that soaking your feet in hot water can help relieve migraine symptoms.
- There isn’t much research to support this home remedy, but experts say it could work for some people.
- Soaking your feet in hot water is just one of many potential migraine treatments, and it should be safe to try, experts said.
Migraines often bring intense pain, but TikTokers claim that a simple hot water hack may be able to relieve symptoms.
There are a slew of available migraine treatments and remedies—everything from magnesium to ibuprofen to prescription nasal sprays—but they don’t always work for everyone. As an alternative, people online swear by soaking their feet in hot water.
Other TikTokers have high praise for the hack, too. In a video viewed over 4 million times, Becca Von Bereghy recommended that people with migraine soak their feet in water as hot as they can stand, and wait until their headache goes away.
“Four minutes ago, my eyes were shaking and I couldn’t see straight,” said Andrea Eder, another TikToker who tried the hack. “I am forever grateful to the human beings that have shared this on TikTok, because I think you just changed my life.”
Of course, medical advice shared on TikTok can sometimes be dubious. But experts say there’s a chance that soaking your feet in hot water could actually help mitigate migraine symptoms—there’s just not a wealth of research to back it up.
“It is possible this works for some people,” Amit Sachdev, MD, medical director in the department of neurology at Michigan State University, told Health. "I am always open to hearing from a patient about what works for them.”
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Soaking Your Feet in Hot Water Could Relieve Migraine Symptoms
Different from “regular” headaches, migraines can cause moderate to severe pulsing or throbbing pain that’s usually concentrated on one side of the head. People with a migraine may also experience sensitivity to light and smells, nausea, or vomiting. Symptoms can last for up to 3 days if left untreated.
Because of this, people with migraine need strategies that work to treat or prevent pain.
In some cases, soaking your feet in hot water could be a solution, said Medhat Mikhael, MD, pain management specialist and medical director of the non-operative program at the Spine Health Center at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center.
“I have heard from some of my patients that they do this,” he told Health. “It’s a remedy that some patients say they benefit from.”
Despite the positive anecdotal evidence, there's not a lot of data to confirm whether soaking feet in water is truly beneficial.
One small study from 2016 investigated the remedy—researchers took 40 chronic migraine sufferers and divided them into two groups. Both groups were given conventional migraine medication, but one group also received “hydrotherapy,” meaning those participants put their feet and arms in a hot bath and had an ice massage on their heads for 20 minutes daily.
At the end of the 45-day study, the researchers found that people in the hydrotherapy group had less pain than those in the control group.
The results are promising, but more research needs to be done.
“We should remain open to new ideas,” Kiran Rajneesh, MD, neurologist and pain medicine specialist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told Health. “However, as physicians we need to perform due diligence before endorsing new therapies and treatments, including lifestyle measures.”
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Why Might This Home Remedy Work?
It’s not totally clear why soaking your feet in hot water could reduce migraine pain, but experts have a few hypotheses.
When someone puts their feet in hot water, it may help shuttle blood toward the feet and lower legs, explained Mikhael. Blood moves away from the brain, in turn decreasing the migraine attack, he said. On TikTok, this is a common explanation for the hack.
But there are other possible answers, too.
Nerve signals transmit pain, Rajneesh said, as well as touch, vibration, and temperature.
“By activating these surrounding nerves, we can sometimes reduce the total amount of pain signal reaching the brain and consequently decrease the pain experienced by patients,” he said.
Warm water can also mimic the feeling of being in a hot tub, Mikhael added, which can be relaxing.
“When you have a migraine episode, you’re stressed and anxious,” he said. Soaking your feet can help bring calm and ease some of the pain.
Also, placing your feet in warm water may simply serve as a way to distract from the migraine itself.
“The central nervous system likes distraction during acute pain episodes,” said Mikhael. “It distracts the system and decreases the conduction of the pain signal.”
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One of Many Ways to Address Migraine Pain
The research to support this at-home migraine remedy may not be super robust. But giving the hack a try can’t hurt, said Sachdev.
The only safety concern would be the temperature of the water itself. People should use a thermometer or their finger to see if it’s tolerable ahead of time.
“Don’t put your feet or leg in very hot, boiling water—you can burn them,” said Mikhael.
This trick is just another tool people can use to help relieve their migraine headaches—there are a lot of options available, ranging from home remedies to over-the-counter medications to prescriptions.
The right choice for you is ultimately the one that works. And it’s best to talk to a doctor for guidance, said Mikhael.
And if you use medication, it’s best to take it as soon as you feel a migraine coming on.
“If you take it early enough, you may be able to avoid going through the whole migraine episode and shorten it, instead of making it last hours,” Mikhael said.
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