The term milk bath is self-explanatory – it’s a bath made with milk. Rather than filling an entire bathtub with milk, however, you add milk to warm bath water. Milk baths can be made with either liquid or powdered milk and it doesn’t have to be limited to cow’s milk. Different milks like goat milk, coconut milk, and rice milk offer unique skin-boosting benefits.
1. Being immersed in water above chest level warms the heart and lungs. As the heart beats faster, it pumps more oxygenated blood through your body. The pressure of the water on your chest may help improve lung capacity and oxygen intake.
2. Bathing may help reduce pain and inflammation. Hydrotherapy has been recognized as an effective treatment for painful conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS), shown to gently relieve spinal discomfort with the pressure of the water.
3. Moving and stretching in water is a low-impact way to improve strength and joint flexibility. It provides gentle resistance and helps take some of the weight off your joints.
4. Breathing in the warm steam from a bath can boost respiratory health as well as immunity. A hot bath can help kill bacteria and breathing the steam may relieve symptoms of cold and flu.