How does it work?
The process of action when having tea foot baths is effected by tannins. They dry, compress, and shrink the tissue of the feet. The tannins are also known as astringents. They are a group of elements cause shrinkage and contraction of body tissues and consequently dries up the secretions.
The action of tannins
When you are drinking tea you can feel the effect of tannins as it causes characteristic dry mouth feel. This feeling is also identified when taking wine since it is rich in tannins. When you submerge your feet in tea it reduces sweating since it causes shrinkage of the openings of sweat glands.
How long you should soak your feet?
Depending on how sweaty and smelly your feet are, you need to have the tea foot baths for a bit longer. Each bath should take at least an hour to be effective. A study was done in order to put the remedy to test. A guy was allowed to bathe his feet every day in a bath of black tea.
The first thing to observe was that it did not have much effect. The dry effect when one uses aluminium hydroxide was lacking. Surprisingly, after even sitting in a bath of tea for about 20 minutes, the feeling did not appear. The feet neither become less sweaty nor felt dryer. The study found out that tea baths can help if you have mildly sweaty feet.
However, other studies done on this topics show that tannins can change the surface of your skin and minimise the openings of sweat ducts thus reducing the sweating.
Another study showed that a foot bath in a warm green tea solution for about 20 minutes per day improves the overall skin symptoms of feet infections and treats sweaty and smelly feet significantly.
Is tea bathing the most effective remedy for sweaty feet?
When your feet are extremely sweaty and smelly, you may need to use another strong astringent that is potent. Because it takes time to make some litres of tea and the also bathe the feet in it for like half an hour or more.
Studies further show that the higher the concentration of the tea in the solution the higher the effectiveness and gives better results.
Aluminium chloride is an alternative astringent that is more powerful cure of smelly and sweaty feet. Studies also show that aluminium chloride cures completely the athlete’s foot infection.
Conclusion
If you are suffering from mildly smelly feet or athlete’s feet infection, a regular feet soaking in a tea bath may be potent cure, and a natural method to mend the situation. However, if it does not work effectively talk to your doctor and might prescribe aluminium chloride with other medications.