All the Benefits of Bathing in Salt: Thalassotherapy Explained

“The sea is health,” was my mother’s favorite word every summer of my childhood. She used it to encourage me to swim and float in the sea, especially during my teenage years when all I wanted to do was sulk under an umbrella on the beach with my Walkman and magazines. It was her mantra, her infinite belief: “The sea is health,” she repeated.

Of course, I now know that my mother was right. Although her eternal belief in the healing powers of the sea was based on generational wisdom, there is now an entire therapeutic philosophy based on the ancient belief. It is the basis for treatments in coastal spas and even has a special name: thalassotherapy, which comes from the ancient Greek word thalassameaning both ‘ocean’ and ‘primordial goddess of the sea’.

The Marabella Club Hotel in Málaga, Spain, is a wellness resort that embraces this philosophy, with a full program of seawater-inspired rituals at their spa, Thalasso. “The nature of our bodies reflects our marine origins,” the team explains. “Chemical analysis confirms that the same salts – potassium, calcium, magnesium – are found in equal proportions in seawater and human blood plasma.”

But not all seawater therapy is created equal – as with many age-old traditions, there are secrets to reaping the maximum benefits of salt bathing. Below, an inside look at thalassotherapy and the best ways to apply the timeless wisdom of ‘the sea is health’ into your daily routine.

The magic of magnesium

Magnesium has been a hot wellness topic lately – and not just because many of us aren’t getting adequate amounts of the all-important mineral. Magnesium has been shown to affect approximately 80% of our body metabolic functionshelps regulate everything from sleep to blood sugar to mood.

But magnesium doesn’t just have to be consumed to reap its benefits; magnesium can also be absorbed directly through the skin. This is where thalassotherapy comes into the picture. If magnesium is absorbed transdermally– and specifically, through our hair follicles– it can quickly relax our nervous system, improve our mood and soothe the skin.

“Magnesium can help protect the skin barrier and provide antioxidant benefits that protect the skin from free radicals,” say the pharmacists at Marta Masi to explain. “It also helps with muscle and joint pain, promotes muscle relaxation and improves rest. Salt baths have been used for hundreds of years to treat skin pathologies.”

The benefits of bathing in salt

For optimal absorption, it is best that the water is at a specific temperature. “For osmotic absorption to occur and the minerals present in the marine environment to penetrate the skin, a water temperature between 95 and 98 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. This is the same as body temperature, so the process occurs naturally,” explains the Thalasso team.