The Truth About Detox Foot Pads, According to Experts

Does it get any better than receiving a full body detox while you sleep? That's exactly what detox foot pads claim to offer: the complete purging of toxins, heavy metals, and even parasites from your system simply by wearing the pads overnight. Sound too good be true? While there's no reliable evidence to support these foot pads, you can easily find them online with a mix of positive and negative reviews.

So the question remains: Are detox foot pads just a hoax, or do they actually work? To find out the truth, we reached out to two dermatologists, Joshua Zeichner, MD, and Gervaise Gerstner, MD, as well as Richard Firshein, an expert in integrative and precision-based medicine. Keep reading to find out what these experts have to say about detox foot pads.

What Are Detox Footpads?

Detox foot pads are self-adhesive pouches designed to be placed on the soles of the feet overnight. The theory behind the pads is that when placed on the bottom of the feet, they absorb toxins, heavy metals, metabolic wastes, parasites, and even cellulite from your body as you sleep. By morning, the once white foot pads would appear darkened, which would supposedly signify that the pads had leached toxins from your body overnight. The more you use these pads, the less dark the pads become over time.

Some companies selling the detox foot pads went so far as to claim these pads could treat a host of medical problems, including high blood pressure. They claimed the pads could make your headaches, depression, and insomnia go away, and that they could even help you lose weight.

Do Detox Foot Pads Work?

There are no proven benefits to using detox foot pads. When NMS Labs conducted a study for ABC News analyzing the used pads from a group of eight participants, they found no toxins, heavy metals, or the like. What they did find was that the darkening of the pads was caused by the wetness of feet during the night. When placed in steam, the pad darkened in the same way.

"To my knowledge, there is no scientific data showing that detox foot masks have any true effect on the body," Zeichner explains. "The only detoxifying organs in the body are the liver and the kidneys, which both filter the blood. While the skin does release sweat, it is not truly a detoxifying organ in the same way."

Gerstner adds, "The idea is the foot pads can help detox the body—removing chemicals, toxins, or wastes. There is no scientific data to back this up."

In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission ordered a federal judge to ban the makers of the Kinoki Foot Pads (a specific brand of detox foot pad) from selling a wide variety of products. According to the FTC, the makers "falsely claimed to have scientific proof that the foot pads removed toxic materials from the body."

Who Should Avoid Detox Foot Pads?

If you've accepted the fact that you won't see any detoxifying results from the foot pads and still want to use them, by all means. All three doctors agree that the detox foot pads, although ineffective, are harmless to try. "So long as you do not develop an allergy from applying the foot pads and they do not cause too much damage to your pocketbook, then there is little downside to trying one if you are interested," Zeichner says.

Is Detoxing Necessary?

Detoxing is a term you're no doubt familiar with as it's become quite the buzzword amongst the wellness community. And while it's been marketed as a catchall treatment for just about everything, the truth is that the body has its own natural processes of detoxification. The liver is responsible for filtering and removing excess toxins from the body and excreting them through waste—and a well functioning liver is pretty good at doing just that. If the organ begins to fall short, symptoms such as yellowing or itchy skin, pain or swelling in the stomach or legs, nausea, vomiting, darkened urine, pale stool, or chronic fatigue may present themselves. In this case, it's best to see a medical professional for a diagnosis or advice on how to improve liver function.

What to Try Instead of Detox Foot Pads

"If someone really wants to get to the root cause of an illness or their symptoms, I would recommend looking at their diet, eliminating stress, trying to improve sleep habits, and seeing how they can improve their gut biome," Firshein says. "Fasting is another way to jump-start the detox process." And of course, it is always important to make an appointment with a qualified physician if you are ill or have any symptoms that could point to an illness.

Because there are no proven health benefits to using detox foot pads, the product is merely an overnight foot mask. But even in terms of a foot treatment, Gerstner says there are better options. To help tired, sore feet, she recommends soaking them in Epsom salt soaks or magnesium bath salt soaks, and if you have dry heels, exfoliating with a foot pumice and glycolic cream.

The Final Takeaway

There is no evidence to support the efficacy of detox foot pads for treating medical problems or detoxifying the body. Though they are generally harmless for most, if you are looking to treat any illness or symptoms that could indicate an illness, make an appointment with a qualified physician instead.