My Experience with a Grounding Mat

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First the serious stuff.  I am not a doctor.  I am relaying my personal experience with grounding and what it has done for me.  This does not mean you will have the same results.  Do your own research before considering grounding and speak with your doctor before starting any kind of new medical therapy!

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You know that feeling you get when you walk on a sandy beach with your shoes off, barefoot through soft grass or the lapping of water on your feet at the shore?  You just instantly feel better.  That's not just because it's a simple pleasure most of us rarely do for ourselves but it actually has a name...grounding or Earthing.  If it sounds woo woo hippy dippy, it's because the hippies were smarter than the rest of us by embracing it.  

I never really gave it much thought until a few months ago an Instagram friend was talking about the grounding sheets she got.  Her family wasn't sleeping well and a friend of hers was raving about the sheets and what a difference it made for her.  So she gave them a try and found that they did work for them.  Her three boys who notoriously took forever to calm down enough to get to sleep were asleep within 5-10 minutes.  Her and her husband were always restless and those put them both to sleep within minutes.  Given I am a chronic mind racer, I looked into it more because it sounded too good to be true for me.  The sheets I link to are less expensive than the ones she tried and I didn't get sheets because you have to use a special detergent to keep the silver intact and knowing myself, I knew I would consider it too much work for something unproven for me.   (Well, you don't HAVE to use that detergent but you can't use a whitening or essential oil based detergent or you could block the conduction capabilities.)

I didn't want to throw money away so I did some research from trusted sources to see what they said.  This article explains some of the benefits including chronic pain and fatigue (which I was experiencing at the time of purchase in January), anxiety and depression, sleep disorders, inflammation, muscle soreness post workout and cardiovascular disease are all issues that seemed to improve with grounding in small studies.  If you want super science-y stuff, this article of a study is really fascinating.  But if you want the coup de grace evidence of a science article backed with thermal imaging pictures as well as one pic that is a little icky of an 8 month old non healing wound on an elderly woman that western treatments did not help that actually healed within two weeks of a 30 minute grounding session per day, then this is the one you want to read.

I saw that there were grounding mats that work similarly to the sheets but only take up a small amount of space.  I read one review that a woman's husband was diagnosed with cholesterol levels similar to mine, not high but borderline and to the point the doc started talking about meds.  The doctor actually suggested grounding sheets or mats and said to come back in a few months and they would run more tests.  They literally made no other changes than grounding and his cholesterol went from 220 to 170.  I'm not saying that's what would happen for me and I'd already made dietary changes at that point but if it could do more for me on that front, I was down!

 So I asked the Mr if he was in for the experiment and he said yes so I got this two pack.

It comes with a meter to check that your outlet is grounded properly, two mats and the plugs to use (though you just use the center hole of the plug- it's never electrified) and a book about Earthing.  You can use it under your feet or on your chair while you're working, on your bed, laying down on the couch watching the tube, etc.  While I got it for the sleep aspect, I was really hoping the inflammation would be the kicker as I am very susceptible to sodium and on higher calorie days or heavy exercise can leave my legs a puffy mess for up to three days.

I will start out by saying I firmly believed we were throwing our money away.  Any miracle products never work for me so I have zero expectations and thought it was utter BS.  What can I say, I'm a realist?  So I went in as a skeptic for sure.  When they came in we started using them that night.  We both decided using it overnight would be best for us after trying it for an hour in the living room with no effects.  (Some people need to gradually work up.)  It can take up to a month for you to feel the full benefit while others feel the sleep or pain benefit almost instantly.  I didn't feel the sleep benefit for about two weeks and was about to call it a day but the Mr said he slept better and didn't know if it was placebo or not.  I was happy for him and he found it worked better under his sheet because he didn't like the texture of the mat on his bare legs.  I didn't either but I didn't feel anything with it under my sheet, so I slept with it connecting with my bare ankles/feet.  While I didn't stay asleep longer, I went to sleep quicker.  Most times I could be awake for up to an hour after going to bed with a racing mind.  Now, I'm lucky to make it 15 minutes, if that.  I didn't notice any real improvement in muscle soreness because my muscles are tight, hot messes.  But what I did notice from week two on, was a drastic improvement in my leg inflammation.  

Let's say I had a harder night's exercise or restaurant levels of sodium and just before bed my legs were ballooned up and feeling super tight.  In the past, I would've had to take two magnesium pills, slather on Epsom salt gel and hope it was reduced by half in the morning.  If that worked, on good days my legs would feel, for lack of a better term, 'baggy' meaning ALL edema was gone.  (But that only lasted until I got up for the day and sat on my rump and the fluid build up would come back by at least 25-40%.)  With the grounding mat, my edema is drastically reduced on a daily basis.  The real test for me was going to be on vacation.  I purposely prepare our meals like I'm on a cardiac diet because my mom has high blood pressure and I never wanted to be on meds or have the symptoms she had.  That helps keep my sodium side effects at bay physically but one high cal day or a burger and pizza and I would be bloated enough to float down 59th Street for the Macy's parade.  Now imagine eating out pretty much every day and what that does to someone who is sensitive to sodium.  I actually had to find compression sleeves from a sporting goods store when we were in the Outer Banks several years ago because my leg skin felt like it was going to split from the water retention and water pills weren't working.  I was in tears and always take them with us on vacation in case it ever gets that bad.  

When we went on vacation in the Spring, it was going to be the first time I could truly put the grounding mat to the ultimate test.  Lobster rolls, a burger and pizza here and there so way more sodium than I'm used to on a regular basis.  Every single day for 8 days my leg edema was back to my new normal.  Not a single sign of bloat or tightness.  Come day 9, we refer to it as the "turkey timer" popped meaning we could actually feel the weight gain.  While by the time we left day 10, my legs were slightly tighter they were no tighter than a hard exercise night or single high sodium day which was a miracle.  We had an 11-12 hour car ride ahead of us which always wreaks havoc on my legs.  When we got home, I plugged in the mat and collapsed into sleep.  The next morning I woke up with totally 'baggy' legs; not a single inflammation related symptom to my legs like I've had for years!  (Now my legs muscles were a different story but I digress.  It always takes about 3 days of foam rolling and Graston/gua shua scraping to get my leg muscles back into working order after a long road trip.)  After checking with the Mr (who did not bring his on vacation) he said he definitely feels like it helps him stay asleep.  He was tossing and turning much more whereas I was not.

The only downside to this is that you don't want to use it during a thunderstorm.  While it doesn't use electricity, it uses the grounding from the electric plug so you can get shocked if lightning hits your home during a storm.  Some mats/sheets claim they have fail safes for that but this girl ain't trusting it!  I keep an eye on the weather and if it looks to be clear overnight, I'll plug in.  There have been a few times though that distant thunder wakes me up and I'll unplug us.  You don't have to sleep with it on all night to get the effects so if you're not comfortable sleeping with it, just use it during the daytime if you work from home, after dinner or anytime you're awake so you have control over that potential issue.  

Because the mat has worked so well, I have considered getting the sheets as well especially if the cardiovascular benefits are so good.  I admit that I might save that to use during the fall and winter when there is basically zero probability of a thunderstorm just because I'm not risking it.  I've also considered getting a grounding pillowcase for the winter that I saw wondering if it could help where dementia or those with family history is concerned.  While there's no evidence of that yet, a quick search showed a hospital in Taiwan is doing a clinical trial this year regarding that same thing.  There are other grounding products that could be beneficial to your lifestyle like this grounding yoga mat which I have to imagine helps greatly reduce inflammation after a workout when you start your stretch session.

Now, you may be asking "do I really need to spend money to do grounding?"  Nope.  If you're able to commit to 20 minutes a day of being in direct contact with the Earth whether it's walking on the beach, being in water outdoors or having your feet on the grass or in dirt, you can ground.  If you live in colder climates, a grounding mat might be beneficial when it's too cold to put your bare tootsies out there for any amount of time.  I would only suggest if you're going to ground in the grass in the summer that you treat your lawn with a natural tick repellant and/or use a natural tick spray because the ticks are just BAD everywhere.  No one wants to ruin their grounding experience with Lyme disease or a red meat allergy!

Whether you think grounding products are a load of crap or not, you can't deny the positive effect putting your tootsies into nature can bring.  If you're unable to consistently ground outside, these products may be a way to supplement that feeling and do your body good.  Again, see the disclaimer above and talk to your doctor beforehand.  I wouldn't have believed it until I saw it for myself but my legs thank me!

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