When you need a quick relief product for neck knots or low back pain, try Epsom Salt lotion. I’ve always recommended a good soak in Epsom salts for achy muscles, but lots of people do not have time or the inclination – or the tub – to enjoy a 20-minute warm bath.

I’ll mention the store and brand here because I haven’t seen it at any other store – CVS carries an Epsom Salt lotion that retails for about $10 a bottle. The bottle should last a good long time. Just dab a dime-size drop on the center of whatever body part is aching. A few minutes later, the magnesium and sulfates should be working into your muscles, relaxing them.

How do Epsom salts work? Let’s just say folks in Epsom, England, figured out somewhere-round-abouts the 13th century that soaking in their local chalky water had very beneficial effects on muscle strains and aches.

Turns out Epsom salts contain magnesium, a muscle relaxer and calcium helper, along with sulfates, which boost oxygen levels in soft tissues.

Interestingly, modern foods lose a good bit of their natural levels of magnesium and sulfates in processing, leading some folks to think our diets lead to creaky, achy muscles. I love a good theory, although I pitch toward the theory we are also simply not designed to sit at computers for hours or drive in traffic, too. Twinkie, anyone?

I tried the lotion on myself and on my toughest test subject – my mother-in-law. She’s 85, she is not getting into any bathtub under any circumstances, and she aches all over. I rubbed some lotion on the zone in her low back, and she felt quite good just a few minutes later. Works for me.