The Truth About Mud Baths

People have been bathing in volcanic ash to purify and heal themselves for generations -- but is all that mud doing anything? The air lingered like a dense fog. Pools of water collected on the floor, and exposed pipes hung overhead. The room's single door was battered and worn down. It was the perfect environment for diving into my first volcanic-ash mud bath -- a centuries-old ritual that is said to improve joint and muscle pain and remove excess dirt from the skin. Or, at least, that's what Ca...