NATURAL HEALTH TRENDS CORP - 10-K filing on 2017-03-10

Stockholders' Equity - Narrative (Details)											1 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
Stockholders' Equity - Narrative (Details)	Oct. 30, 2015 USD ($) shares	Oct. 28, 2015 USD ($)	Aug. 04, 2015 USD ($) shares	Aug. 03, 2015 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2015 USD ($)	May 13, 2015 USD ($) shares	May 07, 2015 USD ($)	May 04, 2015 USD ($)	Jan. 22, 2015 USD ($) shares	Nov. 04, 2014 USD ($) shares	Apr. 30, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 17, 2014 USD ($) shares	Apr. 21, 2013	Apr. 21, 2009	Oct. 19, 2007 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) class $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jan. 12, 2016 USD ($)	Jul. 28, 2015 USD ($)	Aug. 13, 2012 shares	May 04, 2007 $ / shares
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of classes of stock \| class																2
Preferred stock, shares authorized \| shares																5,000,000	5,000,000
Preferred stock, par value (in dollars per share)																$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Common stock, shares authorized \| shares																50,000,000	50,000,000
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)																$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Preferred stock, dividends per share, declared																0.119
Share price																1.70
Preferred stock, voting rights																$ 0.729
Number of securities called by warrants \| shares															3,141,499			88,097
Warrants, exercise price															$ 3.52
Proceeds from exercise of warrants \| $																$ 0	$ 309,000	$ 4,948,000
Authorized amount of shares to be repurchased \| $								$ 5,000,000.0		$ 5,000,000.0									$ 70,000,000.0	$ 15,000,000.0
Treasury stock, purchase price \| $	$ 3,600,000			$ 3,500,000				$ 3,500,000				$ 3,000,000.0
Repurchase of common stock (in shares) \| shares	106,264		162,442			186,519					88,097	359,840				903,031		1,407,855
Repurchase of common stock \| $	$ 5,000,000.0	$ 1,400,000	$ 5,000,000.0		$ 1,500,000	$ 5,000,000.0	$ 1,500,000					$ 4,500,000				$ 23,704,000	$ 16,071,000	$ 4,661,000
Remaining authorized repurchase amount \| $																$ 32,000,000.0
Number of shares authorized to be repurchased \| shares																					100,000
George K. Broady
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Repurchase of common stock (in shares) \| shares									91,817	1,500,000
Repurchase of common stock \| $									$ 1,100,000
Shares repurchased per trading day \| shares									5,000
Seven Year Warrants
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Term of warrant															7 years			7 years
Warrants, exercise price											$ 3.5043
Proceeds from exercise of warrants \| $											$ 309,000							$ 4,900,000
Authorized amount of shares to be repurchased \| $															$ 1,495,952
One Year Warrants
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Term of warrant														1 year	1 year
Five Year Warrants
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Term of warrant													5 years		5 years
Authorized amount of shares to be repurchased \| $															$ 149,595
Minimum
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Warrants, exercise price																		$ 3.5108
Minimum \| Seven Year Warrants
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Warrants, exercise price																		3.5082
Maximum
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Warrants, exercise price																		3.52
Maximum \| Seven Year Warrants
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Warrants, exercise price																		$ 3.52
Series A Preferred Stock
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred stock, shares outstanding \| shares																1,761,900
Share price																						$ 1.70
Series A Preferred Stock \| Minimum
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Share price																						$ 10.00