Anyone has tips to minimize skin problems after swimming in a chlorinated pool? I feel like I’ve approached a point where continuing swimming there is detrimental to both health and results, and while I’m waiting for the better pool to open, wonder if folks have success battling this.
I had pretty bad neurodermatitis as a kid, but grew out of it for the most part, and was able to swim 3-5hrs a week in local pools without particular issues for a few years. It’s always worse this time a year, and it’s likely my pool is doing something different as far as its chemical content, but it’s pretty bad: losing sleep, skin looks terrible. I know it’s the pool because skin gets much better after 2 days of not going there… Saltwater pools are much better, it’s just hard logistically.
Unfortunately I don’t have any tips but can probably guarantee that it’s not “your pool doing something different.” I run two pools and we pretty much NEVER deviate from our typical water chemistry. You may be experiencing this as it’s a colder/dryer time of year and after living int hat for several months, the pool water is exacerbating the issue. While it doesn’t happen as bad other times of the year.
Short of being sure to rinse thoroughly immediately after swimming, and again later after you have fully “dried off” from the pool water, followed by appropriate moisturizing, I don’t know that you’ll see much relief.
Thank you, Bryan. The pool I’m talking about is my only option on weekdays, but when I go to other pools on weekends, it seems to make a difference. I’ve reached out to the Aquatics Director to see if they might know what the story is.
I’m just wondering if there’s folks out there dealing with bad skin that might have some tricks (like I’m hearing you can apply coconut oil to problematic spots before swimming - wonder if this ends up washing off into the pool for everyone to swim in…)
I used to have dry skin problems in the winter especially, mostly on my sides and abdomen.
The past 2 years I haven’t. I’m not sure if they’ve adjusted conditions at my pool (same pool). But one thing I have changed is that I do a dry sauna after every swim now, and stay for 10-15 minutes so that I am sweating a lot - lots of sweat beading up, running down and dripping off, then go take a shower. I haven’t change shower soap/shampoo. I don’t know if sweating helps get rid of the chlorine/poolwater residue or not. Just an observation.
Not sure if this would help but I swim in a salt water pool. After my swims I usually go sit in the steam room for 10 minuets. I feel like I sweat out some of the pool smell. Then I shower off. In the evenings I make sure to lather up in some good lotion.
After swimming soap up my bathing suit and spend 5 min in the shower scrubbing down every part of my body literally "sanding it down"After shower, full body lotion and face creamIf I have time before the shower, 5 min sauna to sweat out the chlorineIf I have time after the shower, 5-10 min jog on gym treadmill to further squeeze out residual chlorine
Last year, I had a mega swim year…100K per month, all year, so ~25-35 sessions per month…no problems (I think I did 350 sessions in the pool last year0. The key is to get the chlorine out
Yes, just got back from swimming in saltwater pool, and it feels great, no problems at all. Can’t do this every time unfortunately, but it’s definitely night and day difference.
I used to have this problem and almost gave up swimming entirely.
Pools vary tremendously. This is in part due to having different recommended levels for contaminants, PH, and disinfectants including chlorine. It’s also due to reaction products between chlorine and sweat, urine, faeces and other contaminants.
I would, as much as possible, try to swim in the early morning over any other time of the day. The water has the lowest levels of contaminants and has cleaned out overnight, and the operators have usually not dumped a huge load of chemicals in to counteract the accumulated human detriment.
Saltwater pools and outdoor pools (solar radiation decreases chlorine need) are also better than indoor freshwater.
Unfortunately I don’t have any tips but can probably guarantee that it’s not “your pool doing something different.” I run two pools and we pretty much NEVER deviate from our typical water chemistry. You may be experiencing this as it’s a colder/dryer time of year and after living int hat for several months, the pool water is exacerbating the issue. While it doesn’t happen as bad other times of the year.
Short of being sure to rinse thoroughly immediately after swimming, and again later after you have fully “dried off” from the pool water, followed by appropriate moisturizing, I don’t know that you’ll see much relief.
Best of luck to you.
I’d suggest that the pool is the likely culprit. While you may not change your pool chemistry regime, changing people that take care of the pool chemistry can certainly have that result.
The OP seems to have narrowed it down to a change in pool chemistry that is affecting them, and I think they are probably right. I think their first reaction, to query the pool operator is perfect (as long as it was a query, not an accusation so to speak). On the assumption that the pool has remained constant, then that suggests the change is with the OP. They say they grew out of the condition as a kid so maybe they’ve grown back into reacting to whatever is in the pool. Since they are pretty much stuck with the one pool, then finding a treatment after the swim seems to be what’s needed.
I concur that rinsing and washing well is the first step (rinsing at poolside right away if that’s an option) then a really good wash with a suitable soap or soap product (I know that some soaps bother me and some don’t, so work through what’s best). Then, when dry, moisturizing or using a commercial product specifically for use after swimming could help, hopefully help enough to allow them to continue training.
I never had any problems in pools until one 2 week period when I was away for 2 weeks and swam in another pool.
By the end of those 2 weeks I was rash all over and it was painful just to sweat in a shirt.
When home the symptoms lessened but never went away and sometimes would come back with a vengeance.
I struggled with this for about 3 years until a new indoor salted pool opened up 60km away and I found I could swim in that and symptoms just disappeared.
Now to cut a long story short, it turned out to be allergy to washing powder.
When away the first two weeks I had used the powder at the place I was staying to wash.
This triggered the allergy.
Now after I know I use a sensitive skin laundry liquid and have zero problems, although I can sometimes feel itchy if I sleep in somebody else’s freshly cleaned sheets for more than a night or 2.
Took a lot of doctors appointments, pool chemistry sleuthing and blind luck to find the cause.
Then much later discovered that my mum had washed our clothes in Softly Woolwash all our lives because she experienced the same thing.
Got laundry stuff in bulk and still using the same thing as last year, so not likely. But good to know, I didn’t even think about it. I’ve been changing sheets and trying to wear trusty tech shirts that aren’t really appropriate for work, but seem to be less irritating…
I have a strange condition I’ve never had diagnosed, but I have found the source and the solution. Interestingly, my adult daughter gets it, but my adult son doesn’t. At one point we thought we’d narrowed it down to laundry powder but it wasn’t.
After thinking I got it figured, I’ve paid close attention and confirmed it over and over.
I react to my own sweat!
I’ve narrowed it down further than that. If I perspire, as in get slightly damp, say walking around town on a warm humid day, then the dampness dries, I’m all good. However, if I sweat again, it seems to make the sweat reactivate. While I’m sweating or damp, there’s no problem, it’s when I dry out after the second sweat/perspiration episode, that I itch like crazy! At it’s worst it’s like bugs crawling under my skin. It makes me insane!
If I perspire, then dry out, then have a shower, I’ll dry off and start itching like crazy. If say on a Saturday I’m out and about running errands, and mildly damp, but don’t shower that evening, the next day I might cut the lawns, dry off THEN have a shower. After the shower I will be an itchy disaster.
Most of the time I cycle commute to work and exercise during the day. Most days I shower 2-3 times, and I’m fine. If I don’t shower, then I just wait for the itches next time.
The combination of dry air and swimming a lot in the winter leaves me kind of itchy. I find that Ivory soap is about as good as anything to get the chlorine out. I use a little bit of baby oil on the trouble spots. Some people also swear by the steam room to sweat it out after a swim.
“My suggestions to you, which I also tell my staff who sometimes spends up to 3+ hrs in our waters when they teach, is that they have to take a 5min lukewarm to hot showers before they start, with no soap, to get their poars covered. The water on their skin with no chemicals will act as a buffer in their pours and will reduce the “itch” and then after lessons, again, they have to take a 5-10min shower and use mild soap, not AXE or Purfumy soaps but something moisturizing like Dove or anti-chlorine soaps.”
You can try to spray yourself with vitamin c diluted in water after the swim before you shower.
The vitamin c breaks down the chlorine. Its very cheap and easy to make the solution, google it
Found https://www.swimspray.com, looks like they recommend to apply it after swimming. I guess I can give this a go, thanks!
I did not spend money on any of these products. You can get vitamin c very easily in crystal form and just dissolve it in water.
I did the calculation when I was using it and it was like a thousand time cheaper or something.
Not that these products are so expensive, its just annoying to pay $10 for something that costs a cent to make