Dermatologist told me to pat skin dry with a towel. Even leaving a bit of moisture on is good. Immediately put on moisturizer. Dry air in winter makes for dry skin which exacerbates the problem. Almost never see pts with dry skin in the summer see them frequently in Dec-March for the “winter itch”
The itching skin and the rashes I was getting after every pool swim was driving me nuts. It’s hard enough to drag yourself to the pool to train, but knowing that every time I did, I was going to be itching for three days afterward was pretty debilitating. I scoured the Internet for a remedy, and tried Swimspray, all kinds of lotions before and after swimming, to no avail. Then as a last resort I tried rubbing Vaseline all over my body before I swam. Blam, problem solved. Haven’t had a problem since. I was afraid that my body would be all greasy afterwards, but it’s not. It just feels like I had used a regular moisturizer. I spray a homemade Swimspray on myself after the swim, but only to remove the chlorine smell. I didn’t find it did much to prevent the rashes.
I hope this works for you.
I looked at this post earlier in a search for a solution to terrible itching for a couple of days after swimming. Didn’t have any luck with swim spray but did have good success with something called pre-swim by Diva Products. It’s sort of expensive when you consider that I cover most of my body with it. Have tried Vaseline, but am finding that aquaphor seems to work ok for a barrier. Nothing has completely eliminated the itching but has reduced it substantially.
Some good suggestions above.
I also get irritated and itchy skin from swimming and it is definitely worse in the winter time when humidity is low and my skin is already much more dry at baseline. Some things that help:
- take a quick shower before you get in the pool. Your skin and hair act like a sponge.
- shower immediately afterwards with a mild soap. Try a few kinds and see what works for you. I actually have baby soap/shampoo in my swim bag. Dev mentioned this but use a sponge/washcloth and scrub everything really well.
- moisturizer as needed
As for differences at the same pool or between pools, aside from the specific chemistry maintained, it’s also possible that Chlorate levels fluctuate depending on the amount of waste and pathogens in the water at any given time. Kind of gross, but the more sweat and urine etc the more Chlorate which contributes to the dermatitis. Just a theory. Not sure how often combined chlorine levels are monitored.
I found using soap free body washes (Dove and generic CVS make a good one) helped a lot. Also making sure to not take a super hot shower, and applying a nice mild unscented lotion immediately afterward was super helpful.
Baby oil. Pat dry, leave a bit of moisture on skin, put on baby oil. Really helps me.
That’s a good clarification/distinction. What I use is technically soap-free and instead is a mild cleanser made with surfactants.
Of course, there’s always a possibility - however slight - that the shower water is what’s bothering you, and *not *the chlorinated pool water
.
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
^^^^This.
Spray it on and rub it in for a sec (mostly to get coverage) before you shower. Moisturize post-shower (Trader Joes has reasonably-priced Shea Butter creme…you can also use Lubraderm/Curel/Cerave/etc. of you want something not as heavy).
I buy “handmade soap” from http://petuniafarms.com/
Made from quality ingredients, good for your skin. “Olive oil is our main ingredient,along with Shea butter,Cocoa Butter,Babassu,Avocado,Jojoba & Argan Oil”
Helps keeps my skin healthier than it was… I also like to get in a good workout on my swim days out of the water. I can smell pool chemicals sweating out some times.
I swam with eczema throughout the time I was competing (and it was the reason I quit for rowing when I went to uni, was just fed up of the itching due to the really high level chlorine pools around me). What I found out to work best was to apply a moisturiser (I used Diprobase), about an hour before I went swimming, everywhere except around the eyes. Once I had finished I immediately showered, using a soap substitute, patted rather than rubbed dry and put another layer of cream on. The faster I showered, dried and applied that second layer, the better the skin felt.
Worth noting that it might well be worth having a sacrificial long sleeve top for after you have swum if doing stuff like that as the moisturiser soaks in. Especially important if using creams like diprobase as it is parafin based and if you for some reason stand near an open flame with clothing that has absorbed some you risk becoming the Human Torch.
This is my routine.
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
I’m curious what you were training for at that volume? Sounds like you had a lot of double swim days?
This is my routine.
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
I posted previously on this thread about not quite getting rid of the itching, I believe it’s not letting the chlorine in. I found some academic research on ‘barrier creams’ and it seems the most effective only contain: beeswax, steric acid, mineral oil, glycerin, possibly lanolin or petroleum jelly. So I made my own, added some coconut oil and Shea butter, and so far have no itching. Takes me 10 darn minutes to put it on, and feels like I’m ready for an English Channel swim, but anything is better than the itching.