Swimming, Skin and Pool Chemicals Part 3

Swimming, Skin and Pool Chemicals

Last time in Swimming, Skin and Pool Chemicals, I talked using wetsuits to overcome dry and itchy skin from the pool

Photo by Dave Herring on Unsplash

Well, there are some other things you can try:

• Moisturizing Lotion

  Personally, the most effective use of moisturizing Lotion is to use it both before you put on your wet suit and after you shower immediately after you have finished in the pool and taken your wetsuit off. Something that worked for me for a while is washing with moisturizing body lotion/shower gel. Stay away from soaps (there are soap-free products) and don't use the perfumed kind, as that only exacerbates the problem: at least for me.




• Anti-chlorine soaps

  If you don't mind the unique odour of these soaps it's not unpleasant, then these soaps my be just what you are looking for. They certainly kill the chlorine smell on your body and they did seem to work to some degree on me. In the end, for me, they were just another chemical I was putting on my body so I went back to the body lotion. Now I'm not talking about chlorine removal shampoo because that works great but does little for your skin.




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• Pre-swim lotion

  I put it on before I put on my wetsuit and so far I have not needed to put on anything else after I shower. There is some warming of the skin when I first put this on which can be a little uncomfortable and sometimes a little dryness still after I come out of the water but it soon passes and there is no residual smell. It is early days yet but I must say thus far I am very impressed.



• After Swim Spray

  Another product that I have used means you only have spay in the shower after you have finished swimming. This stuff completely kills any chlorine smell and it means that I can use my choice of shampoo and soap after I have sprayed. If your not into rubbing something into your skin either before or after swimming this is the product.

I would think that you would still want to use moisturizing lotion after the swim; after all, you want to put back what the pool has taken out whilst you were swimming. But that is the other advantage you get to chose your own lotion. You are not restricted in your choice of formula, a brand of perfume. As with the pre-swim lotion, there is sometimes a little dryness still after I come out of the water but it soon passes and there is no residual smell. Again it is early days yet but I must say thus far I am very impressed.

There is no complete solution for someone like me who has spent cumulatively several thousand hours in the pool. But any one of the above or a combination may be just what you need.

Enjoy
   Richard