See Also Protect your Family from Chlorine in Bath & Shower Water Proper Chlorine Levels for A Healthy Pool Chlorine Alternatives for Pool Sanitation Water Disinfection Methods What are the hazards associated with the use of chlorinate lime?

Swimming and Chlorine: How to protect your
skin, hair, and health

Water is one of the most important things for our bodies. In it's most natural and purest form that is. With that in mind, one could think that swimming -- immersing oneself in a pool of water-- is a healthy thing. The health benefits of swimming are wonderful. However, the very things put in water to protect us from infection are responsible for some adverse effects on our skin, hair and even teeth. The primary enemy? Chlorine, a gaseous greenish-yellow element used for its disinfecting power. There are ways to combat this, as explained below.

One of the most common and obvious problems affect blondes. Blonde hair is known to turn green because of the exposure to copper (pipes) and chlorine. Skin problems can also occur in frequent swimmers. If you think about it, skin is the largest organ in the body. While technically water-proof, the skin can absorb contaminants from water. Although long term exposure to chlorine may cause cancer and other ailments, problems to skin and hair are usually not life-threatening. Irritation can occur on the skin and scalp, making for a dry, itchy body and head. Additionally, the Pacific Center for Health says that chlorine can also destroy much-needed proteins in our bodies. Depleted of protein, skin and hair can become very dry. Hair can become unmanageable and color-treated hair can be ruined.

Thankfully there are several ways to protect ourselves from chlorine. Wetting the hair with non-chlorinated water prior to swimming will lessen the amount of the element that can be absorbed. Also, there are several types of shampoo on the market, such as UltraSwim, and pre-swim conditioning treatments that can help keep hair healthy when swimming. Finally, although not the most attractive accessory, bathing caps are well-suited from totally protecting hair- and as noted above- can help protect blondes from turning green. For those with long hair, caps can also help hair from dragging along during laps! Post-swim, keeping up with hair can include shampooing, not using the high setting on the blow dryer and using a wide-tooth comb instead of a brush.

While swimming in a chlorinated pool can heighten the chances of these affects, even the light amounts of chlorine in your daily showers can harm your skin and hair. Therefore you should consider installing either a shower filter or whole house filter to remove this and other chemicals from your daily bathing routinue.

Chlorine isn't the only pool culprit. Water itself (ironically) removes moisture from the skin. There is a layer of oil present on all of our bodies, but once immersed in water, it disappears. This allows for the dryness to set in. To combat this, after showering (following the swim), apply a moisturizer- either a lotion or cream.

And a final tip about swimming and chlorine- don't swallow the water! That is a whole other subject and the health effects of that can be much more serious!

Read Next: Protect your Family from Chlorine in Bath & Shower Water

More related topics: Proper Chlorine Levels for A Healthy Pool Chlorine Alternatives for Pool Sanitation What are the hazards associated with chlorinate lime? Water Disinfection Methods