Swimming with Allergies - Swim Allergy Tips
Swimming is an excellent exercise for people with allergies. If you’re fortunate to live near a beach, you’ll find one of the purest concentrations of air in the 10 to 15 inch layer above the water. The gentle humidity will keep your airways from drying out. Some believe that exposure to chemicals in swimming pools cause an increase in hay fever occurrences in swimmers. It is also believed that this occurs during adult life if the person swam in chlorinated pools
as a child. Below are a few tips on how to minimize the chances of developing allergies while swimming.
Tips:
- Swim in pools with excellent ventilation or
outdoor pools. Indoor pools with poor
ventilation seem to produce more adverse health
effects.
- When breathing out in the water, breathe out
gently through your nose. This will prevent
water from entering through your nose.
Alternatively you can use a nose clip to keep
your nostrils closed as you swim.
- If you are still having respiratory problems
try alternating your strokes. Breaststroke is
good as your nose is nicely angled to not have
water going up it, and instead of taking a
breath every stroke, go for two strokes, then
three strokes etc to improve your breath
control.
- Do not swim in highly chlorinated pools every
day. If you do, you risk building up
trihalomethanes and chlorine or chlorine
byproducts in your body. Swimming intermittently
gives your body a chance to cleanse itself,
minimizing negative health effects.
- If you swim vigorously, you increase your
chances of absorbing trihalomethanes and of
developing respiratory problems. As children
breathe proportionately more air for their size
than adults, they are also at increased risk of
overexposure to chlorine and chlorine byproducts.
It is especially important for vigorous swimmers
and children to take the above precautions.
- You can reduce your overall exposure to
chlorine and chlorine byproducts by keeping your
drinking water in a jug or pitcher. This allows
some of the substances to evaporate. Using
filters on your drinking water tap and your
showerhead can also minimize your exposure. The
National Sanitation Foundation provides
certification for pools, hot tubs, spas and
water-purification systems.
Different Swimming Strokes:
Lesson 1 –
Breaststroke
Lesson 2 –
Freestyle,
Front Crawl Stroke
Lesson 3 –
Back Crawl Stroke
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