Swimming With Eczema.. All Bad?

Swimming With Eczema.. All Bad?

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Ahh.. Summer.

Well maybe not quite yet (I get excited by the end of winter!) but warmer weather is finally here anyway. And while eczema sufferers may get excited that the cold dry weather has left, warmer weather presents a whole new series of problems.

Not least of these, swimming. Now, I am not saying stay indoors and away from water as swimming in general is not the issue here. Swimming and more importantly sunshine should play a part in any eczema treatment plan, the main problem with swimming is the chlorine and the sunscreen. The terrible two for summer time eczema flare ups.

I will cover sunscreen in another blog post as that is a whole separate kettle of fish.

Chlorine is used in pools and spas for its disinfecting properties and is one of the stronger irritants out there. It is known to irritate healthy skin let alone eczema skin. This I am sure you are aware of if you are sufferer of eczema or you take your kids to swimming lessons. The indoor heated pools are almost always worse as well due to the combination of chlorine with the heat and humidity.

So, what to do about it. The trick is to keep the chlorine away from the skin as best as possible. Easier said than done?

Well, there has been a great new Australian product released recently that you may not have heard about called Jungle Brolly, it works as a natural barrier to stop nasties from getting at the skin. It is worth trying for you or the little one to see how it works for you, applied to affected areas before swimming. You can also apply your moisturiser before swimming as well. Other than that, make sure you rinse off straight after swimming with water and a good natural soap or wash and then apply moisturiser as soon as you can.

You can enjoy swimming with eczema, like all eczema management though, it just takes a little planning and effort. So make sure next time you head to the pool, through in your good natural eczema treatment cream and natural body wash.

Let me know your swimming with eczema stories or tips.

Talk soon