"So, I think the main thing with small infants is definitely avoiding peak sun hours and enjoying the pool early, and sure the kids have swimming lessons and they're supervised." Those things worry doctors more than the chlorine, she added. Following "the immediate period after birth … everybody's skin more or less develops the same quality and the same protective barriers," Duarte said. "If you don't want to wear the goggles, then maybe some lubricating eye drops afterwards."And for sensitive hair, it can sometimes help to pretreat your hair with oil before getting into the water or to wear a swimming cap, Duarte said.Īnd infants older than a few months need not fear the pool. To ward off eye irritation while swimming, "you can always wear goggles," she said. She also suggested using moisturizers that contain ceramides, which are natural oils in our skin. She specifically recommended using cream or ointment moisturizers rather than lotions. People who spend a lot of time in the pool, such as competitive swimmers or pool-loving kids, could have more of their natural oils stripped off their skin, in which case moisturizing can be very helpful, Duarte said. "And if you do get a little bit of minor irritation, you can certainly shower off right after the pool and apply a good moisturizer to replenish some of those natural oils" that the chlorine may have stripped away.Įven if you don't rinse off, the consequences won't be dire, she said: You may end up with a bit of dry skin, or brittleness in your hair. "If you're in a pool situation, in general, it's safe," Duarte said. In general, swimmers need not worry about chlorine. Inhaling large amounts of the gas is poisonous and could cause what's called a pulmonary edema, or fluid buildup in the lungs, according to the New York State Department of Health.) Recommendations from a dermatologist In World War I, for example, chlorine gas was used as a chemical weapon. (In high concentrations, chlorine gas is known to be very poisonous. But as overeager swimmers may recall, pools are typically closed right after pool keepers chlorinate the water so that some of those vapors can diffuse, she said. "Perhaps it could happen in a freshly chlorinated pool or a super-chlorinated ," she said. Excess chlorine in the pool can sometimes also cause small amounts of vapor to come out of the water, which "can trigger asthma," Duarte said, though she noted that she doesn't think this effect is too common.
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