Tips For The Hot Weather Months
Enjoy the Sunshine
Some people see improvements in their psoriasis during summer because there is more natural ultraviolet light . Make sure to put sunscreen on all your exposed skin, including your psoriasis plaques, to prevent sunburn, which may make your psoriasis worse. Talk to your dermatologist about sunscreen recommendations for your psoriasis. Look for sunscreen that:
- Has âbroad spectrumâ on the label, indicating that it protects against UVA and UVB rays
- Has 30 or greater SPF
- Is made for sensitive skin and is fragrance-free
Go Swimming
Swimming in salt water can help remove dead skin and improve the look of psoriasis. However, salt water and chlorinated water can still dry out skin. Remember to rinse off and moisturize after swimming.
Wear Breathable Clothing
Clothes made of breathable fabric, like cotton, are best during the warm months, as are a hat and sunglasses. Consider wearing long sleeves and pants to protect your skin from the sun and wearing light colors, which absorb less heat.
Stay Cool
Heat and sweat can trigger psoriatic flares, so try to stay cool with a fan or air conditioning. However, air conditioning can also dry out your skin. Make sure to use moisturizer frequently when you are often in air-conditioned rooms or cars.
Be Prepared
Stress Free Swimming With Psoriasis
While swimming during the summer may seem like a go-to activity for many during the warm summer months, for those of us with psoriasis, it is a bit more complicated than that. While we would love to enjoy a nice dip in the pool or day at the beach, many of us worry what the consequences of these fun summer activities may be for our psoriatic skin. I am here to tell you that there are steps you can take to make sure you avoid a dreaded flare up during the summer months and how being outside and in the water may even help your psoriasis!
As we have talked about in previous blogs, engaging in anti-inflammatory activities and eating anti-inflammatory foods are best practices to help keep psoriasis flares at bay. That is why during the summertime, most of us who suffer from psoriasis feel some relief because the sun actually provides anti-inflammatory sunlight and vitamin D. While the sun is beneficial for our psoriatic skin, too much of it can have the opposite effect and this is why we highly recommend you use sunscreen before going outside and reapply when necessary. Additionally, many still worry about the effects that swimming may have on their sensitive psoriatic skin. A major factor that goes into swimming with psoriasis is the type of water you will be swimming in.
Salt water, on the other hand, can actually be beneficial to your psoriatic skin!
What You Need To Know About Skin
Skin is a protective barrier and it is important to maintain its integrity. This is especially as chlorine is present in most swimming pools and is an anti-infective agent that tends to dry the skin.
A good long shower after swimming will minimise this effect by reducing the binding of substances to the surface of the skin. Its also a good idea to apply a moisturising skin lotion afterwards.
Its advisable to keep well hydrated with fluids when training to keep the skin in optimal condition as dehydration makes it more susceptible to damage and infection.
When swimming in warm climates, it is important to avoid sunburn by minimising exposure to sunlight as much as possible. You should also regularly apply high factor water proof sun cream when training outdoors in bright sunlight. Sunburn damages the skin, causing it to blister and get infected, so prevention is definitely better than cure where sunburn might occur.
However, some sun creams can be harmful to open water environments so it is worth looking into environmentally friendly products.
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Can Swimming Cause Vertigo The Answer Will Surprise You
Do you love swimming but worry you may feel sick afterward? Swimming is a fun activity until you get dizzy and feel a false spinning sensation. Dizziness and vertigo often hit swimmers when they use specific swimming strokes or right after being in the pool. Fortunately, they are typically mild and brief, and not a cause for concern.
If water gets in your ear, you may likely experience dizziness and vertigo while swimming. Believe it or not, this is a common occurrence in people, which is why doctors have coined the term swimmers ear to pertain to any inflammation, infection, or pain in the ear due to water trapped in the ear canal.
But swimming isnt the only activity that can cause swimmers ear. It can happen due to many things, even from showering or another pastime that can infect the outer ear canal.
Get Your Heart Pumping
Most adults, with or without psoriasis, need at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least five times a week to stay healthy, Warner says. Cardiovascular exercises the kind that get your heart pumping are a great foundation for your psoriasis fitness routine. Regular exercise, combined with a balanced, low-fat diet, will help you maintain a healthy weight, which could keep your flare-ups to a minimum.
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Sanitizing Needs: Contaminants In Your Pool Water
Available in tablet, liquid, and powder forms, chlorine is widely used in backyard and public swimming pools.
It plays two key roles: It serves as a sanitizer to kill most unwanted microbes and as an oxidizer to combine with and remove organic matter. It inhibits algae growth as well.
Organic matter ranges from falling leaves to body wastes such as sweat, oils, and yesurine and fecal matter. Left unchecked, they can pose threats. They may be loaded with contaminants like germs, bacteria, viruses, and other unwanted microbes that cause water-borne illnesses and infections.
They must be destroyed. Thats where chlorine saves the day. The chemical effectively annihilates most forms of disease-causing microorganisms and maintains swim-ready pool water.
Limit Your Time In The Sun
Sunlight is good at clearing up psoriasis scales. Its UVB rays slow overcharged skin cells from multiplying too much.
The catch is, you need to expose your skin slowly for the max effect. Lying out for 15 minutes once a day over a few weeks might lead to some clearing. Sunbathing for hours at a stretch can have the opposite effect.
Whenever you get a sunburn, the lobster-like redness you see is skin damage. Sunburns and other skin injuries irritate your skin, which could trigger new psoriasis flare-ups.
If you plan to spend a day at the beach, sunscreen and sun-protective clothes are beach bag essentials. Pick a water-resistant, broad-spectrum sunblock with a high sun protection factor .
Use the Fitzpatrick scale as a guide to which SPF to use, and how long to stay out in the sun. If your skin type is 1 or 2, youre more likely to burn. Youll want to use a 30 SPF or higher sunscreen and sit in the shade most of the time.
Dont be stingy with the screen. Smear a thick layer on all exposed skin 15 minutes before you head out. Reapply it every 2 hours, or whenever you take a dip in the ocean or pool.
Sunscreen is just one element of good sun protection. Also wear a wide-brimmed hat, UV-protective clothes, and sunglasses as extra shields against the sun.
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Wait It’s Good For Your Skin
Dr Martin says there are different effects of saltwater on the skin.
“It can help with things like psoriasis and eczema, and even simple cuts and abrasions,” she says.
Unlike a pool, river, or lake, the ocean has higher amounts of minerals, and this mineral-rich water can help treat autoimmune skin conditions like psoriasis.
Despite These Positives Benefits Of Swimming There Are A Lot Of Legitimate Concerns And Realities About Taking A Child With Eczema Swimming:
- Pool: Is Chlorinated Water Good for Eczema?
Swimming in a chlorinated pool can help irritated skin because the chlorine will kill the bacteria that develops an infection. Too much chlorine in a pool can make the skin dry, red, and aggravated though. The National Eczema Society of the UK advises parents to avoid taking children with eczema swimming if their eczema skin rash is flaring badly and already red, flaky, oozing and infected. And if in doubt about whether to allow a child with eczema to swim in a pool, try to find out how much and when was chlorine last added at the pool.
- Beach: Is Salt-Water Good for Eczema?
Saltwater can be soothing and beneficial to eczema rashes because of the natural antiseptic properties that can help reduce the risk of infection and help open and weeping eczema sores heal. Saltwater also has many natural minerals that can act as an anti-inflammatory to relieve itching and help skin moisturize. But for some infants and children with exceptionally sensitive eczema skin saltwater can also sting if there are weeping and broken skin lesions on the eczema skin.
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The Purpose Of Chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical widely used in personal and public swimming pools. Available in the form of tablets, liquid, and powder, chlorine is widely available and serves its primary purpose well.
The chemical sanitizes water in two key ways. It clarifies the water and kills the majority of the unwanted microbes that may be present in the water. And it oxidizes the pool to attach to and eliminate organic matter in the water. Chlorine also effectively inhibits the growth of algae.
This organic matter can include anything from fallen leaves to bodily wastes, including sweat, oil, and even urine or feces. If untreated, the water in a pool collects this matter and can cause significant issues. Organic material often carries germs, bacteria, and viruses that can cause water-borne infection and illness.
Chlorine effectively eliminates those contaminants. It attacks the disease-causing microorganisms that may be hanging out in the water and prepares a pool for swimming. However, that is not all the chemical does.
The Best Way To Limit Chlorine Irritation
While avoiding chlorinated pools and hot tubs is the easiest preventative measure in theory, it may not be quite as easy in practice if you generally rely on a traditionally chlorinated facility. If thats the case, there are still a number of things you can do to limit chlorine irritation, including:
- Applying vitamin C to your skin after exposure to chlorinated water to neutralize chlorine and chloramines on the skin.
- Showering immediately after swimming to remove any chlorine residue.
- Moisturizing your skin after you rinse to prevent irritation.
- Monitoring chemical balance regularly and adjusting pool chemicals as needed to reduce chloramines and other irritants.
If you own a private pool or hot tub, there are alternative pool chemicals. These include bromine, ionizers, and ozonators. They still require chlorine, but much less. Another alternative is PHMB, which does not require any chlorine. However, these solutions tend to cost more than chlorine. But your health may be worth it. Consult with a pool and spa professional for your best option.
While chlorine is an effective sanitizing solution, it is not without its downfalls. If at all possible, it is advisable to avoid chlorine however, at the very least, you should be aware of the risks and do your best to limit irritation if exposed. If you ever have a question about medical skin care, be sure to talk to a board-certified dermatologist.
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Wear Sunscreen When Swimming Outdoors
Wearing sunscreen is important to help prevent photoaging, sunburns, and cancers of the skin. When you have psoriasis, sunscreen can also help prevent lesions from worsening.
Make sure you wear a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 30. Apply it 15 minutes before heading outside. Put on a little bit extra around your skin lesions. When swimming, youll want to reapply your sunscreen every hour, or each time you dry your skin with a towel.
Is It Okay To Swim With Psoriasis
Taking a dip can be a whole lot more complicated when you have psoriasis. Anxiety, feeling self-conscious about your skin and worried about the reactions of others may be enough to deter you from donning your cozzie and having a splash.
Swimming in the ocean is really good for your psoriasis! It provides relief from symptoms such as itching, flaking and redness, while soothing inflammation. The salt in the ocean cleanses and sloughs off layers of dead skin. Full of magnesium, a natural anti-inflammatory, the ocean is great for flare-up relief. In fact, people with skin conditions such as psoriasis and dermatitis bathe in the highly concentrated Dead Sea for these benefits.
How Should I Look After My Psoriasis While Swimming?
Abundant Natural Healths 100% natural Ocean Soothe® Range harnesses the healing properties of the Ocean for effective relief from symptoms of mild Psoriasis, problematic, dry, and flaky skin. We bring the benefits of the Ocean to you, no matter where you are. Use our new Ocean Soothe® Flare Relief Bath Soak in combination with our Ocean Soothe® Gel and Lotion for effective relief from irritation and inflammation without a trip to the beach!
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Can Swimming Cause Bppv
Moving your head suddenly during swimming can cause a condition known as BBPV . The condition causes a sensation that makes the inside of your head feels like it is spinning. It can also cause episodes of dizziness and because it is often triggered by changes in your head position.
Since swimmers are often moving their heads suddenly during open water swimming, they are more prone to the condition than pool swimmers.
To prevent the possible reoccurrence of BBPV during swimming make sure you keep your head in a more fixed position through backstroke. Then try to rotate your breathing on each side while swimming freestyle if you have fully recovered from BBPV .
Chlorination : The Aggravating Truth
While chlorine is a decades-old disinfection success story, the chemical process that delivers such great results has an ugly downside: Harsh byproducts.
Lets look at the basics of what these caustic byproducts are and how they come to exist.
When chlorine comes in contact with water, it forms hypochlorous acid. In the chlorination process, hypochlorous acid breaks down the cells of various pathogens to stop them in their tracks.
Thats what we want to happen. But heres the bad news. Like a black widow spider that kills and eats her prey, hypochlorous acid combines with the various compounds it has destroyed. Among them: ammonia, which comes from urine and perspiration in the pool. That merging of substances results in nasty spinoffs called chloramines.
Chloramines are the villains in any swimming pool. Along with smelling awful, they reduce the potency of remaining free chlorinehindering its ability to disinfect. That makes it easier for pathogens to survive and spread illnesses to anyone in the pool.
Chloramines cause a host of other problems for swimmers. The aggravation they bring to various body parts includes wreaking havoc on skin. Lets look at some ways that chlorine and its byproducts can take a toll on your bodys vital outer layer.
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Atopic Dermatitis And The Swimming Pool
Swimming pools are sources of delight, fun and relaxation for most families. Swimming has a positive impact on our bodies, as it preserves the bodys kinetic and functional capacities and improves health and the quality of life. At the same time, its an incredibly entertaining activity from which nobody should be excluded and an essential skill that no child should lack. From when I was a child and a teenager, I remember big signs at the swimming pools that read: Swimming for people with skin diseases is not allowed! Not to mention the dirty looks and warnings that I received due to my skin, as you can well imagine. All of this came from the belief that each and every skin disease is contagious. Things have changed somewhat today. Its now allowed for people without contagious skin diseases to swim in the pool, which includes patients with atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.
Get Psoriasis Advice Today
Everyone’s experience with psoriasis is different, so if you’ve got any tips to share or questions to ask us, please leave a comment below. We always love to hear from you.
And if you’re looking for professional medical advice on dealing with psoriasis this summer, hit the button below to connect with a UK-based GP at a time and place to suit you.
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Protect Your Skin From Chlorine
Both swimming and water aerobics are great choices to get in better shape. Both exercises can happen easily in a nearby pool. However, the chlorine in pools can cause skin dryness. According to the National Psoriasis Foundation, it might help to protect your skin before you swim by applying a thin layer of petroleum jelly to your areas of psoriasis. When you get out of the pool, immediately rinse the chlorine from your skin.
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