Keeping Your Skin Moisturised After Swimming
Monday, January 18, 2016
When you swim in sea-water, chlorinated swimming pools or open water you put your skin in contact with stuff that can cause irritation and dryness. Dry or irritated skin can't do a good job of keeping bacteria from getting into your blood stream and the itching can drive you mad!
Here's some advice for simple skin care that'll protect you from dry, itchy skin and keep you looking healthy and attractive!
Wash the bad stuff off
Although you may feel completely clean when you get out of the pool, your skin's still coated with chlorine! So it's a good idea to have a shower with warm water and soap before it can start damaging your skin. And swimming in the sea or open water will coat your skin with salt, algae and other nasty stuff that lives in rivers and lakes.
If you don't want that nasty stuff living on your skin, have a soapy shower as soon as you can and wash your swimming gear as well. This will stop dry skin that cracks and allows bacteria in and prevent irritation caused by your swimsuit the next time you wear it.
Moisturise skin
After cleaning your skin you should dry off with a clean towel and then apply plenty of body lotion to get your skin cells moisturised and ready to resume their protection work. If you have very dry skin with flaky patches and irritation or a rash call in at your doctor's surgery to get a diagnosis and the right treatment.
Good maintenance
Keep your skin strong and healthy - from the inside - by drinking plenty of water every day. It's another important way to ensure skin stays correctly hydrated. Water helps replace moisture lost through contact with chlorine, salt and algae.
Dermatologists say it also flushes out any toxic stuff like chlorine or bacteria from your system and benefits the whole body. So the best ways of keeping your skin moisturised are to wash off anything that'll dry it up or cause infection, use body lotion or baby oil every day and drink plenty of water.
And if you do get a bit of a rash go and see the doc - because today's little rash could be tomorrow's big, red, itchy rash!