Best post swimming lotion?

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WDEvy
WDEvy Posts: 814 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My skin is burning when I get out of the pool lately and I can only see it getting worse with winter approaching.
Any swimmers out there with suggestions of good lotions ( and hair product) to protect from the drying effects of chlorine?

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  • delikium
    delikium Posts: 196 Member
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    i use vasaline before getting in the pool
  • deannakittygirl
    deannakittygirl Posts: 228 Member
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    I have been using palmer's coco butter lotion and to help protect hair wet it down with plain water before swimming then use swim cap. by wetting hair it helps to keep pool water from soaking into hair. I have read this info about the hair and that's what I have been doing. I have only been swimming a month now though so just passing along but maybe some experts have better info.

    I use the coco butter after I shower after swimming, you know to restore moisture, by the way not as a barrier before I swim. I was thinking dry skin could be causing burning.
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
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    My skin is burning when I get out of the pool lately and I can only see it getting worse with winter approaching.
    Any swimmers out there with suggestions of good lotions ( and hair product) to protect from the drying effects of chlorine?

    I would have to agree with the vaseline and as for the cocoa butter - it has to be the raw butter and not a generic lotion. I tended to use a combination of vaseline and what we called body oils (dense oils). But the vaseline is better because it stays and it acts as a barrier.

    For my hair, I preferred to plait it (think Bo Derek) and then I would put baby powder in my swimming cap, which I'd wash off with shikakai after my swimming programme. I used powder so that the cap wouldn't pull on my hair to break it.

    Post the swim, have your shower as you would, thereafter you would have to use a hydrating moisturiser, even a body butter - would work.

    Chlorine is vicious - does what it is meant to do, but greatly threatens the skin, most especially if and when they put in too much.
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
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    Coconut oil.
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
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    My skin is burning when I get out of the pool lately and I can only see it getting worse with winter approaching.
    Any swimmers out there with suggestions of good lotions ( and hair product) to protect from the drying effects of chlorine?

    I am honestly concerned about "the burning." Would you mind pasting yoghurt (plain) or milk of magnesia or even aloe vera medicated gel allover your body - using a brush for application? Poor you - the pH in the water is way off!
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
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    Also though, you can ask how that pool's being maintained (might not just be you).

    +1 vaseline for skin, any heavy conditioner + cap for hair.
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
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    Also though, you can ask how that pool's being maintained (might not just be you) ..

    I agree. Also try to enquire after the last time the pool filter was changed. If it hasn't been changed in a while, usually once or twice a year, bacteria could also be causing the burns. A friend of mine was paying for her regular pool guy to treat her pool and her hot tub, but he'd failed to change it up, and her little girl (a toddler) got chicken pox like reactions, which started off as a burn, then it turned into a rash, and then it changed into blisters. Nasty.

    Please try to see a dermatologist just to make certain, you're okay. And possibly send a culture of the pool you're using, off to some lab to get it tested because if it's at some fitness club, that's not on!
  • WDEvy
    WDEvy Posts: 814 Member
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    Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I definitely need some extra moisture, I feel realllly dry and since I have curly hair, my hair tends to go in full white girl dreads mode. Took over 30 min to get the knots out of it yesterday.

    ( I think the burning was more because of the extreme dryness. It gets bad on it's on as soon as the heat is turned out in the house and at work because it sucks the moisture out of the air.. pool just aggravated it and since I go often it builds up)
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
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    For curly girls, I suggest using conditioner and no shampoo, and finishing with coconut oil.

    Last week I hadn't topped-off my little bottle of conditioner before going to the pool, so I used a bit of shampoo+conditioner, figuring it would be better than skipping the conditioner, and it was dreadful. Completely stripped and dried my hair, not even the coconut oil helped. Left it frizzy and unmanageable all day.

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