How do professional swimmers guard against getting asthma from chlorine in pools?
www.reuters.com/.../us-allergies-pools-idUSTRE58E0N120090915
I swam for years but then developed dustmite allergy and mild asthma and i know it was from swimming,as i used to sneeze so much afterwards.
Recently went to outdoor lido as supposed to be better as fumes blow away but my nose still stuffed up next day and sneezed a few times :( I love swimming but not sure its safe for me?
Hello Wilykit:
I wish there had been a reply sooner. I've got asthma but chlorine isn't an irritant or much of a factor for me. I use a twice-daily inhaler and have not had to use a rescue inhaler at all despite starting Master's swimming this past week after a 30-year "hiatus" from the pool.
Are you using any kind of asthma medication? And have you ever been tested for a specific allergy to chlorine?
Seconding Zwemmer - what kind of allergy medications do you take now? Do you have a rescue inhaler? How many times per week are you using it? If it's more than a few, I strongly recommend seeing a doctor about something long-term.
It could simply be the moisture (and everything in it - chlorine, human sweat, possible pee, byproducts, etc) is irritating your airway - indoor pools are pretty humid environments, where an outdoor pool will be less so. I always shower after swimming with something like UltraSwim and find that helps me from getting too sniffly.
Are you sure it isn't exertion-triggered asthma as opposed to something specific to chlorine?
From the article: "Children without allergic tendencies were not at increased risk of developing allergies."
I think you nailed it, though it doesn't account for the discrepancy between Cl and Ag/Cu pools. Exercise induced asthma is pretty real. My kids allergy and asthma problems have actually decreased as they have moved up into the groups that spend more time in the water. Of course, there is a huge confounding affect with their growing up, but given that they were premature (twins) and one actually had to have bronchoscopy when she was 3 or 4, they certainly started out in pretty bad shape.
