I swam regularly (3-4 x/week) for approximately 5 years and had laid off for the past 7 months. Thankfully I'm back in the pool again. I am relatively healthy and have missed almost no work. However, whenever I get out of the pool I have cold symptoms--congestion, running nose, sneezing, etc. I know I probably swallow my share of water, and I've learned to live with these nuisances, but are these symptoms common for others?
I also for years suffered from blocked/runny nose after swimming (particularly from indoor pool with high usage) which I attributed to an allergic-like reaction to pool chemicals. It could be misery, interrupting sleep, waking up with dry mouth etc. I used to resort to allergy medication, which worked OK but sometimes had undesirable side effects (eg loss of sleep). I now use a nose clip - it took two weeks to get used to - problem now solved!
I also for years suffered from blocked/runny nose after swimming (particularly from indoor pool with high usage) which I attributed to an allergic-like reaction to pool chemicals. It could be misery, interrupting sleep, waking up with dry mouth etc. I used to resort to allergy medication, which worked OK but sometimes had undesirable side effects (eg loss of sleep). I now use a nose clip - it took two weeks to get used to - problem now solved!
