Impact of chlorine?

losing your body hair? not really sure how this is a problem... are you losing hair everywhere - head too? if it is falling out in clumps, you probably have bigger problems than chlorine. George probably has the right idea with the friction

Are you sure it is the chlorine and not the friction from your clothing or swim ware rubing the hair off??

I remember this being discussed before. forums.usms.org/showthread.php

Thanks Ensignada. This is clearly not a friction problem... I am losing (OK, have already lost) the hair on my head - this related more to arms, legs, etc. Here is an excerpt from the thread you sent me. "I think Phil was referring to the pH being too alkaline (high) rather than alkalinity. If your pool is chlorinated with liquid chlorine (which raises pH) then the management needs to add muriatic acid (which lowers pH). A high pH will cause the hair loss and cottonmouth/chaulky teeth." Thanks. I will talk to the pool maintenance guys and see if I can get my eyebrows back.

Interesting topic that I revisited myself as of late. I agree in that the pool chemicals could be out of the normal range. Or, there may be another factor causing your hair loss. I swim 6x a week and don't notice hair loss. Although I don't take any RX or OTC meds, I do have a daily vitamin routine. My herbalist was horrified that I swim in a chlorinated pool and felt that my swimming in a pool regularly would cause "excessive free radical formation, which accelerates aging, increases vulnerability to genetic mutation and cancer development, hinders cholesterol metabolism, and promotes hardening of arteries. . . " and more which I care not to repeat here. Two of my eye doctors also do not like my swimming in pools as they feel the exposure to germs and chemicals promote or increase eye infections and irritation (even if one uses goggles.) I said I cannot live without my swimming so I am going to continue with it. I find myself running into more doctors and heath professionals who feel that my continual exposure to chlorine is really going to compromise my health long term. Arg. :doh: No kidding. The side effects of chlorine and insidious and evil. It doesn't agree with my eyes, nose or skin. My opthamologist and ENT doc would love it if I quit. But I won't.

Back in the 70's most of us on the AAU team had this very cool (weird) looking white~blond hair. The kind that blinded people in the sun form the sheen. Like tinsel. Needless to say...the chemical contents in the water were probably very unhealthy. When the chlorine got low...the "janitor" casually took a bucket filled with charcoal sized tablets of chlorine...tossed them into the middle of the pool...and said it was fine to go in. I recall it taking hours for the halos to stop shining around outdoor lights. And the coughing...it sounded like a herd of sea lions between sets. These days it's pretty common to see more than 3 or 4 kids kids using inhalers on deck. Either we were exceptionally tough...or the next generations are becoming softer. But back to the question...Showering before each workout does help your skin and hair soak up tap water...which prevents chlorine from becoming embedded into your pores and follicles.

Interesting topic that I revisited myself as of late. I agree in that the pool chemicals could be out of the normal range. Or, there may be another factor causing your hair loss. I swim 6x a week and don't notice hair loss. Although I don't take any RX or OTC meds, I do have a daily vitamin routine. My herbalist was horrified that I swim in a chlorinated pool and felt that my swimming in a pool regularly would cause "excessive free radical formation, which accelerates aging, increases vulnerability to genetic mutation and cancer development, hinders cholesterol metabolism, and promotes hardening of arteries. . . " and more which I care not to repeat here. Two of my eye doctors also do not like my swimming in pools as they feel the exposure to germs and chemicals promote or increase eye infections and irritation (even if one uses goggles.) I said I cannot live without my swimming so I am going to continue with it. I find myself running into more doctors and heath professionals who feel that my continual exposure to chlorine is really going to compromise my health long term. Arg. :doh: I gotta say I'm skeptical on all of this including the effect of chlorine on hair loss. I'm also a 4X3500 type of swimmer with no hair loss. If it accelerates aging wouldn't regular swimmers die earlier? Why do we see so many healthy 70+ year old Masters swimmers? Hinders cholesterol metabolism when we know vigorous exercise is a proven way to increase the "good" choleterol? Increases vulnerability to genetic mutation? Puhleeeeezzzzze...... Should lifetime swimmers be susceptible to strange growths on our bodies? I'm curious too - how many eye doctors do you have? Your post makes it sound like you have more than two.

Interesting topic that I revisited myself as of late. I agree in that the pool chemicals could be out of the normal range. Or, there may be another factor causing your hair loss. I swim 6x a week and don't notice hair loss. Although I don't take any RX or OTC meds, I do have a daily vitamin routine. My herbalist was horrified that I swim in a chlorinated pool and felt that my swimming in a pool regularly would cause "excessive free radical formation, which accelerates aging, increases vulnerability to genetic mutation and cancer development, hinders cholesterol metabolism, and promotes hardening of arteries. . . " and more which I care not to repeat here. Two of my eye doctors also do not like my swimming in pools as they feel the exposure to germs and chemicals promote or increase eye infections and irritation (even if one uses goggles.) I said I cannot live without my swimming so I am going to continue with it. I find myself running into more doctors and heath professionals who feel that my continual exposure to chlorine is really going to compromise my health long term. Arg. :doh:

The main problem is Hair loss right..? so u can wear swim mask and practice..get a quality one and make sure that water wont get into that....to avoid the impact get off from the public pool..the mixture of the chlorine is not practical in public pools...if u have any membership in hotel pools that will be fine..they keeps on changing water day by day..for me i have membership in one 3star hotel...

If genetic mutation occurs - I'd like to have bigger feet and hands. :D I have read/heard about the shower issue. I appreciate the science that has apparently proved this to be real. I found a study at the Journal of Epedemiology describing bladder cancer risks due to ingestion/exposure to chlorinated water. Unfortunately the full report is not available for free. It seems to me there are thousands of lifetime swimmers out there (here?) that could be surveyed. I'd just like to see data on actual impact, not just predicted. My home water supply is well - so no chlorine at my house.