Help! I am slowly losing all my body hair; arms, underarms, eyebrows, etc. I have been swimming 4X3500 per week for several years. This seems to happen when I have big months - I did 60+ miles in December. Is there anything I can do to alleviate this, and what other effects can I expect?
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Former Member
There is an auto-immune disorder called Alopecia areata. The body's white blood cells are triggered for some un-known reason to attack the hair follicles. It can be mild where you lose hair in patches usually on the head or severe where you lose all body hair. It has nothing to do with chlorine or age. No one knows exactly what causes it and there is no cure. I know because I have had it for 18 months have no hair at all. I am active, take vitamins, eat well, swim and work out at a gym but still lost all my hair over a year. If you are concerned you need to see a Dr or a dermatologist to find out if this is what you have.
The benifits of swimming for fitness far outweigh the risk of some possible skin irritations caused by chlorine. Our pool recently was changed to a salt water system and it has made no difference to my hairloss.
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Former Member
There is an auto-immune disorder called Alopecia areata. The body's white blood cells are triggered for some un-known reason to attack the hair follicles. It can be mild where you lose hair in patches usually on the head or severe where you lose all body hair. It has nothing to do with chlorine or age. No one knows exactly what causes it and there is no cure. I know because I have had it for 18 months have no hair at all. I am active, take vitamins, eat well, swim and work out at a gym but still lost all my hair over a year. If you are concerned you need to see a Dr or a dermatologist to find out if this is what you have.
The benifits of swimming for fitness far outweigh the risk of some possible skin irritations caused by chlorine. Our pool recently was changed to a salt water system and it has made no difference to my hairloss.
