Crazy pool question

[rocknrollgirl]

This may sound crazy, but when I get out of the pool, later that day if I swim in the am or the next day if I swim in the pm, I feel congested and sneezy and my throat hurts.

Anybody else get this????

[anakiwa]

Absolutely. Years ago there was a period when it got so bad I couldn't complete a swim on account of sneezing and a runny nose. (At least for me it seemed to be a cumulative thing- the more I swam, the worse it got.)

Nose plugs seemed to have solved the problem- as long as I use them most of the time I don't get into trouble.

[Wahine]

RnR - I get that really badly. It's basically a delayed histamine reaction. In my case I think it's an allergic reaction to the pool chem. Antihistimines will work. I used to take one about 30 to 45 min before swimming. I didn't like taking meds so often so I switched to swimming with a nose plug and that takes care of it.

Swimming with a nose plug takes a little getting used to because you can't breath out through your nose. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but it will feel really weird for awhile, especially if you're from a swimming background. When you're used to timing out breaths thru the nose during things like flip turns etc. you can sometimes blow your plug off!

[Pax]

I had a kid on the swim team I used to coach who had allergic reactions to pool chemicals. We got him outfitted with a very low profile snorkel/scuba mask for practice sessions and that seemed to alleviate the problem.