evil pools and doomsday scenarios

[monkeyhatfork]

I've noticed on a few current threads people refusing to do pool training or stating that they are ill from such training.
-I am in no way trying to raise doubts of said experiences, but am wondering-

-are these people hypersensitive to pool chemicals?
-is the pool they use poorly maintained? i.e. too many chemicals
-is an indoor worse than an outdoor?
-what are the actual symptoms, organs effected?
-would this be a concern for most or a small few?

I do several dynamic sessions a week and have not suffered any illness(that I'm aware of).

Wondering if anyone has some solid knowledge on this subject, statistics, studies, etc. Sorry in advance if I'm rehashing an old subject

If risk is minimal I would suggest looking at it relative your total training experience. The oceans and lakes aren't exactly toxin free either-last year people died in Hawaii from sewage spills,In california a local at the beach I grew up surfing got staff in his nose-spread to his brain put him in a coma for
some time and they took part of his skull-he's now in a long rehab process, there's hepititis, menegitis, and tones of other bad stuff. Even in the most exotic locations, the waste from the resorts and cruise ships is being dumped somewhere. If you live in the city your outdoor training isn't much better, ever seen the lungs of an average Los Angeles citizen, I have, not as bad as a smokers lung but far from healthy.

Anyway, its off to the pool for me until I see compelling evidence to do otherwise, after all worrying about getting sick can in-itself make you sick.

 

[atomichaggis]

Lucia is the only one with health problems due to pool training as far as I am aware and chlorine is known to be harmful in high concentrations... industrial accidents are testiment.

personally I am just a sensitive soul who finds pools unpleasant. My skin gets dry (stings a bit), My nose get all dry too, lose My sense of smell for a day or so and My eyes burn for a couple of days even after having rinsed in fresh water immediately afterwards and several times a day thereafter. I feel a bit like I have a cold for a couple of days.

The pool I was in the other day somehow adds chlorine according to the amount of pollutants in the water... the notice didn't give technical details.
I doubt the pool is badly maintained... This is Norway after all.

slightly off topic: diving in lakes also makes stuff run out of My nose for hours... just prefer the sea... tastes better too. Pools might just be too different for Me.

In summary: I don't have any known medical issues with pools, i just don't like em and I'm stubborn like a goat.

 

[monkeyhatfork]

No worries, just curious about the topic

as for the drip you get from the lake, you can get that in the ocean too. I've never got it diving but it's common after surfing. Sometimes it can come hours later, sometimes by brother would be at work hours after surfing talking to a customer and huge amounts of water would come pouring out his nose at random scaring the hell out of customer(super funny to watch). After I started doing neti if found out this can be avoided- bend forward so your head is down by your knees and raise your arms behind you as high as you can and everything will flood out of your sinuses all at once-not sure if I explained that well but you get the general point.

 

[f3dive]

In the buildup to the 2004 World team event sometimes we were in the pool 2 times a day 6 days a week and we all suffered ear infections of some kind (but a drop of alcohol in each ear seems to keep the problem at bay followed by a clear cream of some kind (sorry can't remember it's name) to stop them drying out)
Having your ears vacumed from time to time isn't a pleasant experience but solves the constant itching that you just can't quite reach.
Also 2 of us suffered tiny lumps on our fingers and toes which hurt when you touched or knocked them.

When you notice you have to buy new togs every few months it makes you wonder what the chlorine is doing to your skin.

 

[atomichaggis]

I think others will have some real fuel for this topic as it gets picked up on a lot, at least in part on various threads.

The drip is a real pain when it starts filling the mask. It was at its worst when I done a sea dive in the afternoon and a lake dive in the evening. The lake is particularly brackish acidic water, dunno if thats something to do with it.

 

[atomichaggis]

P.S. nobody ever got a verucca in the sea

 

[monkeyhatfork]

I do remember reading something a very long time ago about regular pool swimming causing an excelleraton in hair loss.

 

[f3dive]

True, but doing drills in the ocean is alittle too difficult unless they are swimming down to 10 metres collecting scallops and back.

I know what you mean about the water streaming out of the nose, that isn't the only place it would stream out from afterwards:naughty

 

[atomichaggis]

Ear infections is another common pool problem right enough. I might be wrong but I never heard of anyone getting one in the sea so I doubt its common.

So far:
verruca, ear infection, painful lumps on fingers, ruined togs and hair loss... its not looking good lol.

 

[atomichaggis]

f3dive,

The sea here locally is 2 miles inland in a narrow fjord and mostly flat and calm. All it lacks is a water flume, diving boards and hoardes of screaming children.

 

[f3dive]

Sounds like the perfect swimming pool. Unfortunately for us we would have to contend with boats or swell or both.
We choose to dive in a lake which has neither. The water is primarily fresh water although there is a salt water inlet somewhere (no one knows where it enters from) however it can leave you sick if you aren't accustomed to the water. Not sure why exactly but all the duck/swan poo in the first 50 metres could have something to do with it.

 

[monkeyhatfork]

The worst infection I've ever gotten was in the ocean (Oahu). Was not used to the warm water bacteria, burst both eardrums, hospital trip, whole trip spent on hardcore painkillers. Thats the only one I've gotten from the water though(pool or ocean)

 

[shoutatthesky]

Just don't ask me to get into a chlorinated pool without something on my eyes. But I do love the smell on my skin afterward.
Saltwater does cause my nose to run a little but I've always seen this as a good thing. A bit like doing jala neti.

 

[naiad]

I've noticed on a few current threads people refusing to do pool training or stating that they are ill from such training.
-I am in no way trying to raise doubts of said experiences, but am wondering-

-are these people hypersensitive to pool chemicals?
-is the pool they use poorly maintained? i.e. too many chemicals
-is an indoor worse than an outdoor?
-what are the actual symptoms, organs effected?
-would this be a concern for most or a small few?

I was the one who said I got ill from pool training. To answer those questions...

-I have never had signs of being hypersensitive to pool chemicals, no excessive nose or eye irritation.
-I did use pools which were poorly maintained. At least one was significantly above the legal limit for chlorine, and some buildings have poor ventilation.
-Indoor pools are worse than outdoor, because the chlorine fumes are trapped indoors.
-The symptoms I had were severely laboured, 'gurgly' breathing with lungs full of sticky fluid. This got much worse at night. I had recurrent chest infections which required many courses of antibiotics.
-I do not know who should be concerned about pool chemicals. I still do pool training, but only once or at the most twice a week.

Wondering if anyone has some solid knowledge on this subject, statistics, studies, etc. Sorry in advance if I'm rehashing an old subject

A Matter of Concern
Weekly swimming linked to lung damage - 28 September 2001 - New Scientist
Pools and Asthma: The Chlorine Hypothesis

If risk is minimal I would suggest looking at it relative your total training experience. The oceans and lakes aren't exactly toxin free either-last year people died in Hawaii from sewage spills,In california a local at the beach I grew up surfing got staff in his nose-spread to his brain put him in a coma for
some time and they took part of his skull-he's now in a long rehab process, there's hepititis, menegitis, and tones of other bad stuff. Even in the most exotic locations, the waste from the resorts and cruise ships is being dumped somewhere. If you live in the city your outdoor training isn't much better, ever seen the lungs of an average Los Angeles citizen, I have, not as bad as a smokers lung but far from healthy.

That is true. Maybe some people are more prone to health problems than others, so the pool vs open water choice is a hard one. I have always kept fish, collected things from ponds, and occasionally got splashed in the face, fallen or jumped in, and handled pond water with cuts on my hands. I have never had any health problems as a result of this, not even skin infections or stomach upsets. Probably my immunity to most common waterborne infections is good, but my tolerance of chlorine is not so good.

At the time that I became ill, I was spending a lot of time in pools, at least 3 times a week for 1 hour, and often a lot more. I was not doing hard swimming all the time in the pool, so the problem was not overtraining. I also did not have any other symptoms, such as tiredness, fever or general illness. It only affected my lungs, and nothing else. Asthma inhalers made it worse. It coincided with using a different pool which had very high chlorine levels.

It really scared me, more than any other risk of freediving or swimming. I thought I was going to die, fighting a losing battle with antibiotics and inhalers. I wish I had known of this risk, and made an informed choice. I would still have made the decision to go swimming, but would have stopped when the first symptoms appeared. I continued to go swimming because the doctor said that swimming would improve the 'asthma'.

I do not go swimming any more, only freedive training which is less pool time and less exertion. The problem is almost completely better, though it has taken more than 2 years. I never have any lung problems during the day now, and only very slightly at night sometimes.

Lucia

 

[fcallagy]

Suffered with dry skin from the pool but nothing else other than that.It went away when i stopped for a while and now I dont go as regular it doesn,t seem to be a problem. A shower when i got home after each session helped rather than using the showers at the pool.

 

[atomichaggis]

The worst infection I've ever gotten was in the ocean (Oahu). Was not used to the warm water bacteria, burst both eardrums, hospital trip, whole trip spent on hardcore painkillers. Thats the only one I've gotten from the water though(pool or ocean)

Oahu is a bit of an open sewer is it not?

 

[naiad]

Since I don't want to give up on all fun activities such as freediving, and I don't want to end up seriously ill, I have decided on a happy medium. I still do pool training once a week, which has no noticeable effect on my health. I don't go swimming, because I don't enjoy it and the chlorine exposure is risky. I only do open water activities such as diving, swimming or field work in reasonably clean water, avoiding water which smells bad, looks polluted or has a bad reputation for pollution.

 

[monkeyhatfork]

Thanks, NAIAD for the info thats about what I was looking for, hope all goes well with your health.
I train in an outdoor pool 4-5 days a week dyn, olympic swimmers train there so they are super anal about testing the water. No health problems but my hair is so pourous from bleaching and absorbs the chlorine which seems to almost melt the hair (see attachment).
I've have been in some very scary pools(cheap hotel pools for example) that I would be horrified to spend much time in.

to:atomichagis oahu is a great place but like all overdeveloped locations they have thier problems

 

[monkeyhatfork]

also noticed that while I have no problem at all in pools, I sometimes feel a little sick to my stomach in jacuzzis/spas, where you are inhalling 100's of times the amount of fumes you would in a pool.

on another note not so health related, I can't stand when people jump in the pool covered in cologne/perfume I can taste it all the way on the other side of the pool

 

[naiad]

Thanks, NAIAD for the info thats about what I was looking for, hope all goes well with your health.

Thanks.
I am much better now, and much more careful.

I train in an outdoor pool 4-5 days a week dyn, olympic swimmers train there so they are super anal about testing the water. No health problems but my hair is so pourous from bleaching and absorbs the chlorine which seems to almost melt the hair (see attachment).

The outdoor pool is probably much better than most indoor pools. The hair bleaching is a problem, I don't think much can be done about that, but at least there are much less fumes in the air.
Nice pipe goggles too.

I've have been in some very scary pools(cheap hotel pools for example) that I would be horrified to spend much time in.

There are many very scary pools here in the UK. There often appears to be no limit on the amount of people allowed in the pool, mostly without showering beforehand, and no limit on the amount of chemicals added.

also noticed that while I have no problem at all in pools, I sometimes feel a little sick to my stomach in jacuzzis/spas, where you are inhalling 100's of times the amount of fumes you would in a pool.

I also find that those are the worst. The air is warm, damp and full of chlorine. I was going to one when I was ill.

on another note not so health related, I can't stand when people jump in the pool covered in cologne/perfume I can taste it all the way on the other side of the pool

Same with me, I wish that all sprays were banned. It is unpleasant and dangerous to breathe chemical perfumes, as some people are sensitive to them.