Skin and Hair Care for Swimmers

Hello All!

Sorry for the long gap, have been busy at work 🙂 Anyway, recently one of my dear readers asked me if I could help her save her skin as she swims regularly for fitness. Thanks to her I thought of writing this post today 🙂

Swimming is one of the best fitness exercise which work on your core muscles; I personally LOVE swimming but it has never made it to my fitness routine because of the damage it does to my skin and hair. So let me give you all a few tips that will help you lessen the damage that chlorine does.

Swimmers often complain about how brown they get or how a weird green shade has appeared in their hair. Not to forget the extreme dryness and dullness on your face and all over your body.

Skin Care for Swimmers:

One of the biggest mistake we do is not wear a sunscreen while swimming; In fact ensure that you wear a high SPF (at least 50-70) waterproof sunscreen minimum 20 minutes before you step into the pool
Water is the best way to hydration; you must take a shower prior to stepping in the pool and do not rub your body too hard with the towel, just pat and let the water remain a bit. This will create a protective layer.
It will be good if you could mix a little petroleum jelly with your sunscreen and apply. Vaseline (Petroleum jelly) will really protect your skin well. I remember applying this when I was a regular swimmer in school.
Chlorine; really damages the moisture layer of your skin even though you are following all of the above. Keep on drinking water, even while you swim (not the pool water 😛 ) you can keep a sipper bottle at the edge of the pool and keep drinking it even if you are not thirsty. This will keep the moisture layer intact.
After care is as important as before care; once you are out of the pool, without wasting time clean your body and face with a mild soap and water to remove all the chlorine from your body. Clean your skin thoroughly.
After cleaning, SLATHER a good deep moisturizer ALL OVER your body and face. Note the word SLATHER here! 🙂

Hair Care for Swimmers:

Chlorine, not only ruins our skin but it equally damages our hair. Few swimmers complain of their hair turning green, due to regular swimming. One of the best solution is slather your hair with coconut oil after you take a shower. Pre-shower is a must here as well.
Dara Torres Swimmer and Olympics Champion has given a great tip for swimmers “But hair definitely can get damaged from the chlorine. What I suggest to people who aren’t heavy-duty, in-elite-training-for-the-Olympics swimmers is to put conditioner underneath your swim cap.” - Dara Torres
After swimming, wash your hair with a shampoo containing EDTA, this will help remove all the dirt and chlorine from your hair
Once washed, apply a deep conditioner and leave it on for 10-15 minutes and wash off

Bonus Tip for Swimmers: DIY

If you are a regular swimmer, twice-thrice a week scrub your body with a mixture of Besan, milk (malai/Cream), yoghurt and Turmeric
For your hair apply a pack of coconut milk, banana, eggs and olive oil.