The high school entrance exams are over, the midterm exams are over, the final exams of elementary school are over, and the happy summer holidays have begun. In the hot summer, swimming pools and water parks are good places for children to escape from the heat, but can children with eczema also enjoy this cool summer? What is the effect of swimming pool water on eczema skin? There are many irritants in the environment that can cause eczema to worsen, and pool water is one of those irritants. Some eczema patients will feel pins and needles or tingling sensations in their skin after swimming, and some patients will experience dry skin, mainly because of the high pH of swimming pool water, which can irritate the skin, while chlorine or other disinfecting ingredients in swimming pool water can aggravate dry skin. But chlorinated pool water is not the only bad thing, studies have found that bathing with a dilute bleach (sodium hypochlorite) solution can reduce the number of bacteria on the skin surface of eczema patients, thus reducing eczema recurrence. Therefore some eczema patients will instead feel that their eczema is gradually improving after swimming. What is the effect of sea water on eczema skin? Foreign studies have found that most patients with severe eczema who have not been treated with conventional medication will improve after receiving “climate therapy” (seawater bathing + sunbathing) at the Dead Sea. Further studies have found that Dead Sea water with high magnesium ions can increase the water content of eczema patients’ skin, improve the dryness of the skin and repair the damaged skin barrier, so bathing with Dead Sea water is beneficial for eczema recovery. Although there are no clinical studies on whether seawater from other areas can improve eczema, like the Dead Sea, seawater contains sodium chloride, magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate, which are the main components that can be beneficial to eczema skin. Advice for eczema sufferers who love to swim Avoid swimming during acute eczema flare-ups. If swimming indoors, you should apply a moisturizing cream for daily use, or moisturizing ointment (ointment is better for sealing and water barrier) before entering the water, with more than the amount used daily, because it is the application of a very thick moisturizer that protects the skin from the irritation of the pool water. If you swim outdoors, know that the water can reflect the sunlight and you need to use a waterproof sunscreen, and of course, you need to apply the same moisturizer. Take a shower before swimming, then apply moisturizer or moisturizing ointment, and then sunscreen half an hour later. It is important to remember that you do not need to apply more moisturizer than you use on a daily basis when swimming outdoors because if too much moisturizer is not absorbed by the skin there is a risk of a “frying” effect in the sun. Shower before swimming because volatile chlorine in the air around the pool can be adsorbed on the surface of the skin and hair. Showering with low chlorine tap water before swimming can reduce the amount of chlorine adsorbed on the surface of the skin, thus reducing the irritation to the skin. After swimming, shower and rinse as soon as possible, you can use a body wash or bath oil with emollient effect, immediately after the shower to use more than the daily amount of moisturizer. If the pool provides shower water with added chlorine disinfectant, it is best to go home and shower and use moisturizer as soon as possible. If you feel skin irritation from swimming in one pool, try another pool that uses a different disinfection method, or try a saltwater pool or swimming in saltwater. Check with the manager before swimming to find out when the pool is disinfected and avoid swimming in the water immediately after the pool has just added chlorine disinfectant; the higher the chlorine concentration in the water, the more irritating it is to the skin. When trying a new pool, you can stay in the water for a shorter period of time and then observe your skin’s reaction. Because chlorine-containing disinfectants are volatile, you may still be exposed to chlorine-containing air when you leave the pool, so don’t stay at the pool for too long. Tips about swimming pool water Freshwater swimming pools are the ones we are most exposed to in our lives, which means that tap water or drinking water is used to kill harmful microorganisms in the water by adding chemicals. The most commonly used swimming pool water in China is disinfectant powder or disinfectant tablets containing trichloroisocyanuric acid, which is hydrolyzed in water to hypochlorous acid, which can effectively and quickly kill various microorganisms. Hypochlorous acid is volatile and the speed of volatilization is directly related to the intensity of sunlight, temperature and the fluidity of the water, so the air around the pool will smell irritating and this chlorinated air will also cause irritation to the skin, mucous membranes and hair. On the other hand, due to the evaporation of hypochlorite, the content of “free residual chlorine” in swimming pool water will continue to decline, which will not meet the requirements of sterilization, so swimming pools usually put disinfectant twice a day at regular intervals, and the closer the time of putting, the higher the concentration of chlorine in the pool water. pH is another important monitoring indicator of swimming pool water, pH level can affect the sterilization efficiency of chlorine, according to the national standard artificial swimming pool water pH should be 6.8-8.5, this range is higher than the normal skin pH (4.5-5.5), so the skin has a certain degree of irritation. Salt water swimming pool Salt water swimming pool is the ordinary salt (sodium chloride) added to fresh water, the use of chlorine salt electromechanical dissolution of sodium chloride to produce chlorine to achieve sterilization effect, the free chlorine in salt water swimming pool and hypochlorite is different, there is no bleaching effect, less irritating to the skin and eyes, more suitable for eczema patients. But at present, the number of domestic salt water swimming pools in China is still relatively small.