It rained most of last week, but I still wanted to swim, so I decided to have a swim techniques focus week of working out in the pool of my local gym. I researched the size of the pool (inconclusive, so I decided it was 22 yards long since that's as short as I can set my watch for lap swim) water temperatures, parking situation, and I went for some pool workouts.
During the actual swims it was pretty nice. The pool was a great temperature, and there were no waves to put me under, so I could concentrate on breathing on the left side of my body during the swim (my weaker side) ,and because of the indoor conditions I could stand to swim more than half an hour so I got some really nice cardio workouts. The only problem I had was my skin got really really dry and irritated. It wasn't so bad I needed to see a doctor, I just lathered on the lotion and scrubbed extra hard during showers to get the chlorine off of me.
On the afternoon after my second (early morning) pool swim, I realized I got a UTI (urinary tract infection).
FRACK!
Oh it hurt. It was a Friday night, and I had invited my boyfriend to come over to hang out (for our 1 month anniversary, no less!) and I cooked him dinner. I tried to drink an enormous amount of water (hey, that worked once!) to flush out whatever the problem was, but it kept getting worse and worse, and I didn't want to say anything since I was embarrassed at the ill-timed onset of the symptoms. Finally at 8:30PM I decided I had to go to the doctors, but urgent care told me they were closing soon so they told me to come back tomorrow morning at 8am.
So commenced the 11 and a half hours of HELL.
I will only mention that I got so frustrated at the pain and discomfort (I wasn't going to die, I know, but it felt like torture to me) that I actually started crying... harder than at the 20 mile mark of my marathons (which was only a couple of sniffles, people!)... in front of my poor boyfriend... on our 1 month anniversary...
Moral of the story: DO NOT WAIT to go see the doctor. Do it as soon as reasonably possible if you know you know you have the symptoms of a UTI. You can find those on the Internet easily enough so I won't go through them, but if you've ever had one before, you'll know.
So I finally talked to the doctor the next morning and found out that this sort of thing is actually pretty common when people start swimming in pools during the summer. She gave me some great advice about tips for keeping healthy when swimming. Skin gets irritated at chlorine (which does kill bacteria but it takes awhile, which is much longer than the time it'll take for the bacteria to get a hold of your urinary tract!), which makes it easier for the bacteria from your own skin which is now washed off and hanging out on your wet swimsuit to get back on you and infect the newly irritated skin around the opening of your urethra and later in the day or the next day you're not feeling so hot!
Second moral of the story: Those signs at the pool saying take a shower immediately before you swim, do not ignore them. You want to get as much of those germs off of you before you take a dip so they don't wash off onto your suit. And the shower after your swim is to get any bacteria (from you or other swimmers) off of you as soon as possible. I waited to get home before I took a shower (I was too lazy to pack a shower bag and the gym was only 15 minutes away, but no more!)
Third moral of the story: Stay hydrated! Especially important during long swim workouts in heated pools since you get dehydrated without realizing it! Staying hydrated will make it easier for your skin to stay moist and less flaky when it gets exposed to chlorine. Hydrate before and after swims and during if you're doing a long session.
Bonus tip: You can try to take cranberry supplements since apparently that makes it harder for the germs to get a hold of the wall of your urinary tract, just make sure you read the supplement labels and consult your physician first! You can also take cranberry juice but make sure it's 100% juice and 100% cranberry juice. Juice cocktails, concentrates, and mixes do not have enough cranberry content and will just end up giving you calories and sugars you do not need for not so much return. Read the labels carefully! In an entire juice aisle at multiple markets and all of them had only one juice that was 100% cranberry juice.
Doctor actually said I could go back to the pool any time, but I'm going to let things settle down (or at least finish my antibiotics) before going back for more pool time. Since it's nice and sunny this week, I think I'll hit the beach this week instead :3
During the actual swims it was pretty nice. The pool was a great temperature, and there were no waves to put me under, so I could concentrate on breathing on the left side of my body during the swim (my weaker side) ,and because of the indoor conditions I could stand to swim more than half an hour so I got some really nice cardio workouts. The only problem I had was my skin got really really dry and irritated. It wasn't so bad I needed to see a doctor, I just lathered on the lotion and scrubbed extra hard during showers to get the chlorine off of me.
On the afternoon after my second (early morning) pool swim, I realized I got a UTI (urinary tract infection).
FRACK!
Oh it hurt. It was a Friday night, and I had invited my boyfriend to come over to hang out (for our 1 month anniversary, no less!) and I cooked him dinner. I tried to drink an enormous amount of water (hey, that worked once!) to flush out whatever the problem was, but it kept getting worse and worse, and I didn't want to say anything since I was embarrassed at the ill-timed onset of the symptoms. Finally at 8:30PM I decided I had to go to the doctors, but urgent care told me they were closing soon so they told me to come back tomorrow morning at 8am.
So commenced the 11 and a half hours of HELL.
I will only mention that I got so frustrated at the pain and discomfort (I wasn't going to die, I know, but it felt like torture to me) that I actually started crying... harder than at the 20 mile mark of my marathons (which was only a couple of sniffles, people!)... in front of my poor boyfriend... on our 1 month anniversary...
Moral of the story: DO NOT WAIT to go see the doctor. Do it as soon as reasonably possible if you know you know you have the symptoms of a UTI. You can find those on the Internet easily enough so I won't go through them, but if you've ever had one before, you'll know.
So I finally talked to the doctor the next morning and found out that this sort of thing is actually pretty common when people start swimming in pools during the summer. She gave me some great advice about tips for keeping healthy when swimming. Skin gets irritated at chlorine (which does kill bacteria but it takes awhile, which is much longer than the time it'll take for the bacteria to get a hold of your urinary tract!), which makes it easier for the bacteria from your own skin which is now washed off and hanging out on your wet swimsuit to get back on you and infect the newly irritated skin around the opening of your urethra and later in the day or the next day you're not feeling so hot!
Second moral of the story: Those signs at the pool saying take a shower immediately before you swim, do not ignore them. You want to get as much of those germs off of you before you take a dip so they don't wash off onto your suit. And the shower after your swim is to get any bacteria (from you or other swimmers) off of you as soon as possible. I waited to get home before I took a shower (I was too lazy to pack a shower bag and the gym was only 15 minutes away, but no more!)
Third moral of the story: Stay hydrated! Especially important during long swim workouts in heated pools since you get dehydrated without realizing it! Staying hydrated will make it easier for your skin to stay moist and less flaky when it gets exposed to chlorine. Hydrate before and after swims and during if you're doing a long session.
Bonus tip: You can try to take cranberry supplements since apparently that makes it harder for the germs to get a hold of the wall of your urinary tract, just make sure you read the supplement labels and consult your physician first! You can also take cranberry juice but make sure it's 100% juice and 100% cranberry juice. Juice cocktails, concentrates, and mixes do not have enough cranberry content and will just end up giving you calories and sugars you do not need for not so much return. Read the labels carefully! In an entire juice aisle at multiple markets and all of them had only one juice that was 100% cranberry juice.
Doctor actually said I could go back to the pool any time, but I'm going to let things settle down (or at least finish my antibiotics) before going back for more pool time. Since it's nice and sunny this week, I think I'll hit the beach this week instead :3
This sounds really complicated just to go swimming. I hear cranberry juice helps though.
ReplyDeleteThems the though breaks. :/ Ugh, pure cranberry juice is so expensive and tastes disgusting :p
ReplyDelete