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Bathing: basic safety measures

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
 
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20 June 2012, 10:26

Summer is the time for holidays and travel. And bathing is one of the most enjoyable pleasures of the coming season. How to bathe properly, so as not to get yourself into health problems?

Bathing itself is one of the health and tempering procedures and is often even recommended by health professionals for certain health problems. Especially bathing in sea water - it improves metabolic processes in the body, tones up the nervous and circulatory system, it is useful for certain diseases of the respiratory system and some diseases of the joints.

Subcooling is the most common problem when swimming. This should be remembered for those who are prone to frequent catarrhal diseases, has problems with blood vessels. It should be borne in mind that salty sea water more than fresh water cools the body. In the water you need to actively move, and do not swim until the appearance of "goosebumps." After going ashore, it is advisable to rub with a towel and change into a dry swimsuit.

Bathing: basic safety measures

To the note: in cool water, the muscles of the legs are cramping more often. To all who are inclined to this turn, it is better not to swim far from the shore and it is desirable to have a fastened pin on the swimsuit. This is an ambulance with a sudden cramp: quickly unfastened, a couple of times pricked the numb place - soon the mobility will recover.

Particular care should be taken when swimming in standing fresh water bodies, it is much more possible to pick up some kind of infection, especially if ducks, geese, seagulls are swimming in the pond, water cattle are coming to the watering place. The most common infection is E. Coli, which can cause plus all else and an allergic reaction. Another unpleasant attack - cercariosis, or "itch bather", it can be picked up, having stayed in the water for literally 10-15 minutes or even walking barefoot on the wet grass on the shore. After 30-40 minutes the body begins to itch unbearably, becomes covered with blisters similar to mosquito bites, and this itching continues for several days.

The causative agents are the larvae of helminths of water birds - cercariae, which leave the body of intermediate hosts (pond snails - river mollusks), freely move in water and penetrate the skin of waterfowl and humans. Symptoms of cericosis: itching or burning, tingling and redness of the skin on the legs, hips, buttocks, the appearance of rashes and blisters, dizziness and weakness; with severe damage, dry cough may appear and the temperature may rise. To ease the condition and reduce the itching will help menthol ointment, soda solution, but going to the doctor is mandatory. The disease lasts about a week, and skin pigmentation and mild itching lasts up to 3 weeks.

When swimming in the sea, especially somewhere in the far and hot edges, beware of burns of jellyfish and meeting with the "Portuguese boat".

When swimming, certain safety measures should be observed:

  • Do not immediately rush into the water, just after appearing on the beach. Dramatic temperature changes can cause vasospasms. Give the body about 15 minutes to adapt to the microclimate of the beach, and then calmly enter the water and begin to swim.
  • Try to swim only in warm weather - no lower than 23 degrees in the air. And do not aspire to spend the afternoon at the first day of your personal bathing season in the water - you just need to swim once for a start.
  • Never dive in unfamiliar places! About the stones and snags can not only seriously injure themselves, but also get injured, incompatible with life. How many trumpets about it every summer, but still for this reason people die every year.
  • Special attention is paid to the combination of nutrition and bathing: between the one and the other there should be a gap of 1 hour in any direction. That is, you can not eat up either before the bathing, or immediately after it.
  • In the south, try to swim mainly in the morning - from 9 to 12 h, and in the evening - after 17 h. A hot day dedicated to other types of recreation and leisure - sit in a cool cafe, take a stroll in the park, go on an excursion.
  • Remember that in a stormy stormy sea you can not swim, 3-4 points is a ceiling. But if you risked and got into a wave that carries away from the shore, calm down, relax your body and try to stay on the crest of the wave. As soon as the wave rushes to the shore, try to jump out of it as far as possible towards the shore and as soon as possible move to the exit from the water until the next wave is caught up and carried off.

After each bath, if possible, rinse the body with clean fresh water or at least thoroughly wipe with a towel. And after returning from the beach, thoroughly rinse your mouth and throat, rinse your nose and ears and take a shower with a soft gel, then apply a moisturizer to your skin.

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