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Staying in wet bathing clothes for long periods of time leads to health problems
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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When going on a long-awaited beach vacation, think about buying another swimsuit just in case? Or even two? And also a change of beach clothes for your husband and children. The fact is that gynecologists, urologists and nephrologists have found out as a result of many years of research that staying in wet swimwear for a long time can lead to health problems.
Let's start with women. Gynecologists and nephrologists insist: if you decide to spend the day on the beach or by the outdoor pool at the hotel, prepare yourself to change your swimsuit after each swim. As a rule, a regular synthetic swimsuit without foam pads dries in the sun in 40-50 minutes and can be put on again.
But still - why can't you "bask in the sun" in a wet swimsuit?
Gynecologists claim that bacteria begin to multiply in the wet fibers of your swimsuit just 3-4 minutes after you get out of the water. The process is especially active in the folds of the skin, on the inner thighs and in the groin. Unfortunately, both sea water and fresh water in the pool are far from sterile, and fans of swimming pools are at greater risk in this case: as a rule, the water in hotel pools is not disinfected as in sports and indoor pools, and the people swimming there are different. As a result of a long stay in a wet swimsuit, you can get, at a minimum, thrush, at most - acute colpitis. You must agree that both can seriously ruin your vacation. Nephrologists suspect a wet swimsuit of being to blame for frequent acute cystitis, which, if not treated in a timely manner, quickly "raises the infection upward" - that is, to the kidneys.
When changing into a dry swimsuit, be sure to take a shower to remove dirty water and especially sand particles, small algae, silt, since it is in this environment that microbes reproduce with particular pleasure. Dry yourself thoroughly before putting on the next set of beachwear. By the way, if you are wearing a bikini or tankini, you can change only the bottom part of the outfit, and leave the top.
Children should be completely changed after each entry into the water - for the same reasons. In addition, if your baby spends a long time in shallow water, he should be rinsed under a beach shower at least once an hour and dressed again in dry clothes.
Whether a man should change his wet swimming trunks depends on what kind of swimming trunks he wears and whether he has any chronic genitourinary diseases. In case of prostatitis and prostate adenoma, changing wet swimming trunks is a must. It is also necessary to change tight-fitting polyamide swimming trunks of the "briefs" or "boxer" style. But wide swimming trunks-shorts can be safely left: they are not dangerous.
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