Who doesn’t love to swim during summertime? Since it’s the most obvious way to relieve stress and stay fit during summer days, we all feel like hitting the pool sometimes. But many of us would be wondering whether it’s the right decision to swim if you have Urinary tract infection-UTI or not.
Yes, you can go swimming with a UTI. But the chances are pretty good that you might end up making your UTI worse if you don’t be careful about hygiene and health issues considering UTI. Research shows during summertime what influence UTI the most are swimming-related issues.
How Does Swimming Influence UTI?
Before moving to any further discussions, we would like you to know how swimming puts an impact on the whole deal. First, you need to know what UTI is.
Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) – UTI is a disease caused by bacteria going inside our urinary tract. When bacteria enter our urinary tract, infection occurs, and that’s what we call UTI.
It will be wrong if we don’t clarify the fact that swimming was never evil, nor the swimming pool, it is the pool water!
However, it is a known fact that UTI is a disease caused by bacteria entering your urine tract. Swimming leads us to stay in a wet swimsuit for a really long period. As a result, bacteria grow on our outfits and enter our urinary tract.
If we outgrow the basics for a while, it is noticeable that using public pools can be a bit risky since there will be more groups, more people, and an unhygienic situation to grow more bacteria. The public pools can be dealt with wisely if you protect yourself with prescribed hygienic methods.
Health Issues You Might Go Through Due to Swimming With a UTI
Urinary tract infection isn’t something that would leave you without reacting. The symptoms might start with slight pain or burning sensation when you pee. You might also notice some blood in your urine or sometimes a high fever that you often ignore.
But that’s never the end. Eventually, it might lead you to bladder pain or bladder infection. If it’s left untreated it may lead you to dangerous fecal matter, even kidney damage. So it’s better not to be reckless about it like other recreational water illnesses.
People Most at Risk for Swimming With UTI
According to experts and what research shows, it is evident that pregnant women are at the top of the list. Besides, kids can’t be marked to be in the green zone since they tend to swallow water and stay in their wet underwear for a long period.
For the red zone, we would list the people who are going through serious health issues, unlike any recreational water illness.
People suffering from cancer or HIV or an organ transplant shouldn’t be taking the risk of giving swimming with a UTI a shot. People who don’t form a potential immune system must consult their health council when it comes to the question of whether they can go swimming with a UTI.
On the research basis of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections, women are considered to be four times more at risk of getting UTIs. In short, the pool is like a breeding ground for germs and bacteria waiting for women to attack.
Can UTI Get Worse Due to Swimming?
Since swimming is considered to be one of the biggest risks for provoking your UTI, there have to be some valid reasons. The answer to can swimming make UTI worse pretty much depends on our activities.
UTIs can get worse by swimming only when you don’t reach out for those signals experts have been sending you all along. However, these are the reasons why UTI might get worse due to swimming:
- UTIs can get worse by swimming when you spend a very long period in your wet underpants. Being in your underpants for longer simply gives bacteria more time to get inside your urinary tract.
- Urinary tract infections are caused by germs, bacteria, and fecal particles that are mostly found in dirty pools. So try to keep your pool clean.
- Low-quality underwear can be a huge threat too, when you swim in low-quality underwear, you invite urinary tract infections.
- Although it’s one among rare cases, public pools can cause increased risk if you don’t take hygienic protection.
What Measures Should You Take to Defeat UTIs While Swimming and Stay Healthy?
Although we all are aware of the higher risk that swimming puts us into if we have UTI, every time you see a pool you feel like jumping, don’t you? No matter whether you’re a kid or an average adult.
That’s exactly why we need you to take these measures in order to defeat summertime UTI while swimming and stay healthy. These ways will help you get rid of the pain that urinary tract infections give.
- Don’t be in wet underwear or sweaty clothes for too long so that bacteria don’t get the time to get inside your urinary tract. Wearing wet underwear or sweaty clothes will let bacteria grow on your body, apparently.
- Before jumping into the pool, talk to the pool staff about the water quality and how they care for the pool.
- Don’t swallow pool water while swimming, that’s just a warm hug to bacteria. Studies say an average adult consumes a tablespoon of pool water while swimming. The scary fact is kids leave adults behind in this case, so be very careful.
- Take a shower as soon as possible after hitting the pool. After taking the shower consider taking a test with a portable test strip to be double sure that you’re not endangered anymore.
- Don’t swim without taking any hygiene protection if you have UTI to save yourself from germs and bacteria.
- To avoid swimmer’s ear infections, dry your ear canal or outer ear canal after swimming.
- Always carry a portable test strip with you to keep yourself posted so that you can take measures against UTIs instantly. If you forget to carry one, then ask the pool staff — they tend to have these in stock.
- Purchase the panties from Urology Care Foundation which are specially made to prevent increasing UTIs while swimming.
- Drinking plenty of water is much needed to stay hydrated and save your urinary system.
- Drink plenty of cranberry juice.
- Try to empty your bladder before sleeping.
- Use a warm water bag to lessen the pain or discomfort, or pressure in your bladder.
- Don’t miss the schedule of your antibiotics, it’s super crucial for treating UTIs. If you don’t want this disease to spread, be regular at taking your antibiotics.
- Avoid swimming if you’re going through serious health issues while having a UTI.
Does a Hot Tub Help a UTI?
It might not sound like what you expected but the truth is hot tubs never help a UTI. Rather it would cause you more problems than ever. If a woman who already has UTI sits in a hot tub for too long, burnish sensation can increase to the highest.
In short, a hot tub is a breeding ground for burning sensation, irritation, and discomfort in your urinary system. Even swimming pools don’t cause such issues for women. So in order to decrease the risk of increased UTI, you must avoid hot tubs.
Types of Pools and Urinary Tract Infections
There are different types of pools. However, if you’re having urinary tract infection, you might have to go for some specific ones. Let’s tell you which types of pools you can use and which ones you can’t.
Saltwater Pool
The salt that the water of a saltwater pool contains is legitimately capable of killing bacteria. Basically, it kills the main reason that causes urinary tract infection.
Chlorine Pool
Chlorine is meant to kill bacteria. So if you intend on enjoying swimming with a UTI then you should do so in a chlorine pool. In that way, you are keeping up with disease control too. A chlorine pool is considered to be the safest swimming pool for people with Urine tract infections who want to swim.
Public Swimming Pools
While the pools mentioned above are the right choices, the public swimming pools wouldn’t be a wise decision if you don’t take proper hygiene protection. So a public pool would be slightly on the negative side.