The Benefits of Swimming in Eliminating Acne
Everyone knows that swimming is one of the most beneficial activities for anyone’s health in general. I have heard of studies showing that the only exercise more beneficial for overall health is running. The difference, however, is that swimming forces slower, deeper breathing and removes the physical strain on joints. In addition, people of all fitness levels can swim at effective paces due to the low impact on the body.
Now how is swimming particularly helpful in eliminating acne? It is a well-known fact that exercise in general promotes healthy skin. In addition to that, the deep breathing allows more oxygen to be processed and circulated by the body assisting in the removal of toxins and dead cells from the body and promoting the regeneration of cells. (see my next post for information on what everyone means when they speak about toxins).
Furthermore, because swimming requires the immersing the whole body (hence the entire skin surface) in water, it allows for the natural moisture absorption of the skin. Since you will most likely either be swimming in chlorinated pools or salt water, the disinfectant properties of the water will also be absorbed by the skin. And as you may or may not remember from a previous post, severe acne is the result of a susceptibility to infection.
In particular, painful pimples are acne blemishes that have become severely infected. Thus, swimming, more so in salt water than chlorinated, is extremely effective in disinfecting the skin and killing bacteria on the skin surface. Salt also dries the skin, limiting the production of sebum.
If you are not yet convinced then simply look at professional swimmers and surfers and notice whether or not they have acne. The results will speak for themselves.
Now I am not saying that this will cure your acne (as some swimmers have pointed out to me) but it will definitely help! And if you are already swimming and still have acne, it would be worse if you were not swimming.
allwin cool says:
I have struggled with acne for many years. I still continue to struggle with acne in my mid-20s and always seem to have a few breakouts. I have tried a variety of skin care products over the years. It’s like I can never have perfectly clear skin anymore. But after using Zenmed products it’s much better now and I am Totally satisfied with product quality and results. I recommend Zenmed products for sure!
May 28th, 2007 at 6:52 am
theyoungs25 says:
There are hundreds of skin-care products in the market that claim to do everything from clear up acne to erase wrinkles. But do they really work? I tried many and come to conclusion that Zenmed products do well for my skin. I am 29 years old, my skin has always been very dry, this caused my face to be more sensitive and produce more oil than needed and therefore, breakout a lot. I also struggled with minor acne, One day I see an ad of Zenmed advertised everywhere over web, I ask from one of my friend who use this product previously she said for her it worked great. After that I tried Zenmed products and found that this product do well for my face also. :)
June 12th, 2007 at 2:44 am
hellokitty says:
I am a water polo player and swimmer, which means that I am in the water basically every day of my life. And I do have acne, and a lot of it. I don’t believe that your tests are correct, most everyone that I know that is a full swimmer and/or water polo player like me has some pretty severe acne. Please give us tips on how to help ourselves.
December 8th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
George Cleanthous says:
Hi hellokitty,
I think it is important to remember that swimming is not a treatment for acne, it is simply an activity that helps to eliminate and reduce it. You are a full swimmer so that is fantastic. I think that because you are a swimmer your acne is probably a lot better than it would be if you were not a swimmer.
Also, I have previously mentioned the effects of pH balance on acne development and you need to counteract the effects of unhealthy foods and activities in multiple ways, primarily with your diet. I can recommend books to provide more information on this topic if you like and I also have brief explanations in my other posts on this subject and how to use it to eliminate acne. pH balance is what you need to look into to clear your acne, but swimming greatly assists.
I hope that helps..
January 7th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
clear$0 says:
the best acne treatment does not cost a thing. I have naturally oily skin and excema, I also had bad acne. So I would use the acne treatments and my skin would get very dry from them. And it was a continus cycle until one day my grand mother told me not to use anything on my face just a hot rag and hot water and not to use any soap on my face ever only water. I works my skin also dosn’t get over oily any more. I started the first week of this treatment with pimples but they soon began to disapear. and now 6 months later I dont have any acne and my exema has not come back.
April 14th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Mike says:
Acne susceptability is greatly increase when one (or more of the bodies) defenses does not operate effectively. Nutrition & Hydration are as important as Skin Care.
Dermatologists are best at treating acne effectively if you stay with them. Sometimes its taking stabs in the dark, but at least they have more experience and will be there to evaluate progress.
Sodium Chloride, Bromide, and whatever else is in the pool water will dry your skin… If the skin gets overdry, the cells can become damages inviting infection (ala acne).
Don’t clean the face too much, especially be careful with harsh (extra strength) cleansers or the medicated pads. It irritates the skin. If you swim, burning face makes a workout really suck. Like an earlier commenter recommended… warm water on a face cloth will usually do the trick. Opens the poors too!
Sometimes the skin will release extra oil to fight the dryness and any dirt will clog pores (ala acne).
The main thing is to eat right and get good vitamins and antioxidents… keep you face clean and try to meet it’s needs (moisture if its dry and astringent if its oily). Watch out for pain or redness or peeling; this may be an indication of doing too much of something.
Also, wash your hands and nails regularly. So much dirt goes from hands and nails to the face…
Lastly, need I say it… don’t pick your nose. Bad bacteria lives there. Use saline mist if you get iritating buggers and blow it when necessary.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Jessica says:
I am a swimmer. I swim 2 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, but I still have acne, just as much as everyone else. And so do my teammates. We are teenagers though, so we are probably more acne-prone. I use prescription acne cream, which dries out my face, but so far I haven’t seen any results and its been about a month.
It makes sense to me that swimming would help with acne, but I don’t think it does.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:21 am
David says:
drying the skin doesn’t help the production of acne. it forces the skin to produce more sebum
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:53 am
Lane says:
I was a swimmer and didn’t have acne. After I quit swimming at 19 years old, I started having acne problems.
Maybe the daily chlorine on my skin was helping? Or maybe just the fact that I was an athlete? Or I got acne because I started gaining weight? I started touching my face a lot?
I’m not sure.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
George Cleanthous says:
Hi Lane,
It was probably a combination of things, but did you change your diet at all after you stopped swimming?
George
October 29th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
paul says:
Swimming too much could possiblly irritate your skin which would give you more acne… Swimming moderate amounts I believe to improve skin…
November 30th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
lee says:
how many times in a week do i have to swim to help with the elimination of acne but to keep my natural balance in the same time?
January 3rd, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Someone says:
I’m a guy.. and about this time last year I was 6ft at 210 lbs, and had no acne. I lost a lot of weight, now i’m 105 lbs but started getting acne… I now believe that a diet effects acne.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Interesting Reading… – The Blogs at HowStuffWorks says:
[...] The Benefits of Swimming in Eliminating Acne – “Now how is swimming particularly helpful in eliminating acne? It is a well-known fact that exercise in general promotes healthy skin. In addition to that, the deep breathing allows more oxygen to be processed and circulated by the body assisting in the removal of toxins and dead cells from the body and promoting the regeneration of cells. (see my next post for information on what everyone means when they speak about toxins)…” [...]
January 11th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Matt says:
Hi I’m Matt and I did this thing which has no causal relationship to acne but it helped so now I believe that ‘non-causal thing’ helps acne and you should all try it.
June 16th, 2010 at 9:29 am
kelley says:
What works for some people won’t work for everyone, and your skin is ever-changing. Over time, it will start to react differently to certain chemicals. Rather than trying a multitude of harsh and often expensive products, why not stick with a routine that will carry through throughout the year? Really, you could do something as simple as washing your face with warm water and a washcloth in the morning to gently exfoliate…and then following with a light moisturizer. Then, perhaps, you could use a gentle cleanser at night to remove dirt, oil, and makeup…and, again, follow with a light moisturizer. As far as actually treating the acne goes, diet goes a LONG way. And natural products can be very effective too. Did you know that green tea cream has been proven to be as effective in treating acne as a 4% solution of benzoyl peroxide? Only it’s far less irritating! A dab of tea tree oil to a blemish can be quite effective too. They’re worth the try, since they’re a hell of a lot cheaper than a lot of the crap out on the market. Drinking green tea regularly can help improve your skin too. Adding more zinc to your diet can do wonders! But really, continually drying the shi* out of your skin with harsh acne products is only going to strip it of its natural oils and send your skin into a state of shock that will make it work overtime to heal itself…only getting MORE oily and producing MORE sebum that will potentially create MORE acne. You’d be surprised how far being gentle to your skin can go…and the benefits of a better diet and physical activity. READ READ READ before you jump into something. Especially acne medications, which can have serious side effects. Look at reviews. Check out acne.org and read around the forums.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:01 pm