What is causing my daughter's fingertips to peel during and after swimming?
- Thread starter wjaneala
- Start date
Just being in water a long time can make your fingertips all wrinkly. Is she a beginner swimmer who may be grapping onto the edge of the pool a lot?
No, she's an advanced swimmer. She's a fish. 
Latest test results:
FC: 8.5 (bumped up due to high swimmer load this weekend)
CC: 0
pH: 7.5
TA: 130
CH: 200
CYA: 40
Latest test results:
FC: 8.5 (bumped up due to high swimmer load this weekend)
CC: 0
pH: 7.5
TA: 130
CH: 200
CYA: 40
TA is a little high, but I don't see anything to cause this problem, how your water look?
Does she peel when visiting the ocean? Does she play sports or a musical instrument that causes callus build up on her fingertips? Just her fingers and not toes too?
Is it actual skin peeling or just pruning up? What does the fingertip underneath the peeled area look like??
Is it actual skin peeling or just pruning up? What does the fingertip underneath the peeled area look like??
The one is still peeling from tonight's swim. The others have peeled and are just red now.
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No, only in our pool. And no, no sports or musical instruments. My son doesn't have this issue, nor anyone else that's swam here, that I know of.
I'd have to wonder if she's gripping something or scraping her fingers on some edge of the pool to look like that? I know some plaster pools can be a tad rough on some folk's feet....?
Pain? Itching?
Pain? Itching?
f3justusc
Well-known member
People react differently to pools and chemicals sometimes. I have never had peeling fingertips but when I used to swim five days per week, one hour a day, a strange thing would happen to me. At least 3-4 times per week, after swimming for about 30 minutes, I would get a pain in my head that was so terrible that I thought I was having an aneurysm. I would get out of the pool and go sit in the hot tub until it subsided. Doc had no explanation and neither did Google. Now, it seems they are calling it a swimmers migrane. The after effects were definitively those of a migraine and they lasted for several days.
It is awful when something happens and you cannot figure out why. It may be that she is a bit sensitive to the chlorine and it is drying her skin. Have you tried Eucerin or Aveno?
No plaster. We have vinyl. The only things she handles are pool noodles, floats and a beach ball. No itching, but she says they are painful.
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Trying Aveeno tonight. Will see how they look in the morning.
f3justusc
Well-known member
Could also be coincidental. The fact that they are painful would make me wonder if this is not at all related to the pool. Just my two cents.
some other info?
what is the water temperature?
how long is she in it?
does she notice anything when reaching into a freezer and removing cold items?
what is the water temperature?
how long is she in it?
does she notice anything when reaching into a freezer and removing cold items?
With a 36,000 gallon pool you shouldn't need to bump up the FC as much as you are. The minimum FC for 40 ppm CYA is 3 ppm so your 8 ppm is on the high side. Normally not a problem, but you might as well try a lower target level. One person-hour in 36,000 gallons would only consume 0.03 ppm FC so even with 10 bathers for an hour or 5 for two hours it would only consume 0.3 ppm so you don't need to raise the FC very much at all.
Nevertheless, 8 ppm FC with 40 ppm CYA is equivalent to 0.2 ppm FC with no CYA so far lower than in commercial/public pools with no CYA such as some indoor pools.
Are you sure the CYA is at 40 ppm? Are you finding the daily chlorine loss to be around 2-3 ppm FC or is it substantially higher indicating that perhaps the CYA level is lower than you think?
Nevertheless, 8 ppm FC with 40 ppm CYA is equivalent to 0.2 ppm FC with no CYA so far lower than in commercial/public pools with no CYA such as some indoor pools.
Are you sure the CYA is at 40 ppm? Are you finding the daily chlorine loss to be around 2-3 ppm FC or is it substantially higher indicating that perhaps the CYA level is lower than you think?
Oh yes. Very familiar with this.
My son too is an avid swimmer - swim team and dive team. At the start of every swim season he gets (along with several other kids) what is called "pool toe." Depending upon how much diving he does from the side (rather than the boards) he will also come home with pool fingers. This is from diving from the side and rather than using the ladder to get out, he lifts himself out on the side because it's more convenient. There is usually some small amount of sand around the edge somewhere and if he is the only kid practicing from the side, it takes a several times for the water dripping from his shorts to wash it all away.
Here's a bit of info Blisters on the finger tips and toes after swimming in a 6 year old boy? | Yahoo Answers
Have her lather her hands with a good thick lotion (Eucerine cream in a jar/tub - Walmart generic works pretty well, but swing for the name brand to be safe) before and after swimming. She might have used an exfoliant, or soap with antibacterial beads that that took just enough skin off to make her hands more delicate today.
Hope the hurt stops soon! We have kids every summer who suddenly erupt from the pool in tears because it hurts so bad.
My son too is an avid swimmer - swim team and dive team. At the start of every swim season he gets (along with several other kids) what is called "pool toe." Depending upon how much diving he does from the side (rather than the boards) he will also come home with pool fingers. This is from diving from the side and rather than using the ladder to get out, he lifts himself out on the side because it's more convenient. There is usually some small amount of sand around the edge somewhere and if he is the only kid practicing from the side, it takes a several times for the water dripping from his shorts to wash it all away.
Here's a bit of info Blisters on the finger tips and toes after swimming in a 6 year old boy? | Yahoo Answers
Have her lather her hands with a good thick lotion (Eucerine cream in a jar/tub - Walmart generic works pretty well, but swing for the name brand to be safe) before and after swimming. She might have used an exfoliant, or soap with antibacterial beads that that took just enough skin off to make her hands more delicate today.
Hope the hurt stops soon! We have kids every summer who suddenly erupt from the pool in tears because it hurts so bad.
She is 12.
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Temp today was 90, and she was in for a couple of hours. The freezer thing, no.
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We had about 15 people in there for a few hours on Saturday. Just letting it drift back down now.
I'm pretty sure it's 40, unless I'm doing the test incorrectly. I find that I lose anywhere from 2-4 ppm FC each day, depending on the weather. The pool is in full sun all day long.
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Thank you for the info! She does dive quite a bit, and she always pulls herself up and out on the side of the pool, rather than using the ladder or steps. Our pool deck is concrete, so maybe that has a lot to do with it?
Yup, I'd think it does.
Her feet are better acclimated and have developed thicker skin.
Her feet are better acclimated and have developed thicker skin.
n240sxguy
Well-known member
It's definitely the concrete. My oldest daughter is 8, and her fingers looked exactly like that at the beginning of this swim season. She too was holding and pulling up on the side. Pruny fingers and brushed concrete don't mix well at all.
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