My eyes have become puffy

[Susie C.]

I was searching google to find out if my eyes have become puffy because of the my gym's salt water pool that I swim in.

My eyes were never puffy when I awoke on mornings. But now they are. I suspect the pool. I eat no salt and before this, I experienced no swelling anywhere in my body. Not my ankles, feet, or face.

My gym switched to a salt pool. And I noticed in the sauna, that my sweat tasted just like the pool water. And it was a salty taste. Before, my sweat had no salty taste because I eat no salt. I haven't in years. So I suspected that I must be absorbing the water through my skin, because I am not drinking the pool water.

Secondly, I fast much of my days. I drink perhaps two gallons of juice daily. That's why I eat no salt, so I won't swell (I am a fruitarian, anyway, so this is not hard to do). And because before I was a fruitarian, when I ate a lot of salt, my ankles seemed to sprain more easily and my knees seemed stiffer.

So when I began awaking with puffy eyes, I could only suspect the pool's water.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

There may be something in the pool water that is affecting your eyes, but it isn't the salt. Salt in the pool water is going to reduce the effect that the pool water has on your skin. The amount of water gained through your skin in a pool is trivial, but it is higher without salt in the water than with salt in the water.

It is much more likely that your eyes are reacting to CC, essentially by products of poor sanitation.

 

[linen]

It is much more likely that your eyes are reacting to CC, essentially by products of poor sanitation.

I second this, it is not the salt, it is something else. Most likely you sweat smells like the pool since you have something on the surface of your skin from the pool, likely CC. I happened to make a post earlier today which discuss salt content in swg pools if you are interested: http://www.troublefreepool.com/blood-pressure-myth-t26726.html#p313337.

 

[linen]

I eat no salt

Not to nitpik here, but you do eat salt if you eat fruit, maybe not as much as some of the other foods, but you do still get it (potassium/potassium chloride as well) . That is a good thing, since elimination of salt would mean your cells could not longer get nutrients etc. from the osmotic process.

 

[linen]

Sorry for the barrage of posts. Your topic got me thinking

My gym switched to a salt pool.

How long ago did they switch? It maybe that they are struggling to get the pool under control still, they might not even know they have a problem. You might want to mention it to them...maybe ask specifically about the CC (Combined Chlorine) levels (or maybe that is a bad idea). Here is a link that describes CC: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_water_chemistry

 

[Susie C.]

I quote this from the forum where I originally posted: Blood Pressure Myth? (My post was moved here to start another thread, I guess.)

Your skin cells and most other human cells contain a salt level around 7000ppm (from memory) so immersion in any liquid with less than the electrolyte (salt) content of your body results in osmosis (the movement of the high salt level from skin cells into the lower salt level water bath or pool) in an attempt to equalise the salt level to protect skin cells from rupture or collapse. You would only absorb salt if the pool was higher in salt than your skin cells.

I probably have less salt in my body than the pool I'm swimming in.

Welcome to TFP!

There may be something in the pool water that is affecting your eyes, but it isn't the salt. Salt in the pool water is going to reduce the effect that the pool water has on your skin. The amount of water gained through your skin in a pool is trivial, but it is higher without salt in the water than with salt in the water.

It is much more likely that your eyes are reacting to CC, essentially by products of poor sanitation.

No water touches my eyes. I wear water-proof goggles.

Also, now when I exercise and sweat, white streaks appear on my black exercise clothes. I have heard that white streaks are caused by salt coming out in sweat. That hasn't happened to me for years, since I switched to my salt-free fruitarian diet. But now it's happening again.

I'll quit swimming for a month--I figure that would be long enough to sweat out any excess salt content--and then I'll report on the results.

 

[loop_pea]

susie, it sounds like you're a very salt-sensitive person, which is not the case for most people. Perhaps your body retains far more salt that it really needs, so even a small intake is a problem? (this is a complete guess, so could be wildly wrong). It's a shame if this causes you to stop swimming though :-(

 

[kirbdoc]

are you sure it's not your goggles. Typical Salt water pool is around 3000ppm and the majority of interstitial fluid/plasma is 9000ppm (0.9%). If skin was highly permeable (which it isn't) you would loose salt, not gain it. I agree with Jason, it's something else, not the salt. Have you ever swam in the ocean?

 

[Poolsean]

I would third or fourth the "it's not the salt" response. Your bodies sodium level is greater than the pool water, and around 9,000 ppm. The fact is that if your salinity deviates much from this, your body would react drastically due to the imbalance of electrolytes.

What kind of salt system did they install? There are some systems that require higher than the normal 3000 ppm of salt that can allow a higher salt taste. However, I don't think it would have the affect that high salt intake in your diet would cause.

If you can't normally taste the salinity in your tears, the salt in the pool has to be extremely high to be able to taste it in the water then. Also, it's possible for the salinity taste to be metallic in the form of high TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). This can be due to high calcium, magnesium, salts, and metals in the water. However, his is usually accompanied by a dull appearance to the water and more of a metallic taste.