What Are the Top 5 Benefits of Swimming for Skin?
woman floating in a swimming pool with healthy skin

There’s a question we’ve all wondered about before and after we swim – is pool water good for our skin? There are many benefits of swimming pools, but what people don’t know is that swimming benefits your skin as well, though indirectly. Swimming can boost circulation, which is the process of blood moving throughout the body that carries oxygen, nutrients, and removes waste. This circulation boost that we get from swimming increases the blood flow to re-vitalize and re-nourish skin cells.

This is just one of the benefits of swimming for your skin. There are plenty more. The blood flow and oxygen also carry away any waste from your skin. What happens is that the water gently exfoliates your skin as you swim. When swimming laps in the pool or just treading water, there is a smooth feeling on your skin as the water glides against it. What people don’t see is that the water is lifting away dead skin cells and exfoliating the dry patches, which is one of the best benefits of swimming for your skin.

#1. Acne Prevention in Chlorinated and Salt Water

This is one of the well-known benefits of swimming for skin. While the physical activity of swimming in the water has benefits, just being in the water can help your skin. While you may never have imagined using chlorine for acne, chlorinated water and saltwater have been proven to stop chronic acne. When the water removes any excess oils, it clears up breakouts. The antibacterial properties of chlorine also help strip away bacteria from your pores.

But it’s not just chlorine for acne. There are other minerals with healing properties. For those with acne scarring, saltwater has healing properties too. The minerals in the water reduce inflammation, and the salt opens up pores to remove impurities. The minerals that help fight this are magnesium, calcium, and potassium.

Each of these minerals has a different role. Magnesium protects the skin from external damage and regulates cell regeneration. Calcium helps to maintain its natural moisture by working to produce sebum. Lastly, potassium regulates moisture, although it can’t be directly absorbed by the skin.

#2. Encourages Hydration

As previously stated, chlorine and saltwater strip away oils and dries the skin. Because of this, most people need to apply lotion after swimming. The act of swimming can be seen as a series of skincare steps.

Just treading water circulates through and improves one’s skin, as the water strips the oils and aids with acne. The hydration of sunscreen prior to swimming also helps prevent dryness beforehand.

#3. Gentle Exfoliation

Gentle exfoliation is actually one of benefits of treading water. The water will glide smoothly over your skin as you swim just as much as if you were actively swimming. While this seems perfectly normal, at a microscopic level, the water lifts dead skin cells away. It can also exfoliate dead skin patches on your skin that you may not even know.

Exfoliation can lead to several other health benefits. For example, it helps skin care products such as lotions penetrate deeper into your skin, producing better results. Exfoliation can also help prevent acne and dry skin and helps unclog pores.

#4. Removes Toxins

One of the best swimming benefits for the skin is toxin removal. Although toxins cannot exit the body through the skin, swimming can indirectly boost toxin removal from your body. As you may already know, increased heart rate is one of the benefits of swimming in water.

The increased heart rate, in turn, boosts your metabolism. Your enhanced metabolism helps eliminate the toxins accumulating in your tissues. Though indirectly, that’s how swimming can help remove toxins from your body. Consider swimming if you want to detoxify your body.

#5. Removes Oils

One more swimming benefit for the skin involves removing oils from your skin. Once again, the chlorine in swimming pool water comes to your help. When it kills the bacteria and prevents acne, the water removes natural oils from your skin. This is one of the excellent benefits of swimming if you have naturally oily skin.

See the Swimming Benefits for Skin Yourself

As you can see, there are plenty of benefits to swimming for your skin. If you swim a few times a week, you can enjoy glowing, healthy skin with virtually no signs of acne. And what better way to enjoy a pleasant swim than having your own swimming pool?

Don’t worry. We will take care of everything, whether you have an in-ground or above-ground pool or a spa. To personally experience the benefits swimming pools offer, call Aqua Leisure Pools and Spas today!