After yesterdays posts about hydrotherapy etc I called in at the physio's this afternoon to enquire about the new hydrotherapy and aqua pilates courses they are offering, starting next week.
I've booked to go for the initial assessment (on land!) this week but having discovered they are using a pool at a local day/boarding school I'm a bit worried about the infection risk. When they said a private pool I never thought they meant hundreds of children and teenagers!
The head physio assures me she has seen the water labs and they are within 'acceptable limits' and that the chemicals are adjusted to reflect the fact that it's used by large numbers of children but I'm not sure I feel ok with this. So, ok, she did a risk assessment but that didn't include use by immuno-suppressed people.
I'm only on a bio at the moment, no DMARDS, so targeted immune suppression but is it worth the risk? I had a bad experience with a public pool, catching a kidney infection, and that was long before PsA.
My feelings are that all those chemicals render the water non-infectious. I also have found while I am on Bios and mtx I have caught less colds and infections since being on bios and mtx that I did before. Our over active immune system is brought to about normal on the meds. I do not find I suppressed at all. But that is just my opinion. I do wear shoes whan I go to the pool as the toilets and showers do scare me!
You've got it Michael ..... hopefully everything in the water is dealt with but being in the general changing room/toilet/shower environment, yuck! The leaflet I've been given says 'no shoes' so I've somehow got it in my head that a school is a potentially infection rich environment.
Thinking I might phone my bio nurse and see what she thinks.
Thanks, Sybil. I suppose there is no reason why I couldn't ring the school and explain that I'd like to see the facilities before I commit because my disease might make me vulnerable. If they were reluctant then that would be an answer in itself.
Think I will leave a message for my bio nurse tomorrow and also chat it through again with the physio when I go for my assessement on Thursday.
I think that when folk start bios, they are overly cautious. Understandably so, but still over cautious. I’ve been on a bio for, oh, five years now? I’ve worked in the ER, pacu, go to water aerobics, done aquatic PT, and have cats, chinchillas, a dog, and (even worse) boys. I have been sick twice, and never had a skin infection. I would be more worried about the locker rooms than the pool water. I’ll be you can wear water shoes, or aqua socks in the pool as long as you wear them inside only, there shouldn’t be a problem. Those little old ladies doing water aerobics aren’t going to do all that jumping around with bare feet.
Your pt’s set up is pretty common for aquatic PT. They rarely have their own private pools. They are just too costly to maintain. A girl can dream though, right?
I agree Grumpy, I've been through all this DMARD and bio stuff and all the while owning and working with cats, which if the media is to be believed, are a severe risk of everything from a TB to toxoplasmosis to ringworm plus a whole host of 'lesser' parasitic infections!!!!!!!
Struggling to remember if I've even caught a cold since diagnosis ..... maybe one, very mild no worse than anything before.
Wondering what you medical people think are about using a chlorhexidine (Hibiscrub) shower gel before/after using the pool? It may be belt and braces but so long as it doesn't cause my skin to flare and it's only once a week. This is what I showered with before I had the steroid injections into my knees last week.
Please don’t do that. There’s no need, and your skin is home to lots of healthy flora that keep you, well, healthy. Also, your skin is a barrier to infection. By scrubbing, you could accidentally scrap your skin causing an opening in that lovely protective barrier. We need to be exposed to lesser bacteria and flora to keep ourselves resistant to some of the bigger boys.
I don’t admit it often, but I am in health care, and have a pretty good brain. We don’t use antibacterial ANYTHING in my home. That should tell you something.
My guess is that the water sanitation will be very good, and you have nothing to worry about there. Public and school pools usually have very tight regulation, and very frequent inspection.
Pools that are heavily used by children can, though, have a lot of chlorination bi-products in the water. These are not going to infect you, but they may irritate your skin. That’s why I’d think that scrubbing yourself with the antibacterial scrub’s a bad idea: you might be scrubbing away your skin’s natural protective mantle.
I agree with the others about the change room floors, a much more likely source of nasty bugs. They said no shoes, but bathing shoes or flip-flops are different. And washing, drying and powdering your feet when you get dressed is a wise precaution.
Same here. The last anti-bacterial thing that entered our house was the surgical scrub before my hip got done. I will not use any anti-bacterial product, for the reason Grumpy states.
GrumpyCat said:
I don’t admit it often, but I am in health care, and have a pretty good brain. We don’t use antibacterial ANYTHING in my home. That should tell you something.
I've just been for my initial assessment with the physio who will be taking the hydrotherapy. She has put my mind at rest and she thinks it will be 'perfect' for my needs. It's done in a small group of four people and she prepares an individual program for each participant based on their needs. And the water temperature is increased for the session, yippee.
On the hygiene front they are having the water independently tested and you can wear pool shoes.
Have signed up for the first three weeks starting July 4th. Now need to order myself a suitably flattering/covering swimming costume.
Ok, don't laugh but I've actually decided to go for a two piece. I'd like to report that I have an amazing body and found an itsy-bitsy, teensy-weensy polka dot bikini .... but it would be a BIG lie.
Because my shoulder is bad and I have problems with anything that I have to tug up, when I saw this swimwear that is a pair of shorts with integral stomach smoothing pants and a separate tankini top with underwired cups and adjustable straps, I thought 'perfect'. And once I'm in the water I can always tuck the top into the shorts if it rides/floats up at all.
I'll try my best to look forward to it, Seenie, but I'm not much into organised exercise now or pre-PsA .... but needs must and it may just help me get back to being able to get enough exercise from an active everyday life.
That sounds wonderful! Big advantage of the two piece: when you have to go to the loo, you won’t have to do the big peel and tug, and tug it all up again.
Five ladies in a pool sounds like a pretty enjoyable social activity to me! And getting some movement is a bonus!
I need to book my ticket, when’s the first session again? LOL
Yet again you've come up with positives that I hadn't appreciated. First session is a week tomorrow so plenty of time to get you here :-)
Seenie said:
That sounds wonderful! Big advantage of the two piece: when you have to go to the loo, you won't have to do the big peel and tug, and tug it all up again. Five ladies in a pool sounds like a pretty enjoyable social activity to me! And getting some movement is a bonus! I need to book my ticket, when's the first session again? LOL
It was the picture in Tuesday's Daily Mail of a certain curvy, cocaine snorting disgraced female chef wearing a 'burkini' that had me in stitches ...... after seeing that I reckon neither you or I have anything to worry about.
sybil said:
Ha ha! When I read this I was thinking you might get distracted and take the teeny-weeny polka dot option. I tried on a pair of shorts recently and me and the sales' assistant had a damn good laugh. I try to spread a little happiness. (Actually I wasn't laughing quite as hard as she was)
You guys are having way too much fun but I have to add my 2 cents while watching the World Cup. I buy chlorine resistant suits from Vermont Country Store for the pool. I put them on when I dress in the morning on pool days. I do not remove them to pee, I pull the crotch to one side and pee. Much easier!
