Posted on 08/18/2022 6:36:43 AM PDT by Red Badger
Dr. Keith Roach is a physician at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital. He writes an educational column on infectious diseases, public health and sports medicine.North America Syndicate
DEAR DR. ROACH: On vacation, or when swimming in a chlorinated pool, the question often arises: How does a quick shower compare to a half hour of swimming in a properly chlorinated private pool, which leaves you cleaner? I understand that soap and physically scrubbing your body could affect your cleanliness. -- R.H.
ANSWER: Chlorine in a swimming pool is added to keep you safe from germs in water. The amount of chlorine is just a bit less than the chlorine in drinking water. This is a surprise to people who have found that pool water hurts their eyes. The reason is that skin cells (and sweat, lotions and, yes, urine from swimmers) react with the chlorine in the pool to form substances called chloramines. These are what cause the irritation and cause you to have that chlorine odor when you get out of the pool.
I recommend a quick shower before you get into a pool to reduce contamination of the pool, and a thorough scrub with shampoo and soap when you get out, to wash off the chloramines.
DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 77-year-old man, and I had an ultrasound done because I noticed my left testicle seemed swollen. The result showed a large fluid collection (5 x 5 x 3 cm) superior to the left testicle. My doctor said to leave it as is, but if it bothered me, he could operate and remove it. Should it be removed? Will not removing it lead to other problems in the future? -- B.K.
ANSWER: A hydrocele is the name for a fluid collection in the testicle resulting from excess fluid production or reduced fluid reabsorption. They range in size from relatively small to massive. They can cause discomfort and skin irritation when they are large.
Most of the time, they do not need any treatment. Unless it really is bothering you, I wouldn’t generally recommend surgical treatment. You can certainly wait and get it done at any time, since the hydrocele does not put you at risk for any dangerous complications.
DEAR DR. ROACH: Is it possible to ever permanently recover from C. diff? I just had a second relapse and am taking vancomycin for several weeks, as I did the last two times. -- E.G.
ANSWER: Clostridium difficile, known as C. diff, is a stubborn bacteria that may normally live in the colon, but can overgrow the healthy bacteria to cause symptoms of watery diarrhea, often with fever and cramping.
Treatment with oral vancomycin has long been the usual first-line treatment, and it is usually effective. However, a newer antibiotic, fidaxomicin, has been proven more effective and would be a better choice for you, having failed a course of vancomycin.
Unfortunately, some people can even fail with fidaxomicin. There are other options, including a monoclonal antibody to the C. difficile toxin, bezlotoxumab, which can be given along with antibiotic treatment.
The best approach for C. diff is not to get it in the first place, which is a good time to remind people not to ask for antibiotics -- and for my colleagues not to prescribe them unless they are truly necessary. Long-term use of proton pump inhibitors, like omeprazole, also predispose people to developing C. diff, which is one reason I try to minimize use of these drugs.
Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu or send mail to 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803.
I put out DE in the spring all around my yard to kill ticks. Especially in my fenced in dog yard.
Just make sure you buy it from the farm supply stores. Not the DE made for swimming pool filters.
People urinate in a swimming pool??? I’m shocked, just shocked........ Who knew????
What an unfortunate name for a doctor:
Dr. Roach. Maybe the family puts an e on the end, pronouncing it “Ro-shay”,
LOL, but there’s some truth to the humor, of so many kids in the pool, and then they pee in the pool.
No, the very best remedy is spraying their mound hole with a mixture of castor oil, dishwasher soap and in water. Sprayed the mole holes in my rock garden, did not come back for a year.
I hope you didn’t do it in the pool.
“Humans lose 200,000,000 skin cells every hour. During a 24-hour period, a person loses almost five thousand million skin cells.” I might swim in a lake or ocean... but, no pool for me.
I can't believe that! It seems utterly implausible that pool water should be less chlorinated than drinking water!
Regards,
I have not, and never will, swim in a public pool. Just the idea of swimming in someone else’s crotch sweat send chills down my spine.
Perimeter,? A good algal bloom will fill the pool. Ask my turtle.
Nice.
Alligator not included.
5.56mm
One will turn up, soon enough.
I’m old enough to remember every public swimming pool having signs that read “All swimmers are required to take nude soapy showers before entering the pool.” It was just good basic hygiene, and it helped to keep the pools cleaner. Similar showers were also strongly recommended afterward to clean off pool chemicals from your skin.
I remember a buddy in AZ telling me back in 2006-2008 how the state had planes the flew around the Phoenix valley looking for swimming pools that were dark green.
This was when there were a lot of foreclosed/bank owned/abandoned homes. These became mosquito breeding grounds. Plus they were dangerous to kids drowning.
They would then send in a crew to pump out the pool and fine the bank/mortgage company/owner.
food grade DE is what I use
It’s also a great dewormer for cats, dogs, horses, goats, sheep, chickens, etc etc. Just put a little bit in their food. I also try to put some in the dust bath for the chickens as it kills mites and keeps them healthier.
The other thing pools in AZ had that a guy I was not familiar with was a bubbler. They would pump air into the pool at night to cool down the water. However, you also had to have an automatic water level system because there was so much evaporation in the dry desert climate. You would lose inches of water(hundreds of gallons) every week due to evaporation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.