Competitive Swimming Exercises & Induced Asthma (eia)

Exercise-induced asthma is a condition that causes wheezing and breathlessness when you exert yourself. You might only get asthma when you work out, or might have existing allergic asthma that worsens when you swim. When you have an asthma attack, your athletic ability suffers, but with proper medical treatment you can avoid future problems.

Basics

You wheeze, cough and feel short of breath when you suffer an attack of exercise-induced asthma. Tightness and pain in the chest sometimes accompanies the symptoms. Breathing deeper and faster during exercise heightens your exposure to irritants, and breathing through the mouth during exercise causes problems because you bypass your nasal passages, which warm up and humidify dry air. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America lists breathing in cold dry air as a trigger for exercise-induced asthma.

Swimming and Asthma

Swimming is a good exercise for asthma-sufferers because of the humidity of the water, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation. Exercise in general keeps you fit and lessens the severity and frequency of attacks. As a competitive swimmer, though, you increase your exposure to pollution as well as other irritants when you spend many hours in the pool, and swim with high intensity. Medication helps reduce the frequency and severity of exercise-induced asthma attacks, so you need not give up your training regimen just because you have the condition.

Indoor Swimming

Poor pool maintenance leads to a buildup of chemicals that can affect your lungs, skin and eyes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Byproducts created from the chlorine disinfection process such as trichoromethane or chloroform evaporate and hover just above the surface of the water, where you inhale them. Inadequate ventilation in indoor swimming pools allows evaporated chloramines to linger in the air, triggering asthmatic attacks during long intense workouts, explains coach John Mattos of Colorado State University.

Prevention

Swim coaches should not alter the swimming regimen of team members who suffer from exercise-induced asthma, Mattos says. Instead, he advocates that coaches advise asthma sufferers to warm up gradually. Taking quick-acting asthma medications also known as bronchodilators or beta agonists helps relax breathing passages and prevent asthma attacks during or after swimming workouts. You take one or two puffs of the inhaler about 20 minutes before getting in the pool, and keep the inhaler device handy in case you need an additional dose during long workouts. Always follow your doctor's instructions about dosage and use of medications. When your symptoms last a long time after workouts, you might benefit from a combination medicine that combines long-acting beta agonists with inhaled corticosteroids, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation. Always check with your physician before increasing or stopping medications.