Swimming?

[Gramapat]

Can dialysis patients go swimming?  Will a backyard pool with the chlorine hurt an access site?  What about river or ocean swimming?  I keep meaning to ask my doctor and keep forgetting! Hope this isn't a dumb question.  

[kellyt]

I don't think you can if you have a cathether or do PD, but I could be wrong.

[Ang]

would'nt  think  theres  a   problem  if  you  do  haemo,only if  you've  got  an  issue  of  how  your  fistula  looks.
check  it  out  with  the  people  in  the  know.

[petey]

Marvin went swimming (and, I'll loosely call it "swimming" -- he can't swim, but he does paddle around a little bit and go under once in a while) when he had his perm caths.  At that time, we had a pool in our backyard -- have since filled it in.  The docs told him no swimming in lakes, ponds, ocean -- but a carefully maintained pool was okay.

[boxman55]

If you have any type of access like a cath, port or PD I would say no way. If you have a fistula, no problem
swim away...Boxman

[NVRWKN]

When i was on Pd i went swimming. Dr and nurse said it was ok. Now I did go in a pool. I don't know if a river is a good idea. On hemo I have a fistula. No problem.

[kellyt]

I agree with Boxman.  I met a man going through evaluation with me and he had a chest catheter at the time and he couldn't even take a decent shower without covering well so it wouldn't get wet.  Fortunately, he now has a fistula.

[Ginger]

When I was on PD, I swam regularly in a community pool, but.....I used an ostomy bag to cover my PD catheter and exit site and never had a leak or infection from it.  Also used an ostomy bag when canoeing on fresh water lakes and rivers. I was too tired to swim when on hemo. Now with the transplant, I am back to swimming regularly 3X/week.

[jonn r]

Marvin went swimming (and, I'll loosely call it "swimming" -- he can't swim, but he does paddle around a little bit and go under once in a while) when he had his perm caths.  At that time, we had a pool in our backyard -- have since filled it in.  The docs told him no swimming in lakes, ponds, ocean -- but a carefully maintained pool was okay.

now dont call me dumb ....but.....why can you not swim in a lake,ocean....oh nevermind you said when he had a cath.......see i am a dumbass

[MyssAnne]

From what I understand, as long as the pool is verified as CLEAN, you can use it. Lakes, ponds, rivers, etc., no. Oceans, perhaps. You have to check with the nurse, who can say yes or no, apparently sometimes it is okay, sometimes it isn't.  Something about bacteria in the ocean.

There you have it!! GoofyNina swam, someone in her family had a pool, and she would use it.  I was told I could use a pool, didn't, though, only because I was too tired to.

[KT0930]

I did PD, so had a catheter for that. Like others, I was told that a well maintained, privately owned pool was ok, as was the ocean. Lakes and rivers, however, since they're "closed" and not in constant motion like the ocean, are not. Something about the salt in the ocean makes it ok. I swam in a private pool one time and covered my exit site well with Tegaderm (expensive, but able to bought at a pharmacy).

I have, however, since reading IHD, realized that different clinics and doctors say different things. Check with your's and see what they say.

When I had a perm cath for hemo, I was told to not even shower, so there's no way I would have gone swimming!