How to Avoid Skin Infections in the Gym

Going to the gym can be healthy in more ways than one. Working out builds muscle and gets rid of fat. And in some gyms you can swim, play racquetball, or indoor tennis. Exercise has also been shown to reduce stress and stress can cause your body to make more of a nasty fat making hormone. So the benefits are many.

At the beginning of my thirties I had gained a considerable amount of weight. I managed a restaurant and I loved the food there. I would take some of the leftovers home at night and eat them. My weight bloomed from 160 pounds up to 223.

So I joined a health club and started playing racquetball and lifting weights. In about 6 months I lost nearly 50 ponds, and I felt a whole lot better.

After working out I would take a shower and then jump into the whirlpool for a few minutes. It smelled like they had used chlorine in the hot tub, so I thought it was safe. One time though, about three days later, I noticed that practically my whole body was covered with a rash. I had to go to the doctor and get some cream to put on it.

I guess I was lucky though. You read a lot today about these new "super bugs" that are resistant to antibiotics. Some of these staph infections are "flesh eating." That means the infection starts to literally eat your skin. You may even need skin grafts before it is all over with. If they can't somehow stop the infection, it can be fatal.

According to the New York Times:

"When you go to the gym, do you wash your hands before and after using the equipment? Bring your own regularly cleaned mat for floor exercises? Shower with antibacterial soap and put on clean clothes immediately after your workout? Use only your own towels, razors, bar soap, water bottles?"

According to the Times, if you fail to follow these steps, you may be leaving yourself open to these kinds of infections. There have been reports of professional sports players and school sports players coming down with these infections. It could very well end your career.

It seems that skin infections in athletes are very common and actually account for more infections than any other kind in people who participate in sports. MRSA (the potentially fatal staph infection) can start out as a little pimple on your arm and then practically cover your whole arm the next day.

You might end up spending days in the hospital where the lesion has to be surgically treated. There are only a couple of antibiotics that are still effective against this infection. Just hope that one of them works for you.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/health/03brod.html?_r=2