How To Safely Detox Chlorine For Summer Fun

Do you know how to safely detox chlorine for a fun autism summer? Madison got an above ground pool for her birthday one year just before Logan went to summer camp. Both children enjoyed it immensely. They became extremely comfortable in the water which enabled us to do swimming lessons.  

We were also able to utilize it for some of Logan’s therapy needs. He loved the proprioceptive input but couldn’t detox the chlorine efficiently which caused some unwelcome behaviors. He was definitely more of a seeker when he was younger. The pool quickly became an integral part of his sensory diet.

It was clear pretty immediately that we needed to find a solution to our dilemma of detoxing the chlorine.

Ultimately we bought a sand filter plus saltwater pump that we learned about at a friend’s house which took care of the problem.  Logan loved the saltwater as it didn’t burn his eyes. This was encouraging as it led to him staying in the water longer enabling us to get loads more therapy work done plus time to play.

A  lot of autistic children have difficulty detoxing harmful items from their bodies. Before you begin any detoxing, you must have proper liver support in place. For Logan this is especially true as he has Wilson’s Disease in addition to autism. That means that his liver is already not working to capacity. We must keep his liver support at a maximum level. It’s imperative to have medical supervision before beginning any sort of detox protocol. 

Detoxing chlorine is a pretty straightforward task. The two supplements that are suggested to safely do this are taurine and epsom salt baths aka magnesium. Taurine is also recommended to help decrease anxiety. This particular supplement is on subscribe and save at our house in order to never run out. One thing I don’t want to be is without taurine. 

As for the epsom salt baths, it’s the magnesium that does the detoxifying. We happen to have a garden tub with jets that he loves so it’s easy to get him in there. On days we can’t jump in the bath immediately then we use magnesium sulfate cream. We apply it after he gets out of the pool and dries off.  It  seems to work  well for Logan.  Our ideal is to take a bath to soak but the cream does the trick in a pinch.

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In a pinch, you can apply coconut oil all over the body about 30 minutes before going in the pool. This helps to block the absorption of the chlorine.  It helps to do it that early so it absorbs into the skin before you put sunscreen on later.  

This is our absolute last ditch effort as Logan hates to be super greasy. It’s not the ideal by any stretch of the imagination. It’s better than the alternative of doing nothing at all.

 

A final thing that I implemented with him was the drinking of a great deal of water. It is great for flushing out his system in a normal setting so it’s imperative when you are trying to detox anything.

Water keeps the intestines moving toxins out of your body regularly. The first place your body searches for water when it gets dehydrated is from the intestines. Hydration is essential to so many things. It is a non negotiable item in our home.

I don’t want you to believe that we got him to drink enough water overnight. Logan’s interoception challenges make him unable to feel thirst or the ability to know when he’s full. We worked on getting him to the appropriate amounts over many months by gradually increasing the amount after we found a way to get him to drink it.

Use water flavorings (without dyes or you’re shooting yourself in the foot), sparkling water, or even a fun water bottle to make it happen.

It is not his favorite drink by any stretch but he sees the purpose behind it which enables him to drink it.

Have you seen any odd behaviors after lots of swimming? How do you  handle it?

 

 

***I am not a doctor nor do I play one on this blog. I merely relate what works for us in our biomedical journey through autism. Please proceed with caution and always under a real doctor’s care.********