I'm hoping to read some discussion of maintaining healthy hair as a swimmer. My hair has kept me out of the water for several years but there is no form of exercise I like better! I have long hair which I color. If anybody has figured out the best way to maintain healthy hair while still swimming several times a week, I'd love to talk to you. I get my hair wet, put conditioner on it, and then wear a latex cap over it. If there are better ideas out there please share!

I wash it with conditioner only after I get out, no shampoo. It seems to help. I have extremely fine, thick hair, so if it gets damaged, it's immediately apparent. So far, after several months of swimming, so good. If it starts feeling particularly dry, I'll rinse with conditioner more than once and leave it in the last time.

I used to use special swimmer's shampoo when I was younger, and it honestly didn't seem to do much for my hair. It was always dry and crunchy. I think probably any kind of shampoo (which removes natural oils that protect your hair) will dry it out. I try to only shampoo my hair 3 times a week. I'd like it to be less, but I don't want to horrify everyone around me.

Thanks for your reply! Do you put conditioner on your hair before you swim--if so what kind of cap do you use? I use a latex "bubble cap" with a strap but would like to switch to a strapless cap, just wonder if it will stay on.

I use just a little shampoo followed by conditioner, but I think I will try simply rinsing the conditioner out and not using shampoo after most of my swims. I just worry about leaving chlorine in the hair, which is why I guess I always use at least a little shampoo.

I used swimmer's shampoo too, in the past, and also didn't think it worked for me. It seemed to strip out all the oils.

I saw a post somewhere online about using oils in your hair to counteract the damage of chlorine. That idea has always been very unappealing to me but I might do a little further research and try it. A hairdresser I used to go to would massage tiny drops of rosemary oil into my hair--maybe something like that would be good and not add too much weight to the hair but help it retain moisture.

I don't. If I put conditioner in before, my cap slips right off my head. I think even if I wore a cap with a strap, it would pull away along my hairline, thus rendering the conditioner ineffective. As for what I use, I just buy whatever is in the misprints bin at the local swimming store. I look like a lunatic in a swim cap, so I don't even bother looking for something cool.

I have heard coconut oil is really good for hair. I don't use it because any kind of oil I get into my hair will stick and stick until I've washed it several times. Very annoying. But if you don't have that problem, give it a shot. I love coconut oil and use it for a lot of other things. It's even good for dry skin.

I also like the bubble cap with the strap, they work great over a home made swim band . They come in head sizes lots of colors and dont slip around.

http://dryhairswimcap.blogspot.com

http://www.reocities.com/lapswimr/swimband.html