Swimming is terrifically healthy and boasts many advantages for individuals with diabetes.

But diabetes does make swimming a little bit bit more complicated, especially if you happen to use insulin. Swimmers with diabetes should be mindful of the chance of hypoglycemia, and wish to understand how exactly to look after the entire electronic devices they use to administer their condition. This text has the main points.

Swimming is Implausible Exercise

There’s little question about it: Swimming is an outstanding exercise option for individuals with (or without) diabetes. The health advantages of swimming are almost too quite a few to list. As On a regular basis Health details, swimming is related to, amongst other things:

• Longer lifespan
• Weight reduction
• Cardiovascular health
• Stronger lungs
• Improved mood and higher sleep

As well as, swimming is related to several health effects of special relevance to individuals with diabetes:

• A 2021 study found that regular swimming resulted in comprehensive metabolic improvements, including higher blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, and body fat.
• A 2019 study found that a swimming intervention alleviated insulin resistance and improved chronic inflammation.
• A 2020 study found that swimming can improve blood sugar control.

Swimming is incredibly good in your body and is really useful for people of all ages, fitness level, and shape.

Swimming and Diabetes Complications

Swimming is an especially good option for individuals with chronic pain, mobility challenges, or diabetic neuropathy, as a result of its low-impact nature.

The buoyancy of the water relieves pressure on the feet and should reduce the chance of injury to the lower extremities. Moreover, the water’s resistance provides gentle resistance training, which will help strengthen muscles, improve balance, and enhance overall coordination, addressing a few of the challenges related to diabetes. And aquatic aerobics may be great for most of the same reasons. Put all of it together: Swimming is an excellent strategy to enjoy the advantages of exercise while minimizing the chance of injury.

Secure Swimming and Hypoglycemia

Swimming presents one unique hazard to individuals with diabetes — the specter of hypoglycemia. Everyone with diabetes that takes insulin or sulfonylureas is taken into account in danger. When you experience severe low blood sugar within the water, it could create a drowning hazard. And the act of swimming, each the fatigue of exercise and the weird aquatic environment, will help mask the symptoms of hypoglycemia. As such, swimmers might want to take special precautions:

• First, pay extra attention to your blood sugar levels, each before and through swimming. Which will mean taking multiple prolonged breaks to get out of the pool and use a glucose meter, or to dry off your hands to examine your continuous glucose monitor readings in your smartphone.
• When you know that you simply are likely to go low during exercise, consider starting your swim along with your blood sugar a little bit higher than usual, or plan to eat some carbohydrates midway through your swimming session. When you use an insulin pump, you may reduce your basal rates 30-90 minutes before starting. In case your insulin pump is waterproof and may stay attached during your exercise, you might wish to set a short lived lower basal rate or use “exercise mode.”
• You must all the time have a source of fast-acting carbohydrates accessible, ideally right on the pool’s edge.
• Consider letting the lifeguard know that you’ve gotten diabetes in order that they will control you. A medical alert bracelet is one other smart alternative. If disaster strikes and also you experience a hypo that you simply cannot treat yourself, you’ll get the care you would like much more quickly if paramedics know that you’ve gotten diabetes.

Like other types of exercise, you may ensure steadier blood sugar levels by swimming within the morning (before you’ve eaten breakfast and brought rapid insulin).

Finally, you’ll should be clear in regards to the capabilities of your electronic diabetes devices.

Swimming and Continuous Glucose Monitors

The leading continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are water-resistant:

• The FreeStyle Libre may be submerged as much as 3 feet deep for as much as half-hour.
• Dexcom may be submerged as much as 8 feet deep for as much as 24 hours.
• Medtronic’s Guardian Connect may be submerged as much as 8 feet deep for as much as half-hour.

Many users swim with their CGMs without the slightest problem. Others worry that their CGM is even less water-resistant than advertised — the resistance rankings are for still water, not for splashy water — and judge to cover their sensors. There’s an array of armbands, patches, and tapes available on the web which can be intended to guard a CGM sensor from water.

Nonetheless, your CGM may not work thoroughly during a swim. Water impedes the Bluetooth signal that your CGM uses to speak with a receiver or a smartphone, significantly shortening its range. When you’re at the other end of the pool as your device, you may’t expect latest blood sugar measurements to get through. Even if you happen to stay inside just a few yards, the water could block the signal.

In brief, you may not get latest CGM readings until you allow the pool, which suggests that you simply cannot depend on your device’s low blood sugar alarm function while swimming.

Swimming and Insulin Pumps

Insulin pumps vary of their water resistance rankings. Listed here are a few of the more popular options available in America:

• The Omnipod 5 is rated as waterproof for depths as much as 25 feet for as much as 60 minutes.
• The Tandem t:slim X2 is rated as water-resistant for depths of as much as 3 feet deep for as much as half-hour, nonetheless, the manual advises that the pump shouldn’t be worn while swimming, and even in a hot tub.
• The Medtronic MiniMed 780G system is rated as waterproof at depths of as much as 12 feet for as much as 24 hours.
• The brand new iLet Bionic Pancreas is rated as waterproof at depths of as much as 12 feet for as much as half-hour.

Make sure to check the manufacturer’s instructions in your specific model.

When you’re required to disconnect your insulin pump before entering into the water, you ought to be prepared with an understanding of the risks involved with completely stopping insulin delivery. This system is often utilized by athletes with type 1 diabetes, but it surely all the time carries a risk of rising blood sugars and even diabetic ketoacidosis. If you’ve gotten a really long swimming session planned, our community manager Julie De Vos recommends reconnecting to your pump every hour and delivering a bolus.

Please discuss your options along with your healthcare provider.

Open Water Swimming

Swimming in open water — the open ocean, large lakes, or anywhere else that you simply’re far-off from a spot to rest — requires extreme caution. Developing hypoglycemia (or ketoacidosis) removed from shore could quickly develop into a life-threatening situation.

With the suitable preparation, absolutely anything is feasible. Paul Spurway, a long-distance outdoor swimmer with diabetes, helped creator a detailed guide to swimming safely in open water, offering ideas on carbohydrate intake, insulin usage, and electronic diabetes devices. He spoke to our friends at diaTribe about his experience.

When he’s racing, Paul is accompanied by support boats that will help monitor his blood sugar and distribute sugar when crucial. Most of us don’t have that chance once we’re swimming casually on the beach. Going out removed from shore, without sugar or the flexibility to observe glucose, may be very dangerous.