If you own a hot tub or spa you know how relaxing and fun it can be to slip into the heated, jet-moved water and relax and unwind, Do you, though, have hot tub rules that you and the members of your household must abide by? If not, here are a few things you should never do in your hot tub.
Do you have other rules for hot tub use that we didn’t mention? Let us know!
Don’t drink and use the hot tub.
Sure it’s nice to sip a glass of wine and relax, but alcohol is dehydrating and being in heated water is dehydrating and that can be a combination that can be dangerous. Using drugs and using the hot tub is also a dangerous combination.
Don’t soak with a sore.
If you have an open wound or a sore, it’s best to avoid the hot tub until it’s healed. If you have an open sore or infection, the heated water of the hot tub is an ideal environment for spreading infection. If the sanitizer levels in the hot tub are too low, the risk increases.
If you have a wound or a rash, you’re opening yourself to the risk of infection or to spreading infection to others in the hot tub or spa.
Don’t get overheated.
Getting overheated is dangerous to your health. When you buy a new spa, it will come with a factory-set maximum temperature of 104°F. Soaking in a hot tub with the water heated between 100° F to 102° F degrees is both comfortable and therapeutic. When you soak in water at higher temperatures, you are putting strain on your cardiovascular system.
Monitor the water temperature and don’t soak for too long.
Seven Things To Never Do In Your Hot Tub Or Spa
Never leave the kids alone. Children should never be left alone in a hot tub, swimming pool or bathtub. Adults shouldn’t soak alone either. It’s always best to practice the buddy system when you’re in the hot tub or swimming pool.
A child can drown in the hot tub or quickly become overheated. Limit the amount of time children are in the hot tub to no more than ten minute stretches.
Horseplay is a big “no.”
Make sure your teens know that there is no horseplay or jumping from the side of the hot tub into the water. Because a hot tub has such limited space it could be easy for roughhousing to turn dangerous. Someone could slip and hit his or her head and get injured.
Drain covers can be dangerous.
In a hot tub or spa the drain cover can “suck” in your clothing or hair. Make sure the hot tub’s drain cover is in place so that no one gets injured. Keep long hair in a pony tail on top of your head. Make sure the hot tub and your swimming pool have anti-entrapment drain covers. Since 2008, every hot tub, spa and swimming pool in the United States are required to have the drain covers, but if you have an older pool or hot tub, make certain it is properly equipped.
Get out during storms.
When a storm is threatening, get out of the hot tub or swimming pool immediately. If you hear thunder, get out. If lightning is predicted, do not get into the water and turn off the electrical units that supply the swimming pool.
No matter the type of storm – wind, rain, hurricane, tornado or monsoon, it is not safe to be in the pool or hot tub during these weather events.