Hot Tub Safety Tips
How nice, after a day spent panning for gold, horseback riding, or wading in creeks, to settle into a hot tub. We all know that sound “Ahhh!”, as we feel the chill and wear-and-tear release us and float away. Hot tubs are considered romantic, healing, or luxurious, and are a welcomed feature in vacation cabins near Helen.
But every bit of heaven comes with some restrictions. And it’s wise to be realistic about hot tub safety tips. You want to pamper your body not stress it, and by observing some safety pointers, you will be able to get maximum comfort and healthful benefit from your soak.
Doing It Safely
Some safety rules are pretty common sense, like don’t use glass containers around the tub, as there is always the danger of breakage. Use care getting into and out of the tub. Keep electrical devices away from the tub, as it takes just a moment for your radio, for instance, to fall into the water and “warm you up” in a really bad way.
But other safety tips are related to physiological truths about the human body and what is and isn’t good for it. The body is not designed to take heat above 102 degrees or so especially heat that it can’t disperse through sweating and evaporation. 104 degrees is considered the maximum adults should enjoy in a hot tub, and that is only for 15 minutes. So, using a hot tub thermometer or keeping an eye on the settings and clock is definitely a good idea.
Those are the basic recommendations for healthy adults. But there are also other factors that may reduce a person’s tolerance for heat. For instance, both drugs and alcohol can affect you and require extra caution. It’s a good idea to speak to your physician or pharmacist about using hot tubs while on certain prescription drugs.
Extra Caution
Finally, there are several types of people who need to regard hot tubs with extra caution:
- pregnant women
- people with heart or blood pressure problems
- diabetics
- children
While a pregnant woman may be comfortable in the tub, her unborn baby is much more sensitive. Most doctors suggest pregnant women not use hot tubs at all, and certainly not any hotter than 100 degrees. Children are vulnerable in a couple of ways so you should lower the heat for them, haul them out after 10 minutes, and forbid them from putting their heads underwater (hair in drains creates a drowning risk–so don’t put your own head under either!) and never, ever leave them unattended, even for a moment.
Warning signs that you might be overdoing the heat include heart palpitations, light-headedness, shakiness, and a feeling of sudden weakness. In this case, get out and cool your body off.
Soak Safely
If these guidelines are observed, you can enjoy relaxing in one of the log cabins with hot tubs, perhaps sipping a cool drink (from a paper or plastic cup!), and feel your tired or chilled body let go with an “Ahhh!”
