Attacks of cramp, to which even expert swimmers are liable, may arise from many causes. Where special nervous diseases do not exist, the so-called “cramp spasms” are, as likely as not, due to some irregularity in digestion, or to some imprudence in bathing at wrong times and seasons. Bathing after a full meal may induce so-called “cramps,” and it is to be feared that many a fatal case of drowning, attributed to some hidden nervous cause, has had a far simpler origin in digestive disturbances reacting on the nervous system, and through this system propagated to the muscles.
The ordinary rules—drawn up by the Royal Humane Society—which should be observed by all bathers, whether in fresh or salt water, and whether swimmers or not, are simple and readily borne in mind.
1. Never bathe within 2 hours after a meal.
2. Never bathe when exhausted or in ill-health. The practice of plunging into the water after exercise is to be thoroughly condemned.
3. Never bathe when the body is cooling after perspiration.
4. A morning bathe may be taken by those who are strong and healthy before breakfast on an empty stomach.
5. The young, or those who are delicate, should bathe 2-3 hours after a meal, and in the forenoon, if possible.
6. The signs which forbid open-air bathing altogether are chilliness and shivering after entering the water, numbness of hands and feet, and deficient circulation generally.
7. When the body is warm, bathing may be indulged in, provided undressing is quickly accomplished, and the body is not chilled before entering the water.
8. On leaving the water, dry and dress quickly. Standing about undressed, after leaving the water, is, under any circumstances, injurious.