Dodging gym bugs - it's a real workout

DIRTY JOB: You can get more than just a workout from your gym.

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The sweat dripping off the guy on the treadmill next to you may seem gross, but don't worry. Unless, of course he sneezes. Then you've got problems.

And if you have a shower at the gym after your workout, be very afraid.

Lurking in the shower tray are fungal infections, waiting keenly for something to latch on to. A toenail is perfect, as is that spongy foot skin.

That itch between your toes? Best you have a closer look. Maybe you had the smallest little cut on your foot you hadn't even noticed. Then you walked barefoot around the gym changing room or in the sauna, and voila, warts.

According to a report published in the United States this month, skin infections among athletes, both professional and recreational, are extremely common, especially where the sport involves skin to skin contact.

Mostly they're easily treatable; irritating, occasionally unsightly but largely ultimately harmless.

However, Christchurch pathologist Dr Richard Doehring told the Sunday Star-Times an outbreak of MRSA - a potentially fatal infection - among athletes in the US was traced to professional footballers sharing towels in the locker room.

"These are guys earning millions of dollars who for some reason were sharing towels."

Dr Anthony Yung, consultant dermatologist at Waikato Hospital, says one of the most common skin infections you can catch at the gym is tinea. In comes in various guises and is found on just about every part of the body, including the scalp.

Its most common form is athlete's foot, which is a fungal infection. Symptoms include cracked and blistered skin, scaling on the soles of the feet and itchiness between the toes.

Yung says warts are also pretty common in wet areas where the skin barrier is impaired. A microscopic break in the skin is enough for bugs to get in.

He also warns of yeast infections that lead to skin patches coloured pink or orange. These can occur through excessive sweating, which causes an imbalance of bacteria in the immune system. Sometimes they cover a person's entire trunk and when they clear up they leave behind pale patches. Excessive sweating can also trigger acne.

Then there are your standard cold and flu bugs. Hamilton scientist Chris Pickett says that the risk of contracting a skin infection gym equipment is low but catching a cold is a given.

"If someone sneezes and the droplets are deposited on to hard surfaces, all it takes is for someone to put their hand on that surface and then touch their face to spread the infection."

Mind you, various surveys conducted in gyms around the world have found an average pair of running shoes has 76 times more fungi than a toilet bowl and water bottles are often refilled without being cleaned.

It is, however, important to put all these gym germs into perspective. Doehring says a completely germ-free animal kept in a sterile environment would be a very sickly creature.

"Germs are far more healthy than they are unhealthy," he says. "Remember the human body has 10 to 100 times more bacterial cells that it has human cells. Normal humans have great resistance to disease."

* Wash your hands thoroughly before and after exercise.

* Wipe down the machines, preferably with disinfectant spray, before and after use. Actually that's just good etiquette, as no one wants to work out in a pool of someone else's sweat.

* Avoid touching your mouth, eyes or face.

* Wear shoes in the shower.

* Don't go if you think you're getting a cold.

* Keep your water bottle clean; leaving it rolling around the floor of the car between visits isn't good.

* Use a clean towel every visit and don't share it.

* Sit on your towel in the sauna. Please.

- © Fairfax NZ News