What Is Chafing All About

Playing a sport and being active is a good thing and should be a part of a healthy lifestyle. Having established that, there are always deterrents along the way like muscle soreness, fear of an injury and believe it or not,

What Is Chafing All About

Let’s understand what chafing means and how to prevent it so that it does not interfere with your healthy lifestyle.

Chafing occurs when an object or a body part rubs against your skin repeatedly causing a mild red rash or in extreme cases, bleeding.

Chafing is very common in sports or physical activity that involves repeated motions. It can occur when there is friction between two body parts or when your sports gear rubs against the skin. If you engage in

or running, you know what we are talking about!

Fitness and Well-being

There can be multiple reasons for chafing in sports and we have listed the most common ones.

Repeated actions like in running or cycling

Inappropriate sports gear like ill-fitting clothes, tight shoes etc.

Skin chafing is a very common phenomenon that happens to the best of athletes. That said, there are ways in which you can prevent/minimise it by reducing the friction to your skin. Here are a few ways to do that.

What causes chafing:

Moisture can contribute to chafing. Applying talcum powder is a good way to keep the skin dry and wick the moisture away. Carry a dry change of clothes to change into the post a physical activity.

Opt for fabrics made with synthetic fibres that wick moisture away and stay away from materials such as cotton. If the weather is hot outside, try and minimise the layers that you put on before exercising.

How to prevent chafing:

Compression may help reduce chafing as well

Lubrication reduces friction. Apply it on hot spots to minimise chafing. An affordable option can be petroleum jelly. There are many over the counter lubricants available as well that do just that.

Treatment:

One of the foremost things to do is to stop the activity that is causing chafing. Make sure that you pat the area dry, apply petroleum jelly or any soothing lotion. Get some fresh air and get out of clothes that cause it.

There is only so much that you can do to avoid chafing. It might sneak up to you no matter how hard you try.  If that happens, don’t get discouraged and stop what playing or exercising. Follow the above recommendations and one of them is sure to hit home!

Conclusion: