Last weekend’s 5-hour joggling jaunt left me chaffed in a few spots I forgot to treat with Body Glide
run or even a short one.
Key Spots to Cure Chafing
We’ve previously discussed chafing and ways to handle it. Unfortunately, we didn’t talk about where you most likely will get chafed, until now. These are in no particular order.
1. Nipples – Yeah, these worthless vestiges of sexual differentiation (at least for guys) stick out just enough to rub on your shirt. Where there’s rubbing there’s chafing. Make sure you lube up. I’m not sure if this is as much a problem for women but for men, it sucks.
2. Birthmarks – Like nipples, these things are equally useless but painful when they chafe. Body Glide
3. Waist – You know the spot where your shorts wrap around your waist? Lube it up. That bit of elastic mixed with sweat and motion can leave a nasty burn for a long distance juggling runner.
4. Armpits / Side Torso – Jugglers and runners both swing their arms. Your armpits make it possible. They also get painfully chafed if not treated. Make sure you treat all the way down your side. This is especially important for jogglers as the juggling can sometimes cause your arms to rub on your side.
5. Neck / Collar – While you love that lightweight, reliable and stylish running shirt, you aren’t going to like the chafing burns you can get around your neck and collar bone. Apply a ring of Body Glide around your neck where shirt touches skin.
6. Inner Thighs – Back in 1997 I started wearing Spandex instead of regular running shorts. My good pal John Kelly frowns on this but I don’t care. It stops the inner-thigh chafing and I recommend it to everyone. If tight running shorts are too much for you, you can wear another pair of shorts over them or make judicious use of Body Glide.
7. Equipment holders - The iPod you’ve got strapped to your arm or waist is great for keeping you entertained and distracted from the pain of running. However, those straps can cause a terrible case of chafing. Put some Body Glide wherever a strap touches (or might) touch skin.
8. Ankles – If you wear higher socks then you could get a little chafing just above your ankles. It’s good to lube this just to be safe.
9. Butt Crack – Ok, maybe this is just a little too much information. However, marathon running isn’t always pretty. You don’t want to go for a couple of days feeling a burning pain in your butt crack every time you step. Just keep clean and use your hand for application. You really don’t want to apply it directly from the package as you would to the other place.
There you have it. Practical tips to keep your skin feeling smooth and chafe-free.
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Nipples are only worthless if you are male… Have you been in my family photo album again?
Speaking of uncomfortable places to get chafage, you missed another spot that guys might want to lube up a little. I ran the Pisgah 50k Mountain Race a couple of weeks ago, and got chafed everywhere between my legs. It absolutely poured for the first 30 minutes, and on again/off again the rest of the race. I was soaked from minute 1 until I finished four and a half hours later.
The thighs were the worst, the butt crack was next, and all in all the other parts that got chafed weren’t too bad. They were bad enough that I had to behave myself for a few days, though.
If you don’t pretreat the sensitive areas and you do get some chafage, rub some aloe on those areas after the run. You’ll be fine within a day or two.
Perry, Thanks for the shout-out, but trust me I am not alone in my view. Just ask anyone that has seen you or had to run next to you while wearing said spandex. Although the #1 rule as a runner is do or wear what feels comfortable. However I am sure wife would lean heavily on the fashion side of this discussion. Plus I think this post was an advertisement for Body Glide not Spandex. Looking forward to hearing about the 5 hour run.
JK
Commercial for Body Glide!? No way. I just haven’t found a better product except maybe Spandex for the thighs. But upon further reflection, I might just ditch the thigh huggers for races anyway.
I usually wear those little circular bandaids on my nipples when I do a marathon. Hasn’t failed me yet! (Touch wood)
For nipples, I’ve got a roll of cotton plaster. The normal band aid type of plaster you cut to the size of the nipple and stick it one. Only pain is taking it off.
Of chaffing, we have a product here in South Africa which is used as an all purpose ointment called Zambuk cream, with main ingredient eucalyptus (the stuff the koala bears eats) sap.
It not only works for protection, but also as an afterwards treatment.
Wearing spandex stops my chaffing between the leggs, but cause my butts to chaff (I’m a bit bigbutty), so I have to use both.
if you forget to apply chafe cream PRIOR to running a long distance and you don’t love spandex =[
try wearing baby butt cream / paste. works like a charm, works especially well for women (like myself) who wear skirts everyday.
cornstarch also works well for short distances, but you have to keep reapplying =[
Thank you for mentioning the neck chafing. I am the only runner I know that really struggles with collar bone/neck burn after runs longer than 8 miles. I was worried that maybe I had too much neck skin compared to everyone else but now, I don’t feel so lonely. Great blog!
@S – Thanks for the kind words. I think you’ll find that for most things, you’re not alone as long as you have the Internet. Good luck on running and on your new blogging activities.
What about penis chafing? I never had this problem before today but it was horrible. Any solutions? I always wear the same type of shorts – short running shorts with a tight liner. I don’t know why it happened today….
@LR – had this problem before also. Body Glide or Vaseline is the only good solution / preventative measure
Maybe I’m doing something wrong, because Body Glide hasn’t been working well for me. I’m a woman, and the area that chafes for me is underneath my girls. (Hey if you can talk about butt cracks and penis chafing, I can mention that can’t I? haha) But, yeah, it’s very painful as I’m sure you can imagine. So for my next run I got some body glide, applied it generously and yet still ended my run with some serious chafing. Btw, I’ve never heard of joggling before stumbling across your blog tonight. How fun!
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