Does your skin or clothing keep rubbing you whenever you move? If yes then you are at a greater risk of developing a condition called chafing. Although it is not a serious problem and can be healed quickly with some natural methods, it can get really painful and irritating while obstructing your movement.
Your skin normally sheds some cells on a regular basis. Under normal circumstances, these lost skin cells are immediately replaced with the new ones. Chafing is a condition where this normal balancing act is disturbed and your skin starts to lose more cells in its outer layer than it could readily replace due to friction.
Redness and irritation are the first signs of chafing. The problem can quickly elevate and so is your pain and irritation if you do not attend to it quickly. Chaffed area of your skin becomes wet due to excess sweat and it can even start to bleed. On very rare occasions it can lead to secondary bacterial infections.
Who can get chafing?
This condition is very common among obese people and athletes. A natural question might be why these two groups of people? The greater the surface areas skin touching the skin, the greater is the probability of friction and chafing. And the two most prominent groups of people with huge muscle mass are athletes and obese people. However, chafing can affect anyone irrespective of age and gender.
Where does chafing occur?
Some of the prominent locations of chafing include the upper thighs, inner thighs, under the arms, beneath breasts in women, and interesting men’s nipples.
What are the home remedies?
If chafing is something that bothers you quite often, then you can easily bring relief and alleviate your problem quickly using these simple remedies.
Keep your clothes clean
This is very important if you exercise and jog regularly. Sweat ridden clothes and outfits can act as an irritant to your outer skin layer and increase your pain.
Use a mild cleanser to wash your clothes and wash them regularly. Wash it every day after use if you can.
Avoid Bleach or Rinse it off thoroughly
If you frequently use bleach to wash your clothes then go easy on it. Bleach can irritate the chaffed area of your skin and can make it worse. Avoid using bleach if you can for your clothes, if you really need to use it then make sure you rinse it off thoroughly.
Rinse off your swimming suits
Most swimming polls have chlorinated water, and chlorine can irritate chafed skin. After your every swimming session make sure to rinse off your swimming suits.
Sprinkle some powder
Sprinkle some talcum powder over the chafed area. This will reduce friction between two skin surfaces and also act as a drying agent preventing the area from becoming wet.
If you have chaffed groin area then using antifungal powder which is easily available in most drug stores is a good option. It not only cuts down the skin friction but also greatly reduces the risk for fungus infection.
Use hydrocortisone cream
Cortisone greatly reduces the inflammation and swelling in the chaffed area and allows your skin to heal itself more quickly. You can apply the cream during the day or at night before going to sleep.
Use a cream that contains 0.5 percent or 1 percent cortisone. Additionally, use baby or mineral oil to remove the cream in the morning. Using soap and water to clean the area can only further irritate the skin.
Give a break to your underarms
If you have chaffed underarms then refrain from using antiperspirants or deodorants at least till the condition heals itself. Also, avoid trimming or shaving the area to prevent further damage to the skin.
Take rest and give it more air
Though chaffing very rarely becomes a serious condition. If you feel the symptoms are getting worse then take a break from whatever activity that causes the skin damage in the first place. Also, try to expose your affected area to more air if possible. Many health experts claim exposure to air greatly speeds up the healing at chaffed zone.
