Chaffing can occur on various parts of the body, all due to friction. Generally it’s skin on skin, but sometimes a piece of clothing will rub so much on a certain area that it will cause at least a minor burn. It can be painful and take awhile to heal. Worst of all, it can make future running less enjoyable while it heals. Of course the first thing to help this is to make sure you’re wearing tech (synthetic, generally polyester, nylon, spandex, lycra, etc) clothing, including underwear.
Some examples of chaffing from clothing are from the back tag of underwear on my lower back, seams on underwear and/or sports bras, and just other points of contact on a sports bras and underwear. Then of course there is the dreaded nipple chaffing, which generally usually effects the guys, and it’s bad-news-bears.
Some examples of skin-to-skin chaffing are on the outside edge of arm pits and between thighs.
For most skin-to-skin and/or clothing-t0-skin chaffing, a simple lube should suffice. I do this regularly on my armpits. There are lots of options for lub, but plain ‘ol Vaseline and also Uberlube seem my favorites.
For nipple chaffing, Vaseline can be a fine option for short to medium-length runs. My max is probably about 7 or 8 miles, then my shirt soaks up too much of it and also some is gradually rubbed off where I need it to be. This is when I turn to Nip Guards. They stay in put as long as you need them and keep you feelin fine.
On a laundry note, I’ve noticed the Vaseline can stain various clothing, however, using a stain stick on those areas (on both sides of the area of clothing) helps get it out until the next time.
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