You may have experienced thigh chafing while running. This is especially common if you are overweight and run in summer with the hot and humid weather.
There are many factors that can contribute to thigh chafing. Some common reasons include:
- Wet clothing: When your clothes are wet, they are more likely to chafe your skin. This is because the fabric will absorb sweat and become heavier, which increases the amount of friction against your skin.
- Tight clothing: Clothing that is too tight can also cause chafing. This is because it doesn’t allow your skin to breathe, which can trap sweat and moisture next to your skin.
- Repeated movements: Any type of repetitive movement can cause chafing. This includes running, walking, biking, or any other activity that involves a lot of movement.
Repetitive movements cause skin friction on the inner thighs in your running. During your running and sweating, the friction between the thighs increases, and it is easy to bruise the skin. You may see red patches appear on the inner skin of the thighs, and a tingling sensation.
However, there are ways to prevent thigh chafing while running.
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1. Lubricate the Inner Thighs Skin Before Running
Before running, you can use a lubricant, such as petroleum jelly, body lotion, or even coconut oil to lubricate the skin on your inner thighs to avoid pulling or friction between the skins. Apply the lubricant 20-30 minutes before running to let it get absorbed into the skin.
2. Keep The Inner Thighs Skin Dry
Carry some baby powder with you when running. When you find that the inner thighs are sweaty and moist, you can rub some powder to absorb the water and avoid the skin sticky due to sweating.
3. Change the Running Posture
Bad running posture may also lead to thigh chafing. Try to keep your legs close together when running and avoid swinging your legs too much from side to side.
4. Lose Weight
Thicker thighs are more likely to chafe than thinner thighs. If you are overweight, try to lose some weight through a healthy diet and regular exercise. This will help reduce the friction on your inner thighs while running.
5. Go Seamless and Tagless
Avoid shorts or pants with seams on the inner thigh area. As you can imagine, the seam will create extra friction and increase the likelihood of chafing. Instead, go for seamless or tagless options that will minimize the risk of skin irritation.
If chafing is on the outside of the thigh, it may be that the two seams of your pants are too hard.
6. Choose the Right Clothes Material
You can choose clothes with some moisture-wicking fabrics (such as synthetic fibers) to help reduce friction while making your skin potentially dry.
For a runner, it is recommended to have a set of clothing specially designed for running. Choosing fabrics that are quick-drying, breathable, and have a low coefficient of friction can effectively reduce the overall friction to the body.
To prevent inner thigh friction, your pants should not only have good moisture-wicking performance, but also pay attention to their size. Too big or too small can cause pressure on the skin.
If you are injured by friction due to thick thighs, it is recommended to choose some compression shorts or running tights. The good compressibility of the compression pants makes the body tenser, improves the strength of the muscles, fixes the swing range of the thigh muscles, and reduces the friction damage caused by swing during running.
7. Stay Hydrated
When the body is dehydrated, the salt concentration in sweat increases, which can lead to increased friction between the skin, making it more likely to chafe. Therefore, runners have to keep their bodies well hydrated, especially in summer, they need to add more water. Staying hydrated also helps avoid any potential electrolyte imbalance that could make your inner thighs more susceptible to chafing.
8. Choose the Right Shorts
To avoid chafing your thighs from sweat, long, tight shorts are the right choice to keep the skin on the inner thighs out of contact. Also, don’t have shorts with stitches in the inner thigh area, and don’t opt for cotton shorts, as water absorption can make the skin stickier.
9. Use a Thigh Bandage
If runners don’t like to wear tight shorts, try using a thigh bandage. Of course, make sure it’s a sports-specific bandage. Wrap the bandage around the thigh before running to stop the skin from rubbing between the thighs. It is very effective in preventing scratches.
