Chub rub, or popularly known as skin chafing, is a common skin problem that a lot of people go through especially in a warm, humid weather. It is what happens when the skin gets irritated because of repetitive friction against another skin or clothing caused by moisture, often in the form of sweat.
Although overweight women with fat rolls tend to be more susceptible to it because of the skin to skin contact, contrary to the common belief, chub rub does not actually choose a victim. It can happento anyone regardless of their body size. And although chub rubs can occur anywhere on the body, areas like inner groins, underarms, nipples, under the breast, and thighs are the usual targets.
A chafed skin can become bumpy with a burning or stingy feeling. As the pain is often hard to bear or ignore, people often immediately seek for easy yet effective skin chafing reliefs like a chafing cream. Delayed treatment is highly discouraged as this can just aggravate the wound and can increase the chances of bacterial infection.
The good news is, treating and preventing a chafed skin does not need to be hard. All you have to do is keep these tips in mind:
Chafing Treatment
- Chub rub should be kept clean at all times.
Chub rub is like a typical open wound. To avoid bacteria from getting in, keeping it clean is highly necessary. Gently clean your chafed skin with water and soap especially after you have gone through an activity that had you sweat excessively. Do not ever start putting on any chafing cream or product unless the skin is already clean and dry.
- Pat it dry with a clean towel after washing.
This part is important. Your job is to help the chafed skin dry without rubbing it with a towel. Just pat it dry. Otherwise, the rubbing can worsen the chafing and further irritate it.
- Do not cover the chafed skin with a bandage.
Let your wound breathe, leave it uncovered and exposed to allow fresh air as this can naturally speed up the process of healing.
- Keep it moisturized.
Once the chafed skin is clean and dry, next you can do to avoid unnecessary irritation that can aggravate the wound is by keeping it moisturized, thereby reducing skin friction.
There are a lot of moisturizers available today in the market. Some peoples will also tell you that applying a petroleum jelly, body balm, diaper rash cream, or products of some sort can already do the job. While that is true, these products are not always effective unlike a chafing cream that is especially created to address and alleviate the chafing problem.
However, do note that these creams only moisturize and protect your skin from further chafing threat. If the condition persists and a swollen, painful, crusted, and bleeding can be noticed, a visit to your doctor becomes necessary. Severe cases of chafing sometimes require a steroidal ointment.
- Let it heal.
There is no better solution to a problem than eradicating what causes it. The same applies here. No amount of treatment can suffice if the factors that cause it are left uneradicated. To allow your chafed skin to recover enough, here are a few important dos and don’ts you should remember:
Dos
- Do use an ice pack to combat any potential pain.
- Do pat it dry after. Keep it that way.
- Do remain idle and spare yourself some intense activities for a while to give your chub rub some time to heal. These exercises usually aggravate chub rub because of the continuous friction that occurs between legs or as a result of excessive sweating.
Don’ts
- Do not clean it with products beside water and mild soap like iodine or hydrogen peroxide as these can potentially disrupt the healing.
- Do not shower in hot water because lessens your body’s natural moisture, putting you at more chafing risks because the heat potentially damages the skin.
If after carrying out these self-care measures, the chafing does not seem to alleviate, set an appointment with your doctor right away and have yourself prescribed with an antibiotic ointment.
Chafing Prevention
Preventing a chafed skin takes attention and time. If you are an active person who loves doing any strenuous physical activity, such activity can likely cause your inner thighs or skin to rub together. And the excessive sweat that your body will produce can worsen it. In this case, preventing the occurrence of chafing can be hard. Nonetheless, easy steps can be taken to reduce friction (and the severity it causes). The following products or lifestyle can help you:
- Stay dry.
Excess moisture can worsen any skin chafing. Staying dry, or keeping the absence of moisture, prevents it.
How to stay dry?
You can apply a talcum powder on your inner thighs or any area prone to chafing as it wicks away the moisture from your skin.
When on a beach or pool outing, removing your wet swimsuit shortly after getting out of the water can also lessen your chances of experiencing skin chafing.
- Wear appropriate clothing.
Active wears are not selling out just because they look good on people working out. In fact, they are made with fabrics that do not absorb and rather wick away any moisture or sweat. One of the reasons they are promoted is because they do not promote skin chafing.
If you are currently having a chub rub, temporarily stay away from absorbent cottons like cotton. Instead, wear clothes that will allow your skin to breathe.
- Stay hydrated.
Staying hydrated does not only keep you moisturized but it also keeps your sweat from drying and turning into salty crystals that can aggravate or promote the skin to chafe.
- Anti-chafing creams.
Anti-chafing creams are made with the help of an innovative chemistry not only to serve as a lubricant but also to give your skin additional protective layers that can increase your skin’s tolerance against friction. A less expensive version of this that many people use nowadays is petroleum jelly. However, petroleum jellies can only act as mere lubricants and may need to be reapplied a lot times over than anti-chafing creams.
