Chafing: Prevention and Cures

Chafing is skin damage due to constant contact of the skin with another body part. This type of skin damage appears as reddish marks. Uncured chafing may lead to problem in body movements, body odor and skin infection.Most of the time chafing is unpreventable. Here are a few tips to prevent chafing and what to do about the skin damage. Overweight people, pregnant mothers, menstruating women and athletes are at a great risk to develop a chafing.

Preventing Chafing

Always wear 100% cotton cloths. This will solve 50 per cent of the problem. Cotton garments help in soaking sweat and keeping the area dry. Proper ventilation makes sure the area becomes dry during perspiration.

Avoid wearing such clothes which are dirty, have sweat on it or those which are carrying moisture. Travelers, trekkers, athletes, gym goers are at a great risk.

It is highly recommended that athletes, gym goers and overweight people wear an athletics tights or shorts in order to prevent chafing. Elastic bandages can also be wrapped around the leg area by overweight people before doing strenuous workout.

One simple remedy to prevent it is to apply petroleum jelly to the areas at high risk. These areas are groin region, between the inner thighs, underarms, breast region and area between buttocks and thighs.

Chafing may also occur in winter due to lack of bath for several days. So, hygiene plays a great role in prevention.

After bath, rinse your body thoroughly to make sure the soap has been removed completely. Soap that remains on body may also lead to chafing.

Remedies

Diet to prevent chafing consists of sources rich in vitamin A, C and zinc. Oysters are rich source of zinc. Zinc based body lotion can also be used.

Foods that are rich source of vitamin A are pork, turkey, carrots, potatoes and fish. All citrus fruits are rich source of vitamin C. These include all berries (blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, etc), oranges and lemon.

Keep the body lubricated. Use creams that carry vitamin E or zinc elements. Aloe vera based creams are equally useful.

Mix olive oil with oatmeal to the area. Leave the paste for 15 to 20 minutes. Wash with water and pat dry. Do this remedy every day.