Home Remedies to Help Treat Chafing

Chafing is not seen as a medical condition, but usually when it happens, it becomes quite painful for that part of the skin where it manifests. Its causes are mostly related to having the skin exposed to repetitive friction either by skin to skin or skin to clothes. More often it appears in the form of a skin irritation presented in the inner glutes, armpits and inner thighs. Sometimes it can be seen emerging at the nipples, although this is rarely seen with people.

This irritation of the skin appears as a sore spot where the underlying layer of skin is exposed and in this way it can become easily infected if not taken care of in a proper way. It is important to mention that friction occurs with excessive exposure of the skin to friction to tight clothing and moisture impregnated in this clothing. With a constant moving, the skin becomes as such irritated resulting in chafing.

If you find yourself too often exposed to this irritation, you should approach the following methods as home remedies that take care of it and not let the skin be subject to infection:

•  Make sure that you stay dry at all times. Summer time comes with excessive heat and if you know that you will be out exercising or doing all sorts of errands you must avoid wearing clothes that get easily wet and tend to cling to the skin. If you wear these clothes then each and every movement you make will lead to chafing because the clothe will rub against the skin taking its outer layer and leaving the underlying layer exposed. At this point you have to be prepared having talcum powder or a towel with you.
•  Another home remedy for chafing is to consider wearing loose clothing that stay comfortable on your body especially with the hot summer days and when spending the entire day out in the heat.
•  Make sure that you stay hydrated and in order to see when dehydration occurs you have to check with the intensity of your sweating. If you do not sweat this doesn’t mean that you are not hydrated, but on contrary. So with a lot of sweating your clothing will become all wet and to avoid this you need to drink plenty of water and avoid carbonated and sugary drinks. If engaged in an activity that takes place in a warmer environment it is important to have frequent breaks and hydrate in the meanwhile a lot.
•  There are some quick topical treatments to find in pharmacy to help you soothe the pain caused by chafing. They are: petroleum jelly, baby powder and baby oil. They can help with reducing the inflammation and soothe the irritated painful skin. There are several zinc oxide creams that can be applied and let them dry while being on the wound.