Chaffing

A lazy Runner asked me the other day about sore nipples (no I won't reveal HIS name), and I thought that's a good one for the tip page. A combination of movement, moisture and nylon can be lethal to men's nipples.

When I finished the Melbourne Marathon a couple of years ago I was stunned to see so many men walking around with their shirts off and bleeding nipples! I can't comment on the state of the women as they had their shirts on, but I had a quick peak at mine and pleased to say they were intact!

Because we like to wear the lightest clothing next to our skin when running, and most running singlets have nylon in them, the friction and sweat can cause painful chaffe rashes. Short of purchasing a 'Man Bra', a couple of remedies are; Bandaids-the little round ones are ideal, just remember to take them off before you go to the beach or you may get some strange looks; and the good old fashioned vaseline, a couple of dollops will do the trick; I like Paw Paw cream, you can buy it in a red tub cheaply from most supermarkets or chemists, its thick and natural and is also great for a lot of other applications.

Now if you thought that was all pretty personal, there's more....another problem area for chaffing in men is....( I can sense the grimacing from here)..remedies for that are good,firm fitting, cotton undies, the aim is to reduce the movement and the moisture, and the trusty Paw Paw cream works well in that area as well.

This subject reminds me of a story a guy told me a few years ago about the first marathon he ran..He was 19 and running the Melbourne Marathon for the first time, he arrived in the city the day before and went shopping, he saw some new bewt running shorts with the mesh inlay and thought I will buy those and wear them on the run tommorrow.

On the morning of the big race he put on the new shorts, no undies, as he thought that was the way you wore them, and off he ran, at the 30km mark he needed a leak(his word not mine) so he ran behind a tree and went to pull the shorts down and felt incredible pain, so he thought I won't worry, just keep running.

He finished the marathon and once again tried to go to the toilet but, same thing, shorts wouldn't budge and a lot of pain, so he went to the first aid tent.

Long story short, he ended up in a Melbourne emergency room, where a nurse with tweezers and scissors took an hour to remove the mesh from his red bleeding balls(his word not mine). He went on to run 10 more marathons after that and of course he wore undies every time! The moral to this story, wear your jocks... and don't wear a brand new article of clothing the day of a big run....but I will save that one for another tip page.