How to Remedy Chafing Overnight (Almost)
Healing chafing overnight may not always be possible. It will depend on the severity of your chafing, where it is located, and your ability to chill out and let your body do its healing magic.
That said, there are some things you can do to give your body a helping hand so that you can get back to living your life the very next day without the agonizing pain of chafing or the fear that you’ll make a bad situation even worse.
But the key to understanding how to heal chafing is understanding what chafing is and why it happens. So let’s spend a moment there before we jump to those healing tips!
What Is Skin Chafing and Where Does it Occur?
Chafing occurs when friction from repeated rubbing causes the skin to become red, irritated, and inflamed. Irritated skin is not usually considered a medical problem, but like blisters on the feet or papercuts, that doesn’t mean it can’t hurt a whole lot.
What’s the source of this friction? Usually, it’s one of two things:
- Skin to skin contact caused by body parts rubbing against each other. A common example of this is chafing in the armpit or between the inner thighs
- Skin-on-material friction caused by tougher materials repeatedly rubbing against delicate skin. Common examples of this are too-tight waistbands, stiff leather shoes rubbing against bare feet or the inner arms becoming chafed rubbing against a rough seam.
Chafed skin can happen almost anywhere on the body (especially any areas with excess skin), but areas of delicate, sensitive skin are more susceptible to chafing. These include:
- The heels and toes (often caused by stiff shoes that haven’t been broken in)
- Inner thighs (caused by the friction of thighs rubbing together and often exacerbated by groin sweat or stubble from bikini hair removal)
- Beneath the boobs (often caused by too-tight or too-loose underwire bras that rub against the rib cage. Can also be exacerbated by boob sweat)
- Nipple-chafing (often happens to male athletes who may experience chafing when the fabric of their top rubs against the nipples. Less common in women as sports bras are usually worn)
- Inner arm or armpit chafing (another area where the skin is delicate and friction can easily happen between the folds of the skin)
Chafing can make the skin feel like it has been rubbed with sandpaper. It can feel rough, hot, red, and exceptionally sensitive. It’s natural to want to heal it up as quickly as possible.
Can Chafed Skin Be Cured Overnight? How to Treat Chafing...
It’s difficult to say how long it will take to cure chafed skin. Sometimes it will be too severe to heal overnight. Plus, we all have different degrees of skin sensitivity. But nighttime is a good time to allow the skin to calm and soothe since you won’t be moving as much (and, therefore, won’t exacerbate the chafing with more movement and friction.)
That said, don’t strip off your sweaty and wet clothes and just jump into bed and hope the chafing resolves itself overnight. Take the following steps to treat chafing and encourage your body to heal!
1. Start With Clean Skin
Chafing is characterized by a burning sensation, so it’s not unusual to want to avoid touching the skin for fear of further pain. But you also don’t want sweaty, torn skin to sit unclean as it could become a breeding ground for bacteria, and that inflammation could turn into a skin infection—you definitely don’t want that!
Your instincts are right: This is not a time for a steaming hot shower, bath, or hot tub—they can make chafing worse. But you do want to clean the skin, and some cold or lukewarm water will actually feel really soothing (just don’t blast the water pressure.)
Clean the skin gently with some hypoallergenic, mild soap applied gently with the hands (no loofahs or sponges as they will cause further friction and abrasion). Rinse well with more cool water, and that’s it! Hopefully, your skin is already starting to feel a little cooler and calmer with all that salty sweat washed away.
2. Pat Dry (No Vigorous Skin Rubbing)
Some of us love a good scrub and vigorous towel dry. It can feel energizing on a sluggish morning. But this is not the time. Gently as you can, pat the skin dry. You can even just lounge on the bed and let yourself air dry.
Remember: keep your skin dry. Wet skin can make chafing worse or even be a breeding ground for bacterial infections. Use talc powders to prevent areas from getting sweaty and sticky.
3. Apply Aloe Vera, Petroleum Jelly, or Another Healing Lotion to the Chafed Skin
Once the skin is dry, help the healing process along with a healing lotion. You might reach for Polysporin or another medicated ointment. Or perhaps you prefer a natural remedy like aloe vera gel, which has anti-bacterial properties too. You can also try coconut oil, argan oil, good old petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline), or even diaper rash cream.
Chafing can dry out the surface of the skin, so adding moisture will soothe it immediately but also help to replenish your ‘sanded’ skin.
One note of caution: Avoid moisturizers that contain acids (lactic acid, fruit acids, AHAs) or that are heavily fragranced, as these might only further irritate your skin.
You might want to reapply your chosen product a few times throughout the night to make sure the area doesn’t dry out, or the lotion doesn’t just rub off on your nightwear or sheets.
4. Choose Your Sleepwear Carefully
When your skin is burning with irritation, clothes can be a real irritant. Every seam has the potential to further irritate. So, when you have chafing, think about what you wear to bed.
Generally, we recommend opting for pajamas over nightdresses, so your skin is encapsulated in a protective barrier. If you have inner thigh chafing, I would choose snug leggings or shorts that won’t move around too much. Soft materials like modal cotton are ideal.
5. If it’s Really Bad: Ice Packs and Painkiller
If your skin chafing is particularly painful, you might want to pop an anti-inflammatory (aspirin) or another painkiller. As always, follow medical advice when taking any medication. You can also try applying an ice pack to the chafed area to help cool the skin and reduce inflammation.
The Next Day (and Following Days): Keep Up Your Care Routine!
Hopefully, you wake up with skin that’s a lot calmer and cooler. But it’s unlikely that skin chafing will completely clear up overnight. So keep up the steps listed above, especially reapplying the ointment (petroleum jelly, aloe vera, or coconut/argan oil) to keep the skin hydrated.
It’s harder to stay still during the day, so carefully consider what you wear. Look for clothing that wicks moisture and sweat from the skin surfaces. You’ll usually find most athletic or athleisure clothing has some degree of moisture-wicking these days.
Because sweat is such a major contributor to the irritation caused by chafing, sweat-wicking clothes will help prevent chafing by absorbing excess moisture and trapping it away from your skin.
But also pay attention to the fit of your clothes. Clothes that fit the body snugly (like leggings) with minimal seams don’t tend to move a lot, so this means there’s less friction of them rubbing against your skin. And because they fit snugly, they also mean your skin is encapsulated, so there’s less skin-on-skin friction.
However, if your clothes are too tight, those tight seams and bands (like waistbands or bra bands) can dig into the skin and cause irritation. So look for products with that perfect second-skin feeling rather than that sausage-like, too-tight encapsulation.
If you have inner thigh chafing, there are also specialty products that will prevent skin chafing: products like our Thigh Savers work by creating a physical barrier between your thighs. Usually, they’re light shorts that are form-fitting, and you can also look for styles (like our Leakproof Thigh Savers that absorb moisture to help manage sweat. You can also try topical anti-chafing products like anti-chafing sticks.
While shorts are great for protecting the inner thighs, some areas prone to chafing don’t have dedicated products aimed at chafing. But really, what you want to do is add a physical barrier to protect your bare skin from skin-on-skin contact and to reduce friction.
For example, a sports bra can protect your nipples from chafing. Or socks can protect the delicate skin on your feet from severe chafing and reduce friction from shoes or trainers (and if you want that sockless look, there are more and more invisible socklets to choose from.) If you experience chafing along your inner arms, try a fitted tee rather than a tank top.
When to Seek Medical Advice
Within a few days, you should be healed up. And going forward, you can take steps to prevent chafing from happening in the first place.
If you’re still experiencing pain or irritation days later, or you experience any of the following, it might be worth a trip to the doctor:
- A wound opens up and doesn’t scab over in a few days (assuming it’s not further exacerbated)
- You notice blood or pus coming from a chafing wound
- The skin is very hot or swollen
- Redness spreads beyond the point of chafing
But don’t panic; chafing doesn’t typically require medical attention. A little bit of rest and TLC, and you should be back to normal in a few days!
Next Time: Prevent Chafing Before it Happens
Well, you can stop chafing before it begins! Indeed, a lot of the steps outlined above can also reduce friction and help prevent the skin rubbing that causes thigh chafing. In particular, carefully choosing what you wear (like our Thigh Savers) can prevent skin chafing before it even gets started.
Also, think about choices that will minimize sweat and moisture, which we saw can really exacerbate skin chafing. Look for:
- Clothes (like our Leakproof Thigh Savers) that absorb moisture and is good for spotting
- Non-talc anti-chafing powders that can be applied to absorb moisture naturally
- Antiperspirants and deodorants that can be applied places other than the armpits
When it comes to your groin/crotch area, you do want to be mindful of what products you put down there that might disrupt the pH levels in the vagina. But if you focus on the inner-thigh area rather than the groin, you have options.
There are also topical anti-chafe creams that prevent chafing (and good ole Vaseline or petroleum jelly works well, too) by creating a skin barrier that helps the thighs glide past each other rather than drag. But you may find these to be messier solutions than simply choosing different underwear or clothing.
Finally, remember that thigh chafing can happen to anyone (and almost anywhere on your body) so don’t be ashamed or embarrassed if you experience it. Know there are many options for both treating thigh chafing and avoiding it going forward. So you can still enjoy your favorite summer activities, just without the burn.
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We hope you found this post informative—but remember: we’re not doctors and this post is not medical advice! While all posts are fact-checked and well researched, we always recommend you chat with your doctor about any questions or concerns you might have regarding a medical condition.
We’re here to support and educate, but never with the aim of disregarding professional medical advice you’ve been given. Phew, now that that’s out of the way, you can go on living unapologetically free.