What to Put On Chafing

If you have chafed skin, you’ll want quick and immediate relief. Chafed skin can be an exceptionally painful skin irritation that even restricts movement. So, what are your options? Good news: There are many balms, creams, and oils you can apply to soothe your sensitive skin, and you probably have many of them already at home!

What Can You Apply to Soothe Chafed Skin?

Chafed skin is often hot to the touch, red, and inflamed. You may even experience some small tears in the skin that cause a little bleeding. And chafing is painful. It is caused by repeated rubbing, so any further skin rubs can make chafing worse and feel like a form of medieval torture.

You’re probably keen to understand what you can apply to the skin to help soothe this pain and calm the skin, but before you go applying anything, you’ll want to take the following steps:

1. Hop in the Shower to Clean the Skin

You’re probably wearing some hot and sweaty clothes, so start by tossing those wet clothes in the laundry hamper.

Your skin will be sensitive to the touch when it’s chafed, and this might make you want to avoid the water pressure of a shower. But if you opt for low-pressure and lukewarm water, you may actually find a shower reduces some of the heat and inflammation.

But more than that, a shower will wash away sweat which can agitate chafing because it contains salt. And it will also keep your irritated skin clean, which helps protect you from skin infection.

Some notes on how to shower:

• If you can control the water pressure, put it on the gentlest setting
• Choose lukewarm or cool water over hot water
• Avoid heavily fragranced products; opt for fragrance-free, hypoallergenic shower gel or soap and lather it in your hands, applying with the gentlest care
• Avoid loofahs, sponges, or any other scrubbing tools—while it’s great to exfoliate when skin is chafed, you want to let it heal rather than adding more friction

2. Pat the Skin Dry (Oh So Gently!)

Hopefully, the shower helped, and if you have minor chafing, you may already feel a lot better. But don’t forget that your skin still needs a little TLC. So, no aggressive towel rubbing (no matter how invigorating it may feel)—that is simply another form of friction that will worsen your chafing and hurt like hell!

Instead, gently pat the skin dry with a clean towel. Or, if you have the time, lounge a bit and let your skin air dry so you have minimal touching.

3. Apply (and Reapply) Your Pick of the Following Products

A cooling and moisturizing lotion or balm will both offer relief and help the skin start to heal. It will also form a barrier to protect the skin from further irritation. You can choose a number of different products, such as:

• Aloe vera gel (aloe vera is known for its cooling properties, especially when used on sunburn)
• Argan oil (nutrient-rich and has anti-inflammatory properties)
• Coconut oil (coconut oil reduces inflammation and helps heal wounds)
• Shea butter (contains vitamins A, E, and F, antioxidant vitamins that promote circulation and healthy skin cell growth)
• Diaper rash cream (serves as a barrier cream)
• Petroleum jelly, aka Vaseline (petroleum jelly keeps the skin slick to prevent further rubbing)
• Medicated ointment

Generally, you can use whatever you have on hand, even a regular body lotion. You will likely want to reapply whatever product you choose a few times throughout the day while you’re healing. Many of these products will help the skin barrier repair. 

However, stay clear of products that are heavily fragranced or contain acids (fruit acids, lactic acid, AHAs) as they will likely feel burning on your raw skin.

4. Try to Rest and Stay Hydrated

Chafing usually occurs when your body is hot and perspiring, so you may have lost a lot of water while chafing was occurring. Make sure to replenish that hydration by drinking lots of water. This will help your body cool, regulate its temperature and heal.

But really, the very best treatment is rest. If you can, chill on the sofa and watch some TV for the rest of the day, or read a book. Simply staying still will reduce friction and allow the chafed skin a chance to begin healing, whereas continued movement will only exasperate it further

5. If Pain Is Severe, Reach for Ice-Packs

Depending on how sensitive your skin is and how long you were moving (or causing repeated rubbing), chafing can be minor or more severe. And, of course, we all have different pain thresholds.

So, you be the judge: If the pain is distracting and keeping you from normal tasks, you might want to take a painkiller or apply ice packs to the affected area to treat chafing.

Note: You should never apply an ice pack directly to the skin. Instead, wrap it in a soft cloth (a tea towel is perfect - not too thick and generally pretty soft) and hold that gently against the skin. It helps to have two ice packs on standby so that you can swap them out as one starts to warm up.

6. If You Must Move Around, Consider Your Clothing

Clothing can be your friend or your foe when it comes to chafing. 

Foe: Either there is no clothing forming a protective barrier between the skin (e.g., inner thigh chafing when you’re wearing a summer dress.) Or the clothing itself is the source of chafing (e.g., a pair of shoes that’s rubbing your heel raw.)

Friend: Think about using clothing to form a physical barrier to reduce friction and protect the skin from further irritation. Here are some suggestions:

• Thigh Savers can protect the inner thighs from rubbing together
• Socks can prevent shoes from rubbing your feet (band-aids can help too!)
• Longer, fitted sleeves can protect the inner arms and armpits from chafing
• Changing into a wireless bra or a bra with wider straps (or a better-fitting bra) can minimize chafing around the bust area
• Changing out of any too-tight clothing for something that fits you better will always help

Do You Ever Need to See the Doctor Regarding Skin Chafing?

Chafed skin can be exceptionally painful, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to rush to the doctor. Indeed, skin chafing does not usually require a visit to the doctor. 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 around the chafed area 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 generally, a little bit of rest and TLC, and you should be back to normal in a few days!

Next Time: Prevent Chafing From Happening Altogether

So now you know what to put on skin chafing. But did you know you could probably have avoided chafing in the first place?

Intrigued? Want to know more? Read on to learn how to prevent chafing:

Protect Your Inner Thighs With Anti-Chafe Shorts

You can prevent thigh chafing and groin chafing with a simple product. Anti-chafing underwear works 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 Thigh Savers and Leakproof Thigh Savers) that include moisture-wicking to help manage sweat. 

Explore Anti-Chafing Products and Creams That Stop the Skin Rubbing

There are many anti-chafing products that help prevent friction and combat (and treat) skin chafing. These products are designed to create a barrier that sits on top of the skin and helps the skin “glide” past other skin. If you don’t have these products handy, you can even try good old petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) to create a skin barrier (yes, petroleum jelly is good for both treating chafing and preventing it!)

Minimize Excess Moisture and Sweat With (Non-Talc) Powders

We now know all about the sweat-chafing connection, so it’s also good to think about products that will minimize and absorb sweat, like moisture-absorbing powders. Look for non-talc all-natural products with ingredients like kaolin or cornstarch to absorb moisture. Other ingredients, like aloe and lavender, can cool, soothe and have antibacterial properties.

Dress in Sweat-Wicking Clothes

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.

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.

The good news is that chafing has become a real personal hygiene conversation in the last few years, and so there are more and more products to help address it (particularly thigh chafing.) This means that chafing is no longer an experience we have to tolerate in shame: With effective treatments and preventative products, we can all enjoy those hot summer days!

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.