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Nipple Chafing




Whenever I go out for a run longer than 45 minutes and I don't protect my nipples I know I am in for trouble.
First time this happened to me I was quite shocked.

During my long run in the dark I felt my nipples starting to hurt. A stinging sensation.

Not much to do about it when you are running !

I ended up holding my shirt the last twenty minutes so that it didn't come into contact with my nipples anymore.

When I got home I got a good look at my shirt and was shocked to see part of it was covered in blood. My nipples were bleeding.

That was my first and painful experience with nipple chafing while running. Afterwards I haven't had the experience many more times, because I took protective measures.

But I was not the only one who panicked at first...



Tudor from Bucharest says:



Thanks for the nipple chafing article that calmed me way down :)

I came home after a long run and my nipples had that stinging sensation - needless to say they were red at the tip.
I panicked imagining all kinds of disastrous illnesses. But your site came up on google and boy I am glad to learn this is a normal occurence.

Great site by the way, since I run a lot this is a cool website.

Thanks and cheers from Bucharest

Tudor



In this section I'd like to tell you about :


Nipple Chafing

  • Why do nipples chafe ?


  • What do you do when your nipples have chafed ?


  • What can you do to protect your nipples ?
    •


    Why do nipples chafe ?



    Nipple chafing is a problem normally happening to men. Most running women wear sport bras which normally effectively protect them against nipple chafing.

    Many guys never have a problem with it while running. Some guys, like I, do.

    Nipple chafing occurs because of the constant rubbing of your running shirt over your nipples when you run. Usually, on short runs, there is no problem at all. Not enough time for your shirt to do real damage. But when you run for longer distances, the constant rubbing can result in your nipples starting to bleed.

    From that point on you feel an unpleasant stinging sensation with every step you take. If you are unlucky, like me, the bleeding can get pretty heavy and you might have to end up throwing away some of your favourite running shirts !


    What do you do when your nipples have chafed ?



    Treat your bleeding nipples like a normal open wound. So wash them with water. Then clean them with an antiseptic and then cover them with a sterile gauze pad.
    Protect your nipples the next times you go running, because I can tell you that they stay tender for a very long time. The chances of them getting chafed again are quite high !


    nipple chafing


    Ouch...



    What can you do to protect your nipples ?



    There are different things you can do to protect your nipples.
    My remedies are :

  • Use bandaids


    • Nipple Chafing Putting bandaids over your nipples before you go for your run can be an effective measure against nipple chafing. However, some problems that can occur :
    • The bandaid does not really stick to your chest because of chest hair


    • The bandaid falls of after a while because of your sweat


    • And, okay, maybe I am not one of those strong manly men, but it is really painful to tear the bandaid of a chest full of chest hair.




    So try to get those little round bandaids that only stick on your nipples and not on the chest hair area. Still you might have problems with the bandaids not sticking to you because of sweat.

  • Use cream


    •  
    There is cream available which protects nipples against chafing. I know people who are using vaseline for example or Bodyglide. It puts a protective layer on your nipples.

    Beware though:
    I have found out that on longer long runs (over an hour and a half) the effect wears off. So if you use one of these creams or sprays then take the cream with you on your very long runs and apply again every hour.

    Annoying. I know.

  • Use nipguards


    • My favourite way of protecting my nipples from getting chafed is wearing nipguards.

    They are little small pads to stick over your nipples. They always stay on.

    Well I guess almost always as there are no certainties in life. But I am happy with them.


    Never experienced nipple chafing? Then you might think that this section is ridiculous. Might seem so, until you experience it yourself!

    Experienced nipple chafing before? Well, I hope this section helped you in finding solutions to your nipple chafing problems.
    It's just one of those little annoyances we can do without and is dead-easy to solve.

    Don't forget to check out the abundance of running tips in the running training section of this website.

    Interested in more worthwhile running information ?
    Subscribe to the Best Running Tips Newsletter or to the Best Running Tips Site Blog



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    Upper Body Injuries: Nipple Chafing | Side Stitch | Back Pain | Chest Pain



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