Heat Rash. Thigh Burn. Fire Thighs. Satan’s Curse. The Real Fire Crotch. No matter what you call it, it’s one of the most painful and annoying things for us active folks no matter what your size. (yes, people of all sizes get it)
I lovingly refer to it as chub rub, personally, but that’s not the point. The point of this post is to help you find solutions for it so you can live your active life and get on with it. Let me say, over the years I have tried many ways to prevent it since I feel like in this case prevention is definitely the key. If I get it, it can leave me unable to workout for at least 48 hours while it heals and that’s definitely a no-go. In this post I will talk about the ways I have tried and why it wasn’t a great solution even if it seemed to work for a while and then I will reveal my secret (or maybe not so secret to some of you) weapon in preventing it.
My Secret to Preventing ‘Chub Rub’
Here are some common ways to prevent chub rub and why they didn’t work for me:
Wearing shorts under skirts- This sort of works, but unless your shorts are breathable and fit extremely well, this can actually lead to worse rub in my opinion. Plus, its not a solution for anything other than under skirts.
Baby powder/ Anti Monkey Butt- yes, there is a product that is called Anti Monkey Butt. I have tried both the regular version and the Lady Anti-Monkey Butt version. They do work decently, but I have gotta chub rub a couple of times with it during particularly long workouts. I also find it messy and annoying to apply especially if you are in a rush and need to apply in the gym.
Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline)- I generally don’t use this product for anything but I did try it a couple of times for prevention of chafing. I found it was nothing more than a way to make my thighs feel like greased lightening.
Use an antiperspirant/deodorant there- This was one I used for a while because it had the best staying power of all the solutions, but it still didn’t last as long as I needed it to. Additionally, when I decided to do a pit detox and stop using deodorant for good, I didn’t want to continue to use it just on a different part of my body.
Monostat gel for chafing- I found the Monostat anti chafe to be a rather expensive solution and it didn’t work all that well unless I applied so much that my thighs felt super sticky.
Body Glide- Body glide is supposed to be easy to apply and use for this problem, and while it is, it also tends to leave an unpleasant sticky feeling as well. I’m just not having any of that. I only temporarily did it’s job, too, because I had to re-apply after a coupe of hours when I tried it on a day I intended on being active all day.
My Secret to Preventing Chub Rub, Revealed
This is going to sound like they sponsored this post, but I assure you none of the brands or techniques, including this one did. I just wanted to provide you with my best solution. Are you ready?
*Drum roll*
Gold Bond Anti-Friction and NO Underwear.
That’s right. I said go commando. I found that a lot of the rubbing I was getting was from my underwear and it didn’t matter what kind I wore because I also tried many different brands and styles. Undies trap moisture and then add to the whole mess down there. You don’t have to go commando all the time, but when I wear stuff like leggings or workout wear I do.
And, Yes, I know Gold Bond is not full of natural ingredients, something I promote on here. The truth is, I also promote natural or green living when it makes sense to and to be honest, I suffer from such bad chub rub and want so badly to be active that this is something I am willing to compromise on. However, if a natural product is out there that can work exactly this well, I am willing to make the switch.
If you are wondering what the ingredients are, here’s a list according to my stick of it. I have linked each to the EWG Skin Deep rating so you can make up your own mind. Ironically, the two I didn’t think would be the most dangerous , aloe extract and zinc oxide, were moderate risks, while everything else was mild or not at all (minus the tocopheryl acetate which also caries a moderate risk)
caprylic/capric triglyceride, tribehenin, cetyl esters, stearyl alcohol, polyethylene, zinc oxide, silica, ethylhexylglycerin, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, isopropyl myristate, bisabolol, tocopheryl acetate, isopropyl palmitate, zingiber officinale (ginger) root extract
And for the cost, It lasts quite a while. I workout 5-6 days a week and a stick lasts me about about 2 months. Why was this the winner?
-It didn’t leave a weird sticky feeling at all. In fact you can’t even feel it’s there.
-It is extremely easy to apply. I just throw it in my gym bag and apply it right before I hit the gym.
-The price point was right where it needs to be in my opinion. And, you can easily order it online or even find it at store like Walmart.
-It works! I have never needed to re-apply it. I used it just a week ago when I was walking around all day at an amusement park and even went on some water rides and did not need to re-apply and got absolutely zero chafing. *let the angels sing*
By the way, If you already have chub rub, check out my solution for that with this DIY Chafing Salve I made for Northwest Tourist.