As a physician, I’m a little stumped. Some sort of chaffing associated with surfing and only affects men. Why?
Is it the sand? The cold? It is not the wetsuit in and of itself…Dr. Google is not really helpful.
Discussion
It’s a combination of hair pulling on wax and exacerbated by the salt water. I get chafing on my inner/rear thighs, armpits, and upper belly. Going to try compression swim shorts under board shorts next summer. I need to surf several days in a row multiple times a day for it to force me to take a day or two off. Also if you use a deck pad instead of wax that is more abrasive. I have one on one of my boards and it’s pretty rough even with a rashguard. Vaseline helps a little if you’re already raw but still want to surf. There are companies that sell board shorts with built in liners to help with leg chafing (driftline.co)
Have you tried lining with coconut oil as a barrier? It’s helps me. Not a man but … maybe. 🤔
I’ll have to try a barrier / lubricant. A large amount of skin must fit into a smaller volume at ocean temperatures, and I can see how that would effectively make a large area of skin to skin rubbing.
Glide ?
Had some Vaseline lip balm. Seems to have done the trick. I appreciate your insight.
I have realized I enjoy being a man like 99.9% of the time. And like really dislike it 0.1% of the time. I’m sure dermatologists know all about this, but the internet doesn’t seem to…or web pages talk about it so obliquely or in such modest terms as to make the answer unsearchable.
I’ve chafed from surfing but only when I don’t wear a wetsuit. If patients are chafing while using a wet suit, I don’t know why but they may have more sensitive skin or be using too loose (or maybe too thin) of a wetsuit.
I chafe on my stomach and chest due to sand getting in the wax on my board and then abrasion occurs. I also chafe on my inner thighs because I use them to grip the board when I pivot. The chafing in my thighs is not due to sand but I’m not sure what exactly. It could be the salt in the water, the hair on my legs, or the fiberglass-like material of the board.
Hair, wax and sand/salt mixed in. But its still worth it
Waves are like free energy just waiting to be harvested. And it only takes a lil practice and patience to start an enjoyable harvest!
And so begins a lifelong addiction. The peace when youre sitti g on your board watching the swells come in. Or even before you paddle out and youre waxing the board and reading the waves. Theres magic in those moments