How to Prevent Nipple Chafing for Running a Marathon
Running a marathon is an exceptional achievement. However, running a marathon without getting sore or chafed nipples can often seem like an even more incredible (and impossible) goal!
With this thought in mind, today, we’re looking at nipple chafing, including how you can try to prevent nipple chasing during exercise and what causes it in the first place.
Hopefully, this will set you up well for your future marathon running efforts, too.
Nipple Chafing During Marathon Training: How to Prevent It
Did you know that nipple chafing doesn’t have to be something you just live with? For many marathon runners, the thought of chafed or bleeding nipples can sometimes seem like a fact of life – but that’s only because you don’t have the right equipment to help prevent chafing overall.
Of course, marathon runners are in a unique category compared to most joggers due to the immense amount of training involved with preparing for a marathon. As such, if you want to fully avoid nipple chafing during marathon training, you may need a more heavy-duty solution for how to prevent it. Luckily, though, there are options out there.
Application
Even when exercising regularly as part of your marathon training, you shouldn’t have to worry about nipple chafing and sore nipples. However, to prevent nipple chafing during regular, intense exercise, you’ll need to take extra care.
First, having the right clothing is crucial. Your clothes should ideally be loose fitting and made from delicate materials to reduce the risk of injury to your nipples. In addition, for women, a tight-fitting, comfortable sports bra can help hold everything in and prevent the amount of friction building up during exercise.
Secondly, you’ll need to directly protect your nipples from chafing. Many people reach for a runner’s tape or the like to cover their nipples, which can help reduce the level of friction. However, as a marathon runner, a heavier-duty solution is often needed to ensure the continual friction doesn’t result in chafed nipples – which is where silicon nipple guards can be a valuable investment.
Of course, preventing chafed nipples isn’t only during exercise alone. Ensuring you take good care of your skin is also vital to help prevent infections and the like getting into any cracks and cuts in the skin around your nipples. Naturally, this could make the experience of nipple chafing even more painful. With this thought in mind, some people also use petroleum jelly on their nipples during or after exercise to help keep things protected and soft overall.
Final Thoughts
While many assume that nipple chafing is part of running a marathon, this isn’t the case. Indeed, nipple chafing can actually be avoided with a few simple strategies, and luckily, our experts are here today to help give you some inspiration in this regard. After all, you shouldn’t have to live with nipple chafing.
So, take your marathon performance to the next level; invest in your own nipple shields and see how they could transform your workouts accordingly.
