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Help me with my chafing thighs!

nursegracer — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:34:13 -0800

Hiking and chafing: make the pain stop! My husband and I have recently started backpacking, which I enjoy greatly aside from one thing: having gone five miles in 80 degree heat, the inner aspects of my thighs were chafed so badly I couldn't walk without pain the next day.

I have had this problem since middle school, always being overweight, but it seems to have only gotten worse. Losing weight is the obvious answer, but that's one of the reasons I am hiking in the first place.

The chafing is primarily located in the upper thigh regions close to where my legs attach to my torso. This time we treated it by covering it with Tegaderm, but that is not a good solution because it sticks to itself.

I wear Spanx Power Panties on a daily basis but they aren't really built for any heavy duty wear (they are more like hose). I also used a pair of spandex shorts but found them unable to stay "up-ins" far enough to prevent the chafing. Same with spandex leggings.

Is there any pre-made solution, or am I forced to sew something? Any suggestions are welcome.

I know talcum powder and other products are made to stop the chafing, but many need to be reapplied too frequently or are fragrant-a big no-no in bear country. I would prefer the solution to be backpack friendly.

Flabby McFlabberston

CitizenD — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:33:18 -0800

I've been (somewhat successfully) losing weight. Plus, I'm getting older, so things on my body are...shifting. Any suggestions for what to do about excessive flesh? My particular problem areas are my upper thighs. It's not fat. It's the excess skin that used to be stretched over fat. Help?!?!?

The only reason I identify with Hilary Clinton

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:05:51 -0800

Please help me make my legs not disgusting. I hate hate hate my legs

Everywhere north of my belly button, I am really thin and toned (to the point where I get "You are eating, right?" comments).

But unfortunately, I have some of the most awful looking legs in the world. Thick thighs, doughy kneecaps, chunky calves, and, if that wasn't enough, really bad cankles.

If I wear jeans or long skirts (and they are all I ever do wear), I look pretty damn good, but god forbid I wear something that shows even a little stretch of leg.

I want to wear a swimsuit proudly, I want to not freak out about getting naked with a guy. And summer is coming again soon.

Look, I've accepted that I'll never be a pantyhose model but I am convinced there must be a way to get my legs looking nice.

I need practical suggestions on how to get my legs looking good for summer. I'm mainly concerned about my kneecaps, chunky calves, and cankles. I can't afford surgery, but I have a lot of willpower and motivation, and I will try any diet, exercise, and creams or potions that might work.

I know certain kinds of exericse will help, but I absolutely do not want to do anything that will build the muscle on my calves in a way that it will make them chunkier! how can I avoid that?

I'm assuming nothing can be done about my cankles, they are all skin and bone and it seems there is not fat around them I could work off. But if I could get firm bony kneecaps and moderately slender calves, I'd be stoked.

Thank you so much!

How can I reduce my thigh-bulges?

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:02:22 -0800

Running has made my "saddlebags" more noticeable. Is there any way to remedy this? I have saddlebags (bulges of fat on the outer sides of my thighs). I run 3-5 miles a day, and this has made my hips very tight, which makes the thighs stick out even more. Is there anything I can do about this? The internet says that all one can do is lose weight, but I really don't need to lose any weight (this is a vanity thing, not an anorexia thing). I also don't have enough money for a personal trainer. Suggestions? Yoga? Biking? Vigorous gardening?

Thigh-rubbing friction

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 11:36:35 -0800

For all the big-thighed women out there... In hot weather, do you have problems with wearing skirts sans pantyhose and walking any distance? If so, how do you deal with the inner-thigh chafing? I am not overweight by any means and am in fact quite fit, but I do have somewhat fleshy upper thighs that touch for about two inches below the groin area when I'm standing up. In the summer if I wear skirts without pantyhose, I can't walk more than six blocks without starting to get painfully chapped in that two inch area. It's really embarrassing. I do notice other women who have a similar physique to me "waddling" a little, ie walking with their legs a little wide. The way I avoid that is by cutting off the lower legs of black pantyhose and wearing this pseudo-thigh girdle under my skirt, and therefore eliminating the upper-inner thigh friction. I feel like such a weirdo for having to resort to such DIY solutions, but I am surprised that there is no undergarment product catering to this problem. No one else I know seems to have this problem, and even my heaviest girlfriends wear skirts all year round. (I can't just wear full pantyhose in the summer, because I wear sandals and pantyhose-toe is tacky and weird when you're just going to the beach.) I have been doing all sorts of exercises focusing on my inner thighs to try and slim them for the sole purpose of being able to wear skirts, but nothing is helping. Am I completely alone in this, or is there a method of dealing that I just haven't heard of? Please help me find a way to be a breezy skirt-wearer without the thigh-rubbing issue!

Stop my suit trousers from wearing out between the thighs!

viama — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 04:35:05 -0800

How do I stop my suit trousers wearing out so quickly? The area between thighs always seems to pill up and eventually wear out, especially on pure wool suits. My thighs are a bit on the large side, I'll admit. Blended fabrics seem to fare much better.