If you take prompt action, then a chafing rash won't take long to heal. In fact, it should go away after a couple of days. The problem comes if you ignore the chafing rash and continue with all your usual activities.  If this happens, you will find that your symptoms become more severe and your discomfort increases. Plus, the rash won't go away - it'll get worse. With this in mind, let's take a closer look at the symptoms of a chafing rash and what you can do to combat it.

What are severe symptoms of chafing rash?

Severe symptoms of chafing rash include welts that go deep to the lower layers of the skin. Repeated friction means this damage could even go as deep as the muscle. If you have any of the following symptoms, you could have a severe chafing rash:

• Swollen area around the rash
• Cracked, broken skin
• Blood
• Blisters
• Sores

These symptoms are serious because they could develop into an infection. The best way to avoid severe symptoms of chafing rash is to protect the damaged skin using specially designed anti-chafe bands. Unlike creams and ointments, you don’t need to constantly reapply them, so your skin will be protected all the time.

How to avoid chafing rash

Skin is tough enough to withstand day-to-day friction, but there are times when it needs a bit more help. If you do a lot of endurance-type challenges, then your skin will experience sustained friction that it’s not equipped to handle. Likewise, those of us who have active jobs - in hospitality or retail, for example - may find areas of our skin become chafed.

This could simply be down to repetitive movements or may be the result of ill-fitting or impractical workwear. Whilst you may not be able to change your uniform or workwear guidelines, you can protect your skin in other ways such as choosing to wear anti chafing shorts which you wear as underwear.

What happens if my chafing rash doesn't go away?

If you don’t protect the chafed area, then you place yourself at risk of a more severe infection called intertrigo. This can cause itchy, oozing skin and an unpleasant odour. You may also develop a yeast infection as a result of intertrigo. The symptoms of intertrigo include:

• Bleeding
• Discoloration
• Unpleasant odour
• Crusting
• Blistering

Protection is better than cure

Your skin plays an important part in protecting your whole body. It is pretty resilient, but if you do a lot of exercise, wear poor-fitting clothes or are overweight, you run the risk of causing your skin excess stress, leading to chafing.

Choosing to use anti chafing protection as part of your daily routine means you can be confident that you’re doing everything you can to keep your skin in tip-top condition. Using thigh guards offers a fuss-free, sustainable way to protect your skin and reduce how long a chafing rash lasts, so you can continue to do the things you love in comfort.