Nipple chafing is an annoying running injury you can get especially on long runs.
Learn more about the why and how of bleeding nipples in this article and find out how to prevent this.
When you plan to run longer distances you need to know the possible things that you may encounter.
When you are running for an extended period of time, one of the things that could happen is your nipples rubbing against your shirt.
This constant rubbing of your shirt to your nipples is normal and won’t create any problems when you are just running shorter distances.
But when you run for longer periods of time, this constant rubbing can chafe your nipples and you can end up with bleeding nipples.
Let me tell you, the first time this happened to me I was freaking out a little bit.
Here I am happily running along in the dark and at some point my nipples start stinging. Annoying and painful.
I get home and half my shirt is red due to my bleeding nipples. My first reaction was that I had possibly contracted some rare disease, until I realized that it had simply been my shirt rubbing over my nipples constantly.
Nipple chafing is actually one of the more common issues we runners have to deal with.
Though it is considered common, like I said before, it is also one of the most freaky experiences a runner could go through especially if it is the first time that you have experienced it.
This issue is most commonly happening to men. Many women wear sports bras whenever they run, which would normally provide sufficient protections against nipple injuries.
When you have bleeding nipples, your best way of treatment would be how you would treat any other wounds. So, wash them clean with water, apply some antiseptic and use a sterile gauze pad to avoid any infection. There is no reason to stop your running, but keep your nipples protected as they will stay tender for a longer time.
How to Prevent Nipple Chafing
There are some things you can buy to protect your nipples from chafing.
Bandaids
Bandaids can help, but if you have a lot of chest hair, this may not be a good idea since they might not stick well. They also have a tendency to fall off quite easily when you start to sweat. If you can find round shape band aids then that should do the trick.
Bodyglide
Some creams or gels have been designed to protect your body against chafing.
Some people use vaseline, but something else that may work better is
Bodyglide. It works by putting a protective layer on your nipples.
Keep in mind though that on much longer runs the Bodyglide eventually rubs off.
This needs not be a severe problem as you usually would take some food and drink on your long runs anyway, so just make sure you bring the Bodyglide as well and apply it when needed. But it is a bit annoying.
Bleeding nipples are something we can all do without.
So protect your nipples against nipple chafing via some of the easy measures listed above.
It's very easy to solve.
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This constant rubbing of your shirt to your nipples is normal and won’t create any problems when you are just running shorter distances.
