Running’s great for your health, your mood and for keeping in shape. Unfortunately, it can give some people pesky skin problems they’d rather run away from. Here are the most common skin problems runners face and how to leave them in the dust.
(B)acne
Exercise and sweating makes your skin warm and damp – conditions that P. acnes (the bacteria that causes acne) love. Running often in clothes that don’t let your skin breathe can contribute to acne on the back. This can be really painful, and, because it’s on your back, pretty hard to treat by yourself!
To fight it, make sure you wear breathable clothes, shower as soon as you finish exercising and use Ac-Norm Active Wash and then Ac-Norm Normalizing Lotion to cleanse excess oil, tighten your pores and reduce irritation.
Chafing
Chafing is when the repetitive movements of running scrape off a few layers of your skin, exposing the sensitive layers underneath. Nipple chafing is something guys get worst – We’ve all seen that proud-but-painful guy cross the marathon finishing line with a bloody chest – but chafing in general doesn’t discriminate according to gender.
The most popular areas for chafing are under the arms, the nipples, and around the groin. If you get chafing, change the fabrics you wear to run in and use a running lubricant to help ease the friction.
Sunburn
If you’re only popping out for a 5K run, it can be tempting to skip the sun cream – you’re only going to be sweating it all off anyway, right? Even if you’re only out for half an hour, it’s really important to wear the right sun protection all year around, and especially in the summer when the sun is at its strongest and you wear your least.
To avoid sunburn, avoid running between 11am and 3pm when the sun is hottest. If you are going out, make sure you apply sun cream 30 mins before you leave so it has time to absorb into our skin. FREZYDERM’s Sea Side Dry Mist SPF 50+ is a good choice because it is water resistant, so your sweat won’t stop it from working. It is suitable for both face and body, and the spray-on formula makes even application easy!
Inflammation
When you exercise, your skin flushes red because your body ups your circulation: blood vessels expand and your heart beats faster to pump more blood around your body. But if you suffer from rosacea or prickly heat, all the extra blood flow to your red areas isn’t going to help.
One thing you can do is end your post-run shower with cold water. This will reduce the circulation to your skin as your capillaries close in order to keep you warm. Topic treatments are very effective, too. FREZYDERM Sensitive Red Skin Facial Cream is an award winning rosacea cream shown to reduce redness.
