As if exercising wasn’t hard enough when you are plus size, you also have to deal with all the health issues that go with it. Shortness of breath, sore limbs, aching knees and to add to the list, skin irritations such as chafing and sweat rashes.
Skin chafing is a painful experience that takes days if not weeks to recover from and is the result of the skin being irritated by repetitive friction and rubbing, usually generated through skin to skin contact of multiple body parts and natural body sweat but can also be a result of fabric to skin irritation. For plus size people, chafing is usually contracted on the inner thighs as this is one of the areas that is rubbed the most but can also occur on the waist and below the bust and belly.
Amanda Whaley, a plus size mother of 2, suffered from thigh chafing for many years and said that when she wanted to start jogging she knew that chafing would be one of her main obstacles. So in a bid to help thousand of other plus size men and women as well as herself, she set about designing underwear that gave her relief from chafing. ‘I created underwear in a sweat wicking fiber as sweat is the common factor that leads to chafing. I knew that by using a fiber that took control of sweating, it would ultimately help reduce chafing as the two go hand in hand. Sweat wicking fiber works similar to how a candle wicks away wax but the fiber (Coolmax) wicks away sweat. The fibre allows the body to breath, wicks away the sweat, whilst providing a barrier for the skin so that the repeated rubbing action is cushioned and the inner thighs, waist and buttocks protected’. Amanda Whaley, founder.
“There were quite a few amendments and it took over a year to get the final underwear signed off. I had people reviewing it from all of the world in all different sports capacities including cycling, fun runs, horse riders, hikers and plus size 10k runners. I had ladies from our local sports centre try them out in there Zumba classes and also gym users. I received really good and encouraging reviews but most importantly I listened to what people had to say about the underwear. I made changes such as wider leg openings as some ladies found the standard leg opening too restricting. I increased the gusset area so that it covered all the pubic hair, so ladies felt more hygienic and it made attaching sanitary towels and panty liners easier and I altered the leg length of the boxers shorts”.
Men and women are buying the underwear for all kinds of sports and fitness classes for the comfort and wicking factors alone, even though chafing is not an issue for them. “You cannot assume that chafing happens to just plus size people or all plus size people, as that is not the case. I have had many sales in smaller sizes. I think people are finally coming around to the fact that cotton is not the best underwear to exercise in as it actually holds sweat and leaves the wearer feeling wet and cold. People need to exercise in underwear which is breathable and wicks away sweat as that is the only way to allow your body to breath whilst exercising, this is regardless of shape or size’.
Customers not only wear this underwear for exercising, they also wear it to relieve sweating and chafing when wearing their everyday attire including, skirts, dresses, trousers, shorts and tights. It is a modern, everyday garment, which is seamless, stretchy, machine washable and extremely comfortable. ‘Unlike the creams and gels you can buy that claim to relive chafing, you buy chaffree underwear once and it will maintain its shape, colour, performance and benefits for over a hundred washes, so you buy it once and use it time and time again.
Amanda goes on to say, ‘I am delighted that there is finally underwear for plus size men and women which helps them to exercise in comfort, leaving them to concentrate on other health issues like getting fitter’.
For more information on getting relief from skin irritation and chafing or to buy Chaffree underwear, please visit: https://www.chaffree.com. To join the growing social media following, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/Chaffree or https://twitter.com/Chaffree