When I called Chicken Face to tell him, he laughed then questioned my fidelity.
You see, last Saturday I got my very first wetsuit hicky…I mean wetsuit burn.
I’m usually pretty good about lathering up with some sort of Body Glide – I’ve even swam in my wetsuit completely without it. But oooh have I learned my lesson: USE SOME SORT OF GLIDE WITH YOUR WETSUIT!
I’ve heard of people using everything any of these products and more to help:
But whatever one you use, just remember to get these areas:
- Around your neck
- Around your shoulders
- On your wrist
- On your ankles
- Legs, ankles, arm…hell, just dunk your body in a giant tube of Vaseline.
Not only will it help prevent the burn, but it will also help you get your wetsuit off quicker.
Oh and side note, you won’t realize you got a wetsuit burn until you’re in the shower – when it buuuuuurns!
What product do you use? Any helpful tricks and tips?
Happy wetsuit-ing.
haha, this is by far the most painful thing that happened to me during my ironman. I got it BAD and then got sprayed by sunscreen. The last miles of the marathon are nothing compared to the pain of spray on chafed skin.
Ha- that’s funny! I actually only lube a little around my neck and ankles. My wetsuits isn’t what gives me burns, it’s generally my hair!
After AZ, I had cuts on my neck from my braid rubbing for hours on end. This time I had it at the very back of my neck underneath my ponytail! Ouch!
Ah, this brings back memories of suit burn on my neck and walking around with what looked like giant hickeys when we really picked up yardage in the pool. We always used to use vaseline to protect our skin, and it worked pretty well.
I have a host of scars on the back of my neck from my wetsuit, it’s horrible. I’ve tried pretty much everything. The best combination I’ve found is Aquaphor around my neck and TriSlide (it’s 10X better than “Suit Juice” which they sold with my wetsuit) on my arms/legs to get the wetsuit to slide up and off easier.
Wow, I had no idea this could happen! If I ever decided to compete in a triathlon, I will absolutely, definitely use body glide.
I use a little body glide on my neck and arms (I wear a sleeveless wetsuit) and then spray Tri-Slide on neck, arms and on the actual wetsuit, where my arms rub on the seams. Works perfectly – the body glide is a little thicker and the tri-slide keeps everything smooth and slick. Before, I definitely got the wetsuit hickey on my neck and I got crazy chafing on my arms. Not cute, lesson learned! Body Glide + Tri Slide = no chafing or wetsuit hickeys
I use Body Glide yet sometimes end up with a nasty hicky anyway!
I think it has something to do with the way I strap my suit on. I also make sure to lube the area around my armpits where my tri top hits my skin – that can chafe in long swims too!
Yep, been there! YEOUCH!
I rarely use glide (or other), but I use Sport Shield… it rolls on and is sort of like an oil. Really effective. Glide didnt really work for me.
U won’t make the mistake again. That pain burns.