This river surf season of 2023 has been incredible but your skin might not agree. Surf rash might be creeping up on you.
Surf Rashes: Surf rashes are wetsuit rashes that develop over time as skin rubs against wetsuits repeatedly, causing skin irritation and inflammation. Another form of surf rash is prickly heat rash that presents itself as red itchy bumps that occur in an area where sweat has been trapped underneath layers of skin.
Causes: Poor fitting wetsuits often will rub your skin the wrong way. Wearing wetsuits too long (as in hours at a time) can cause prickly heat rash. And not rinsing out your wetsuit, not letting it dry, or not washing your wetsuit with mild soap wil also cause rashes. Reality is, spending hours upon hours surfing in your wetsuit will likely be the main cause of surf rash. Oh and let’s face it, peeing in your wetsuit probably has something to do with it also.
Prevention: Use a properly fitting surf wetsuit. Dive wetsuits are easily found in Colorado and are often an inexpensive go to for river surfing. But dive wetsuits are not made flexible in the right places for the arms, legs, and torso required for surf movements. Also zippers in a dive suit can cause irritation. Lastly, a poor fitting wetsuit that does not hug the entire body will flush water and will not keep you warm no matter how thick the wetsuit is.
Wear a long sleeve rash guard under your wetsuit. A tight fitting rash guard will make a wetsuit go on easier and will help protect the upper body, arms, and arm pits from the rubbing of your wetsuit against the skin.
Get a pair of tight fitting sports underwear that is not cotton. Wearing your regular underoos/boxers will bunch up and rub against your skin. Swimsuits, unless tight ones, will also bunch up under your wetsuit.
Try not to piss in your wetsuit. Many wetsuits are so good now that the warmer ones are semi dry in the torso and legs and they rarely flush. So your pee kind of sits there against your skin…. But hey, not all surf spots have close-by bathrooms. So, sometimes ya got to go.
Rinse out your wetsuit after each session. Soak your wetsuit in mild soap periodically and after you pee in it. And try to let your wetsuit dry completely starting inside out first.
Another prevention is to take a break from surfing at the first sign of wetsuit rash or prickly heat rash…. Yeah right, disregard that!!!
If you have bad rash areas, treat it with topical ointment like zinc baby rash ointment paste. If your experiencing real bad rash but need to surf it up, try pre-gaming the rash with the same baby rash ointment.
Good thing about surf rash, it means your are surfing a lot!!!
Comments are open to share your surf rash…
LBK
The Denver Surf Report 