to think the worst part of the heatwave is the constantly sweaty (ahem) vulva?

[ChoccoBiccy66]

Yes, I have NC'd for this.

Anyone else getting irritated by constant irritation due to the heat? The sweat causes 'paper cuts' and it stings when I have a bath etc.

Roll on autumn!!!

pouring with sweat all over your body, getting 'paper cuts' on your vulva and so on, is not right and shouldn't be happening.

I tend to agree with you re the lacerations, but sweating profusely is not necessarily abnormal. I’ve been like it all my life. I am slim and muscular and in very good health.

Please stop trying to pathologise a normal biological process. It feels offensive to me, as a person who sweats heavily.

Ironically, one thing which never fails to make me sweat even more is the thought that people around me are horrified or appalled by the fact I am visibly sweating.
I don’t smell, because I shower, reapply deodorant and change clothes whenever needed (sometimes 2-3 times a day in this weather, especially if exercising). But I sweat enough for it to be noticeable to others. I’m sorry that this fact seems to disgust you so much, but there really is nothing I can do about it other than try to find cool places to sit, which is exactly what I do.

No, you enjoy the sun. I’m enjoying sitting in my kitchen which is a big north facing room and is ALWAYS cool, even now! It’s a bit of a rude awakening coming down to it on winter mornings when it is so cold in our kitchen that you can see your breath 😆 I have to layer up in my bedroom before I come downstairs and get the fire on! But it’s perfect at the time of year for those of us who don’t enjoy heat 🙂

I think the issue with it here though is that we aren’t set up for the heat. In Spain etc houses are built to keep the heat out, it’s the opposite here which is why so many people are suffering. I used to live in Dubai and yes, it gets ridiculously hot there, but you’ve also got air conditioning as standard. I went to my nearest big shopping centre yesterday to make use of their aircon and it wasn’t working in the Debenhams, I practically melted like the wicked witch of the west walking through there 😂🙈

www.thebigbloomerscompany.co.uk/anti-chafing-knickers/short-leg/anti-chafing-seamless-short-legs

These are literally the best thing I have ever purchased! I'm wearing floaty dresses and so much more comfortable!

So @GorgonLondon you don't sweat at all?

Sorry abroad and thread didn't refresh!
It's cooler here and there is a pool 😀 no chafing for me

Yes, the comments about it’s so much hotter in blahdiblah are pretty ignorant as obviously those countries are set up for it. When I stayed with a friend in Queensland, yes, it was hotter (durr) but she lived in a bungalow on stilts, a Queenslander in fact, and so it was never as sweltering as a Victorian terrace. Her garden had loads of tropical trees so was shady, and it also poured with rain most evenings.

So no comparison with the UK.

I am sitting here looking at a son who never sweats, never smells, I make him take showers because his hair looks greasy. He works in a restaurant in the summer and not a bead crosses his forehead. Another son, looks like he has just stepped out of a shower in his clothes, we are all different.

@JaneyEJones and opening windows does sweet FA when there is no breeze. I have those crappy windows that push up at an angle a little bit so the slightest breeze closes them anyway 😩

Yup, disco fanny is the absolute worst.
I feel your pain.

Mitcham gel has been a lifesaver for me, I'm a serial sweater and always have been, although I'm more self conscious about it now that I'm a right fatty somewhat large than I used to be. And asda little angels liquid talc to stop chub rub. Goes on like a dream and last ages. Small enough to put in your handbag so if you feel it starting to wear off, you can just nip to the loo and reapply without exiting in clouds of powder like the pilsbury dough boy

Although I'm on my second shower of the day and I didn't wake up til half 9...

Thanks for posting this ChoccoBiccy66
I sweat massively from my head, face and neck. It is embarrassing and truly awful. I have to have my hair tied back and it looks completely wet. Sweat dripping down my face and into my eyes stings if I don't wipe away quick enough. I have to take a microfibre towel on the trains to and from London. Luckily I mainly work from home and no one can see me. I can't use pads or deodrant on my face and scalp. I am jealous of everyone including my DH and DS1 who are still fresh as a cucumber and no sweat at all. DS2 sweats a bit, but might get like me as it's definitely worse since my 40s. I don't sweat much anywhere else, even armpits are dry. Having disgusting hair is so obvious and makes me not want to see anyone during this heatwave. Suncream gets sweated off, can't wear make up. I am in South East just outside London.

Thank you to the people who mentioned Odaban. I am going to try this. x

A couple of people in the first few pages have recommended talcum powder - not sure if anyone else has mentioned this but I'd personally avoid it because some studies have found links between talc usage and ovarian cancer:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44816805

@pieceofpurplesky So @GorgonLondon you don't sweat at all?

Obviously I do sweat, for example in the gym, or if I wear totally unsuitable clothes (like very thick, dark, tight jeans I wore to a fair last month).

But not in the way described in this thread - not to a point where i need to put deodorant on my boobs/belly/thighs or where my clothes are wringing wet or I need to carry towels around.

The only time I've had a problem with it was when I was heavily pregnant and on holiday in a very hot country. I found there I had to take spare knickers out with me and change them during the day. But I was about 28 weeks pregnant.

If anything I feel more gross and sweaty in the winter, because you have to wear so many layers and as soon as you come in to a heated place, you feel incredibly hot and uncomfortable.

I'm just living in light dresses and cotton knickers and not much else at the moment, it's glorious.

As for the comparisons with hot countries that have air con or shady gardens etc. - I'm talking about it not being possible to walk down the street between the hours of 11am and 4pm, actually HAVING to stay indoors or in the shade somewhere.

I've been out and about every day this week during the middle of the day and it's been perfectly ok. So are loads of other people, including small children, elderly people, etc.

Not being able to go out during the day is when you're talking serious heat, it's just not comparable at all, regardless of how houses are built.

I spend part of the year in southern India. Its hotter but everything is air conditioned. There's no comparison really.

The paper cuts thing is not normal!!

Janey I was in Cyprus once in late July/early August and it was DESERTED outside between about 11am-5pm. I mean EMPTY. No one on the streets, no shops open, no nothing.

We stupidly tried to carry on with sightseeing plans etc. and one of my kids was very young at the time and got extremely ill with heatstroke. I also ended up spending 2 days in bed being sick as a result of the heat, and I have a high tolerance for it generally.

I met a woman there with three young kids and asked her how she coped with the heat. She told me that in August they literally only go out after dark. They are stuck indoors all day every day in the height of summer because it's actually dangerous to go out.

That's the most extreme heat I've ever experienced and that was when I understood that there is definitely such a thing as weather that is too hot.

What we have now in London is bloody lovely!

Can't go to certain cafes and shops and I just about manage at work with a jumper because of the heat phobics.

I'm not afraid of heat, I am adversely affected by it.

OP the papercuts thing I've had when I had thrush. A very dry sore thrush sparked off by wearing tights in warm weather.

"Gwen, it sounds like you really feel the cold! I honestly think most people, if asked, would say they welcome the opportunity to be in an air conditioned space during this weather. "

It's not 40 degrees outside is it? It's still cooler to open the window. I would prefer natural air through the window or light aircon rather than really strong air con that dries out my lips and eyes and means I have to carry jumpers around.

There would't be an increase in BO with blinds closed and windows open or light air con.
Yes, I do have a low tolerance for being cold, something I can cope with in the winter by wearing many clothes. It becomes very difficult to cope with in the summer as I can't be outside in winter clothes and going from very hot to very cold isn't good for anyone.

"I spend part of the year in southern India. Its hotter but everything is air conditioned."

Everything? Do ordinary people in India have air con?

southern india sounds like it’s changed in the last 18 years. certainly wasn’t air conned ‘everywhere’ when I went.

I do remember spending a few extra rupees on a room with a window.

I was talking about MY experiences compared to the heatwave in the UK. Of course not everyone in Chennai has air con! It was supposed to be a comment pointing out that extreme heat and humidity is totally bearable if air con is in the mix!

29 degrees is not ‘extreme heat’