Belly flap and heat and sweat rash!

[EnergyJaguar]

Please help, I’m too embarrassed to go to the doctor to find a solution.

After babies, two sections and some weight gain I have a belly flap. In the heat it can get irritated under there. I thought it might be fungal bought a fungal cream than just irritated it and made it really lumpy and red. I stopped the fungal cream and used Vaseline and some deodorant. That seemed to help but now I’m scarred under my belly. The irritation has gone for now.

if now it gets hot or sweaty it flares up again, so I’ve been using anti perspirant but hate using this around that area as I worry about the aluminium in anti perspirant.

does anyone have solutions?

due to chub rub thighs I need to wear cycling shorts which seems to exacerbate things when it’s hot. I never had this problem before and always had a flap of sorts.

Any ideas what it could be?

I have an overhang and have found washing the area with dettol bar soap, drying really well and using a medicated powder really helps.

I've been wrestling with the same problem recently, also too embarrassed to tell anyone! I haven't solved it yet but one thing I'd say is to make sure your chub rub shorts are loose. The problem always seems to come on for me whenever I push myself to wear something other than my maternity leggings, which are obviously loose around the stomach.

Talc during the day, Sudocrem at night. I have to do this under my boobs, it's horrendous when the weather is warm.

Isn’t talc dangerous though around your private parts? I’m worried about wafting it about!!

just hate it

Yes the best hun rub shorts I have are my snag shorts/tights and some cotton cycling shorts

just hate my belly.

Wash daily, dry well, apply sudocrem and wear cotton underwear including shorts.

Asda liquid talc from the baby section

I think you can get talc free powder these days.

Definitely think of drying things rather than adding moisture eg vaseline.

I have this too op it’s so bad 😩

You need a combination of things in unison here:

-wash with E45 emollient wash cream and dry thoroughly.

-use 0% aluminium roll on anti perspirant (like Sanex or Mitchum) on the area and let it dry

-use an anti-chafing gel (lanacane do a good one)

-before bed rub in bepanthen

Repeat on a daily basis.

This is the combination I have to use on a daily to keep the under boob itchy sweat rash at bay.

Wow! I used an anti perspirant an aluminium one and I’m so sweaty now under there I feel like I’ve activated loads of sweat cells! Would you believe I barely sweat elsewhere? I have a thyroid disorder.

last time the rash got scaly the Vaseline moisturised it and it slowly came away, like scales! Rank but the fungal cream really made it worse and so did sudocrem.

@EnergyJaguar yep, same, sudocream and anti fungal creams made it worse for me too. The itching was like having chicken pox constantly for about 8 months and the sweat was unreal! I thought I had something seriously wrong with me but all tests came back negative for everything. I couldn’t wear regular bras or any tops that might brush against it. I was just so irritated all the time!

I hit on the above 4 steps after hours and hours on the internet and trying out things others said worked for them. If I miss a day (like I did last month at a festival) the itchy rash comes right back again. So annoying!

This is good, you can get it on Amazon.

https://shop.sweatblock.com/products/body-powder-lotion

Intertrigo - Google it.
I've had success with canasten hydrocortisone cream before, or any anti fungal cream with a tiny bit of hydrocortisone.
I always tuck my knickers in the fold so there's not just a pool of sweat.
I can't believe I just wrote that, no such thing as TMI on mumsnet though.

Caldesene or in my view better, Daktarin powder. Eventually got tummy tuck!

I tuck a face flannel under the overhang, changing it twice a day.

But I'm going to investigate some of the other suggestions given on the thread.

It might be but fungal cream made it utterly awful, red raw and almost bleeding.
then when I stopped the fungal cream and used Vaseline it got better

I wash and dry really well and roll on Dove dry stick deodorant. At night wash and dry well and rub on a bit of Savlon. I'm also losing weight and it's getting a lot better.

Daktacourt. Anti fungal and hydrocortisone will clear it right up.

Adding any moisture is a bad idea IME, it just allows the fungus to grow if it is fungal.

O use spray deodorant, I haven't found anything else that works as well.

Medicure - medicated body powder!

I suffer to OP, I’ve found wearing cotton underwear and tucking that under the flap helps to not get as sweaty. Then I use metanium (the yellow nappy cream) after each shower and that tends to dry things up. Just try to get it fully dry as possible a couple of times in the day.

DONT use talc! All it will do is mix with any sweat and form a paste which will be highly irritated and make it all worse

Just use a medicated bar soap to wash, some steroid cream like eumovate to reduce inflammation and a light dusting of a medicated powder from time to time (not at same time as the steroid cream)

The idea is to keep it dry as possible and I used to do the above which helped a lot. In the end the only thing that cured it was a tummy tuck but I appreciate that's drastic!

This is my solution,

zinc cream is the only barrier cream that has worked for me. AND

l use a top quality loo roll ( has to be thick or it shreds). Tear of about 9 sheets, fold over into about 4 1/2 sheets, twist it and tuck it under overhang. It stays put all day. Chuck away at end of day. I found flannels too bulky and they didn’t stay in place.

l hate it, but it bloody works.

I have this. It gets sore occasionally, worse in the heat. I put canestan on it.

I used to get this when I used to wear tights a lot after a c section. I used to roll up toilet roll into a thin sausage and put it under the flap so no skin was rubbing against skin and then the tights would hold it in place. I think keeping it dry really helped. I wear leggings most days now so I put my pants under my tummy and my leggings over. I’ve lost weight over the years but my overhang resists all attempts to minimise it.

Just to add - the medicated powder is talc free ... you can get talc free powders!