My inner thighs have rubbed together for decades. And not just a little, my thighs touch all the way to my knees. In fact, I have really, really dark patches on my skin that run from crotch to half way down the thigh on both sides, covering the whole area where it rubs. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

My question is, as I lose weight, will the dark areas ever improve? So far, it is as big and gross as ever. A little darker even, as the skin skrinks some in that area.

I can't wear shorts, bathing suit, etc. Eventually, as I get smaller, I'd like to wear that stuff again. But not with pasty white skin except for huge dark brown inner thighs.

I don't know what to do to make it look better.

i would have to say that they should improve once the rubbing stops....... that would be a great question for your doc

You might want to ask a dermotolgist this one.

Once my thighs stopped rubbing together and I didn't have that awful thigh-rubbing-rash any more, I noticed that the skin quality improved. Skin brushing helped (lots of threads on this).

Take care, Julie

Ask your doctor and start moisturizing and skin brushing. It can't hurt. I love how my skin feels after skin brushing.

You also might consider using a sunless tanner on the other parts of your legs to even out the look. I used the spray on kind by Nutragena and it darkened me quite a bit when I followed the directions *shaving your legs before doing it helps.

Are you sure the darkened skin is from rubbing and not from acanthosis nigricans? (That would be from insulin resistance.)

If it is just from rubbing, I recommend spandex shorts. I use them for walking and it really keeps the chafing down. (The shorts can be worn under whatever you are really wearing!

This has got to be one of things that I really disliked all these years...having my thighs rub together; they were always the heaviest part of my body...yuck and the cellulite too...not a very pretty site. I can't wait until I have normal looking thighs. Finally getting to the point where they don't rub, but I do have the darker inner thighs. They do look better as my weight goes down, but I also scrub them like mad to remove all the dry skin and I use Shea Coconut Butter. Also thinking about using a mild bleaching cream, but I'm not really that concerned about it. You could always use a bronzer and/or body makeup if it bothers you a lot.



Dive deeply into who you really are, and have the courage to explore your most treasured dreams. Keep yourself connected to those dreams, and they will play out upon the stage of your life. ~ Ralph Marston

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will grant you the desires of you heart ~Psalms 37:4

The coconut oil seems to be good for so much I'm just wondering if it would help this area too. Might be worth a try.
Leah

Not that I'm glad you have this problem, but I'm glad to see it asked. I've got the same problem and it drives me nuts (short drive, but anyway...)

I've got to schedule another appointment with my doctor soon, so unless someone else pops up with an answer from their doctor, I'll let you know what mine says.

Congrats on your loss so far!

PS Diva, I have never heard of that before. So I googled.

OMG. That is me. Those pictures are me. No doctor has once ever suggested insuling resistance. It has always just been chalked up to the fact that I have fat thighs. But the discoloration is not at the spot of chafing. And I also have it under my creasts, around my waist and the back of my neck.

My dad is diabetic. His sister lasped into a diabetic coma and died at 55. My mom's parents are both diabetic. My doctors know this about my family history, yet none have ever noted that the dark, hard skin could be a precursor to diabetes. It is just "because I'm fat."

I have always struggled with weight, since I was a child. I've just always been told to exercise better self discipline, eat less fat, etc. Being fat was always my fault, like a personal shortcoming.

It pisses me off, yet also comfots me, to start to see that maybe it is not all my fault. Maybe I'm not just a weak pig who is fat because she can't be bothered to be thin, because she isn't strong enough to be thin like normal people.

So, how to I educate myself better about insulin resistance?

First of all, insulin resistance is helped by low carb eating! So you are already doing something to help yourself. Diabetes in the family puts you at higher risk to be insulin resistant. Being overweight makes it more likely you will get the condition, but I personally believe that having the condition makes it more likely you will be overweight. Catch 22.

With your family history of diabetes I think it would be really smart to get tested, and hopefully by an endocrinologist, not just your family practitioner. I say that because I think a specialist is more likely to see and understand if you are pre-diabetic. I am thinking a family practice guy would see it as either you have diabetes or you don't.

Even if you don't want to do that, I hope you do everything someone with diabetes should do. Eat low carb, exercise, give up smoking if you smoke.

You can try googling "syndrome x" or check the book with that name out of your library. I haven't read the book, but I've heard good things about it. Syndrome x is the name given to metabolic disorders that includes insulin resistance.

Good luck!

[QUOTE=faduckeggs]

...start to see that maybe it is not all my fault. Maybe I'm not just a weak pig who is fat because she can't be bothered to be thin, because she isn't strong enough to be thin like normal people.
QUOTE]


Wow, I actually started crying when I read your post, faduckeggs! Probably because I remember five years ago when I first read the Atkins book and realized the very same things you just said. What an empowering (and scary) thought that was. The idea that it isn't (entirely) my fault that I'm fat and can't lose weight on the government's high carb/low fat diet. At the same time, it made it all that much more freeky that if I ever was able to reach my goal weight, it would be that much harder for me to keep it off. Not because I'm lazy but because that was the gene pool I came out of.
I went to nursing school just after reading the Atkins book and learned a whole bunch of other stuff about the body that is helping me now with my new WOL.

Congratulations on your weight loss!

OMG!!! I always thought somehow that the dark skin was because I was sweating so much in those areas!

I hate to go swimming with friends because I have horrible brown patches under my arms, breasts and neck, as for wearing my hair up.. NEVER.... I can't beleive this!!

Wait until I tell my mom! She is always asking me to 'scrub' my neck a bit harder in the shower! Like at 30 I don't know how to wash myslef!!!

Classic symptom!!

Click here!

These pics aren't quite as bad as I am, but the top pic (the underarm) is pretty darn close to what my thighs look like. I'm hoping that this means that soon the coloring will start to go away... *fingers crossed*