Every workout requires you to be in contact with one equipment or the other. When you are applying that much pressure while in contact with something, friction is bound to happen. This happens with aerial yoga as well. One moment you are doing some harmless trick on your hammock, and the next minute you have a friction burn. The activity creates a lot of friction between your skin and the hammock, this can lead to bruises, cuts as well as friction burns.
While practicing aerial yoga, the continuous contact means rapid repeated movement of your skin along with the fabric of the hammock. This friction leads to abrades on the skin which can lead to irritation, redness, blister or even cuts. Most of these generally only affect the top layer of your skin and will go away pretty easily. Sometimes, these can be deep and lead to friction burns that might need your attention and care.
See Also:
- How To Pick The Right Clothing For Your Aerial Yoga
- How to Avoid Wrist Pain While Doing Yoga Workouts
What Leads To Friction Burns
Like we have already said, friction burns are obviously caused due to friction. Friction is necessary because it helps you stay put on the hammock but it can also harm your skin. When there is too much friction heat is released. This heat is generally not even noticeable, but under some cases, this heat may actually cause burns on your skin.
The chances of having friction burn increases even more when you are working out in warm temperature or when there is high humidity. More temperature and humidity means more friction, which can be harmful to your skin. This can make the fabric stick to your skin causing rashes which may go away soon, but will also hurt until they heal completely. With these burns, you won’t be able to practice any further therefore you may want to prevent them.
Your body eventually toughens up to adjust with your changing lifestyle but tricky poses and stunts can still hurt your body. You will generally see these abrasions on your arms, shoulders, lower back and thigh. It will become easier with time, but as a beginner there are certain things you can do to prevent these burns.
How To Protect Your Skin From Friction Burns
Friction is a part of aerial yoga and you cannot completely eliminate it, but there are certain things you can do to make sure that this friction does not hurt your body. These things will either reduce the chances of having a burn or make sure that they don’t turn into something serious.
Cover Your Skin
Direct contact between the fabric and your skin can cause friction, therefore you need to cover your skin to reduce the chances of burns occurring. Covering your skin will protect you and make sure you don’t feel the friction. Sometimes, these layers may make you feel warm and sweaty. Under these cases try to hydrate your body with water instead of shedding layers. The water will restore your body temperature. Also remember that your muscles will stretch more easily if your body is warm.
Wear Appropriate Clothing
You need to wear form-fitted clothing for aerial yoga, unlike normal yoga where you can still wear loose clothes. Loose clothes can get in the way while you are doing aerial yoga or get tangled between the hammock hence you need to wear stretchable and tight clothes
- Yoga leggings- Yoga leggings are stretchable leggings that properly cover your legs and avoid any burns from occurring. This is the best choice for aerial yoga. There are also leggings available for men.
- Fitted top- Don’t wear a loose t-shirt for your class. A fitted top will stay put on your body and cover it properly.
- Sports bra- Sports bras are necessary for women while doing aerial yoga. They keep everything in place while you are doing these anti-gravity poses.
- Headband/ Hairband- Make sure you have tied up your hair out of the way before going to the class. Your hair can come in the way and even hamper your vision temporarily. It can also get caught in the hammock, it is therefore, the best thing to keep them away from your face and into a hairband.
Keep Your Skin Moisturized
Make sure you apply moisturizer to your skin after the workout. If you look out for your skin and keep it moisturized, the chances of having bruises or irritation will reduce on their own.
Wear Gloves
You can wear gloves on your hands to protect your skin from getting friction burns.
How To Treat Friction Burns or Bruises
It is completely normal to get bruises while you are doing aerial yoga, there is nothing to worry about. Just make sure you are taking care of the bruise. Once you see a burn or bruise, make sure you cover it properly to help it heal faster.
With small bruises, you can simply cover them to help them heal. If you feel like your bruise hurts a lot you should apply either cold water or arnica gel to the wound. This will reduce the chances of swelling and make sure that your wound heals faster without leaving any scars.
Make sure you have clean water, aloe vera, sterile gauze and tweezers available with you in order to treat any burns. If you get any burns, make sure you follow these steps:
- Analyse the wound- It is necessary to find out how severe your wound is. Any burn larger than 3 inches or deeper than your top layer needs to be checked by a professional doctor. Keep an eye for these symptoms that indicate a severe burn: extreme pain, dehydration, heavy bleeding or black charred appearance.
- Clean the wound- Make sure you clean the wound using cool running water. Don’t use ice on a wound that is severe. Remove any bacteria or debris in this step.
- Apply ointment- Apply aloe vera or any burn ointment to the wound to reduce the pain.
- Cover wound- Cover the wound using clean and dry gauze. Properly wrap this around the area lightly
Continue Caring For Your Friction Burn
Under severe circumstances, the burn may continue to hurt for a few days. Make sure you are keeping it covered and clean during this time. Keep the bandage clean and keep changing it if you need to; from time to time. Whenever you change the bandage, apply the ointment again carefully. Don’t touch or remove any scabs that might appear on the wound and try to contact a doctor if you feel that it is getting worse.
While you are taking care of your wound, also make sure you are taking care of yourself. Keep your body hydrated and eat healthy food. A healthy body will reduce the chances of having any burns and also make sure you recover from it easily so that you can get back to your class.
