Lets Talk About Butt Foam
I have butt foam. Meaning, my butt makes foam. Like the foam on the top of a beer. Or is that froth? Do I foam or froth? Do semantics matter here?
It happens on my runs during the hot and humid season in Djibouti, which is from May through September. Temperatures range from 105-120 at all times of day and night. The heat index goes as high as 130. I’ve been running here for 12 years now and am pretty well adapted, as much as one can be, and don’t feel like I’m in a danger zone for heat stroke on these runs.
But still. What is going on back there?
I’ve always been a heavy, salty sweater. Could this be a factor? Or the fact that I don’t have a thyroid and so lack the ability to naturally regulate my body temperature?
When I google: “running foam” or “foaming runner” or anything about running and foaming, I get entries for foam rollers. Finally I tried, “exercise hot humid sweat body foam” and found a Runners World, 2001 article and an article about horses.
On one triathlon comment thread, someone responded to a question about foamy sweat with, “you may have rabies.” Not helpful. Also, most definitely not due to my laundry soap, as another suggested.
The Runners World article wasn’t very insightful. But the horse article says,
“White, foamy sweat is a by-product of over-strenuous work or being exercised in excessive heat. White sweat contains proteins, which take too long to dissipate to make an effective method of cooling the horse’s body. While a small amount of white sweat can be present between the hind legs, on the neck by the reins or any other place where friction may occur, excessive white foam is a sign the horse is being over-worked.”
Friction and overworking in excessive heat. That sounds right. Bouncing butt + working hard + excessive heat = foam. Conclusion: I’m a horse.
Do you want to see photos of my foaming butt? I hesitate to show them. A friend recently heard me talking about my foaming butt and asked to see the photos.
“You don’t want to see,” I said.
“Mom, you have a nice sporty butt,” my teenage daughter said. “Show her the pictures.”
Well. If my teen thinks I have a, and I quote, “nice sporty” butt, I guess I can show the pictures.
Our bodies are bizarre and amazing, weird and disgusting. This is one of the strangest and grossest things I’ve discovered about my body. I used to feel embarrassed about it. I used to wipe my hands down my butt to remove the foam.
But you know what? It’s the pandemic, and I’m going to own it.
I foam. It is gross and weird—and slightly awesome.
Read more Seven Months into the Pandemic essays.
Love your sense of humor. Horses are strong, beautiful, creatures I can think of worse animals to be compared to! Thanks for sharing your story.
Love your story. Horses are beautiful, strong creatures, and many of them have sporty butts also, I can think of worse things to be compared to. Thanks for sharing and for the laughs this morning!
Bravo! Thanks for sharing, you are beautiful and strong.
Dji-foamy-bouti? I feel like there is an admittedly juvenile pun here that deserves some air time. This is fascinating and funny, but my biggest takeaway is that you are amazing for running in that heat!
This is fabulous! Honest, raw, funny and so inspiring as you run in temps and with dangers we rarely encounter. You are amazing .
Laugh out loud hysterical! You’re wonderful and I’m actually kind of jealous that I don’t have a foamy butt! Thank you for your candor! Still LoLing!
Dji-foamy-bouti!!!!! I love these comments. Keeping us laughing, run on, foamy butts or not!
This is absolutely true about horses. I rode competitively for many years. The good news is that as the horse becomes fitter the “foamy sweat” tends to turn into “clear sweat”. Perhaps as you get fitter you will graduate to only a wet butt without the foam. That would be cooling!
I get this on my long hard runs. I ran a half marathon yesterday in 62 degree F temps and still got it. Never had it happen before this year. I thought it was soap in my shorts at first but this is the third time in as many months that is had happened with the weather not being to overly hot. It runs down my legs the whole way into my socks. Like you said, can’t find any info about it online. I am a salty sweater as well so maybe that has something to do with it. Who knows.
This also happens to me so I wonder if this means we are eating to much protein in our diets ? I’m a vegetarian (with the occasional cheat burger after long runs/races) so to much protein would probably be due to my insane addiction to nuts and beans. Please follow up on this Iam sick on people telling me it’s my laundry.
Finally i found a runner i can relate to. Here in India its always sultry and hot hence summers are foamy runs for me. I sweat like a pig and I mean literally you won’t be able to make out if I have come from run or open water swim so drenched i am..I think salt sweater like us tends to produce foam when humidity is high..here its around 80% this time of year. One kid even commented if I run with detergent in my pockets that sums it all :)
+1 please reply if you find a way to tackle it :P
It is not limited to butt. To me it happens in the lower half and inner side of my t-shirt too. Usually after the 12th Km.