sweaty helmets= breakouts
 

Does anyone else have a line of pimples where the pad from their helmet touches their forehead? Maybe because I am not old yet this is happening. Does anyone have a cure for this malady?

Yes, I get that from the chin straps. The cure is to take your helmet in the shower with you, and wash the helmet pads and straps with whatever soap you wash your face with.

If the soap doesn't work, you may have to look at getting a different type of padding. In a worst-case scenario, you might have to put something totally hypoallergenic across the pads, like organic cotton or something.

or you might use skull caps or bandanas on your head. easy to toss in the washer and cheap if you use bandanas.

Some of us balding types use them so we don't get those funny shapes suntanned into the top of our heads. They also keep your helmet less skanky.

You can also cut out the back of an old cool max shirt and line the helment with double sided tape. That keeps the sun off your scalp and when it gets grubby, just peel it out and wash it and retape the thing back in. Instead of another thing to wear, the liner just stays in place.

+1 for headsweats, do rags, etc.

"I'm 37. I'm not old."

(someone had to)

I get pimples whenever I switch to a new helmet. This happened recently when my old helmet broke (non accident related -- it was on my handlebars in the house, I was loading the panniers, and the bike fell down onto the helmet).

The pimples usually go away after a week or two. My skin gets used to the presence of the foreign object, since it's there twice a day every day. Maybe yours will too?

Are you sure it's not the 'roids?

I ended up taking most of the pads out and using a skullcap under the helmet. I sweat a lot and they always end up getting saturated and dripping into my sunglasses. The skullcap keeps that from happening.

Perhaps it is the pad getting saturated with sweat which causes the breakouts? Don't know.

You can get hemorrhoids on your forehead? DAY-uhm!!

It depends on where your head is most of the time.

Haven't had that problem myself. The most washing my helmet's ever gotten is a spray of water from the bottle on days when it's damn hot out.

I put 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide on my forehead after I get out of the shower. I used to get horrible forehead breakouts to the point of always styling my hair with thick bangs, but after a few weeks with the BP I had movie star skin. The BP kills the bacteria in your pores and acts like a mild bleach, so it will probably lighten the pads inside of your helmet a bit. There is a small fraction of the population that is intolerant to it and will turn bright red if they use it. It's certainly worked better on my acne than Retin-A, and it doesn't make me burn even faster in the sun. The guy who runs acne.org makes a low-cost BP that feels nice when it goes on.

Other options are carrying antibacterial wipes to clean your forehead with after you take off your helmet, using a clean fabric layer between your head and helmet, and so on. Just make sure that bacteria won't be encouraged to grow between your head and helmet.

That's what I've done, with the added benefit of keeping cooler in the heat, too. Coolmax do-rag FTW! In the cooler weather I'll use a Euro-style cycle cap instead (also washable). A final added benefit: helmet pads don't wear out as fast.

I'm nearing 40 years and I also tend to get a few pimples where the straps touch my face if I don't wash my helmet each day. After washing, I also spray a concoction of 1:1 water and alcohol mix to the straps and helmet interior. This seems to work as I don't have the problem following this regimen.

Cure = BANDANA

I was looking for an old thread about this, but couldn't find it -- I seem to recall last time the topic came up, somebody mentioned "50/50" spray which WW2(?) pilots use(d?) to spray inside their helmets to prevent helmet nastiness. But I can't remember what the two ingredients were that make up the 50/50!

I'm tellin' ya, 1/2 each of water and alcohol seems to work well and it's pretty darn cheap. Also good to spray each day in the shower...all kinds of uses.

But then I'm also a guy that uses a mixture of mineral spirits and motor oil for chain lube :eek: So obviously my techniques should be regarded with a certain degree of skepticism :D

I just pull the foam pad out of the front of my pro-tec and wash it with neutrogena face soap.
That keeps my forehead happy.

weird deja vu..
I feel like I just posted this on fearlessgearless.com

Yup. . .'tis the season. Heat, humidity, sweat, and "high action" seem to cause a breakout. I get it under the bucket, where my backpack straps rub when hiking, and where the "sun don't shine and the moon don't glow" under my running and biking shorts. My solution is to keep 'em clean; I mean REALLY SCRUB everything hard. Seems to break open nascent sores 'n such and heals 'em fast.

Ditch the helmet unless you really want to endure all the inconvenience of this bulky piece of styrofoam which so far is looking pretty useless even in those extremely rare situations when you might actually need it.....

Well, that's what I'd do. If a helmet was not a part of my working "uniform" which, these days, it is, alas....

thank you for the replies. I feel like a high school junior obsessing before the prom, but come on I am an adult (of am legally one).

I can't ditch the helmet. I used to babysit kids and would not let them go out without a helmet. Now what kind of adult would I be if I went without one?

I think I am going to try the benzoyl peroxide or the alcohol first. I like the thought of killing bacteria! (speaking from the perspective of a biologist) If that doesn't work I will try the do rag method. it just seems that it might make my hot ride even hotter.

A coolmax style do rag, like a headsweats bandana, will make your ride COOLER not hotter.

http://www.headsweats.com/

Take the padding out of your helmet and line it with Oxy Pads...pimples wont know what hit them.

I have found that taking the helmet in the shower with me helps and that rubbing alcohol is also good at reducing the grossness.

+1 bandana