I've been struggling with saddle pain. I have no problem with soft tissue, the problem is the pressure on the bones causing major pain and soreness that makes riding more than 15 miles difficult. After trying five different saddles of varied widths with no relief, I realized that the pressure is on the bones INSIDE of my sits bones, i.e. the bones that are directly outside the area between the labia and anus. I guess that once I'm far forward enough in a seated position, those bones protrude more than the sits. I'm not getting weight onto the sits until I'm close to a 90 degree angle which will obviously never happen on a bike. Has anyone experienced this, and if so, how did you remedy it?
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Re: Saddle pain on bones INSIDE of sit bones [Noelle1230]
[ In reply to ]
i'll be watching this as well...my girl junk isn't taking kindly to my new bike...it had only JUST got acclimatized to the rather cushy saddle on my mountain bike!
cheers!
-mistress k
__________________________________________________________
ill advised racing inc.
cheers!
-mistress k
__________________________________________________________
ill advised racing inc.
Re: Saddle pain on bones INSIDE of sit bones [Noelle1230]
[ In reply to ]
I have this issue now that I have a saddle that has a cutout - I used to have major soft-tissue pain (hot spots) and wounds.
For the first few rides of any duration, I will come away with soreness and actual bruising where the saddle hits. After the first few rides and a few painful days, however, I'm pretty much good to go. I will gladly trade in a little tenderness and soreness on the outside than go back to a saddle where I actually had open friction/pressure wounds.
You've tried different widths, but have the sides of the different saddles been somewhat soft? I'm now on a Terry Butterfly Tri Gel or something like that..I may work a little better with a SLIGHTLY narrower saddle, but I already own this one and again, after the first few rides both last and this year I've adapted quite well.
Went for 25 on Sunday in shorts I'm not a huge fan of on a new bike that's not quite "dialed in" as far as seat fore/aft/height goes yet. No issues....not sure if this helps or not....
AW
For the first few rides of any duration, I will come away with soreness and actual bruising where the saddle hits. After the first few rides and a few painful days, however, I'm pretty much good to go. I will gladly trade in a little tenderness and soreness on the outside than go back to a saddle where I actually had open friction/pressure wounds.
You've tried different widths, but have the sides of the different saddles been somewhat soft? I'm now on a Terry Butterfly Tri Gel or something like that..I may work a little better with a SLIGHTLY narrower saddle, but I already own this one and again, after the first few rides both last and this year I've adapted quite well.
Went for 25 on Sunday in shorts I'm not a huge fan of on a new bike that's not quite "dialed in" as far as seat fore/aft/height goes yet. No issues....not sure if this helps or not....
AW
Re: Saddle pain on bones INSIDE of sit bones [AWARE]
[ In reply to ]
I finally had the bike shop switch me to a softer saddle against their recommendations. I ride indoors on a spin bike and never ever had issues with pain and pressure so I borrowed that saddle and brought it in. It is much, much softer and the bike shop found a similar saddle. They say it will end up being worse once my contact points push in and make indents but time will tell if they're right!
Re: Saddle pain on bones INSIDE of sit bones [Noelle1230]
[ In reply to ]
Are you on a road or tri bike?
DFL > DNF > DNS
DFL > DNF > DNS
Last edited by:
SallyShortyPnts: May 20, 09 7:18
Re: Saddle pain on bones INSIDE of sit bones [SallyShortyPnts]
[ In reply to ]
It's a road bike.
Re: Saddle pain on bones INSIDE of sit bones [Noelle1230]
[ In reply to ]
Keep trying different saddles. Selle Italia has a test program where you can try out different models. Fizik does too I think. I went through 8 different saddles until I found one that is least problematic. One saddle was awesome for over a year but then one day it started causing saddle sores. Sometimes the foam breaks down if they are too padded. A lot of girls I know like the Specialized Toupe but everyone is so different.
Re: Saddle pain on bones INSIDE of sit bones [Noelle1230]
[ In reply to ]
Certainly as others have said - there are 100's of saddles out there to try and in combination with different shorts. I recently went to the Cobb - V-flow and can ride IM distances with just tri-shorts - bike shorts actually are MORE painful! This was the solution for me, but it took many months of trying to find it. LBS often have good return policies as well.
The other comment I have is about overall musculature. Make sure your hip and inner thigh musculature (piriformis, gracilis, adductors, and pelvic floor) are not overly tight. Your pain might be pain from lack of blood flow or pinching nerves. Do you have other pelvic pain, incontinence, low back pain? I am a bit confused by your description of what bones you think you are sitting on, but it sounds like the pubic rami which could be very painful and be blocking blood flow causing pain.
My bias, but it is not normal, you shouldn't just deal with it, and in my opinion this isn't a HTFU situation. Keep trying saddles or even consider getting your bike professionally fit (again bias - but by a physical therapist would be ideal). Sometimes the right combination is hard to find, but it will be worth it when you do!
Good luck!
________________________________________________
Don't Just Live, Thrive!
Thrive Kinematics Physical Therapy - http://www.facebook.com/...8178667572974?ref=hl
The other comment I have is about overall musculature. Make sure your hip and inner thigh musculature (piriformis, gracilis, adductors, and pelvic floor) are not overly tight. Your pain might be pain from lack of blood flow or pinching nerves. Do you have other pelvic pain, incontinence, low back pain? I am a bit confused by your description of what bones you think you are sitting on, but it sounds like the pubic rami which could be very painful and be blocking blood flow causing pain.
My bias, but it is not normal, you shouldn't just deal with it, and in my opinion this isn't a HTFU situation. Keep trying saddles or even consider getting your bike professionally fit (again bias - but by a physical therapist would be ideal). Sometimes the right combination is hard to find, but it will be worth it when you do!
Good luck!
________________________________________________
Don't Just Live, Thrive!
Thrive Kinematics Physical Therapy - http://www.facebook.com/...8178667572974?ref=hl
Re: Saddle pain on bones INSIDE of sit bones [Noelle1230]
[ In reply to ]
+1 on a bike fit by a PT. A lot of my "fit" problems were really problems with tight hips and lack of pelvic stability.
One thought--could your saddle be too high? So that you are having to seesaw sideways on your saddle to complete your stroke? That can put a lot of pressure on the area that I think you're describing.
No coasting in running and no crying in baseball
One thought--could your saddle be too high? So that you are having to seesaw sideways on your saddle to complete your stroke? That can put a lot of pressure on the area that I think you're describing.
No coasting in running and no crying in baseball
Re: Saddle pain on bones INSIDE of sit bones [Noelle1230]
[ In reply to ]
sometimes it takes a LONG time to adjust. If your girl junk is happy with the saddle it might be worth sticking it out. It's bruising just like when you rode for the firs time. but since there's likely more weight there and weight hasn't been there much before it's super sensitive.
I know people who took 4 months to get used to the adamo because of that area. But did so because they knew it would eventually go away. And it did.
I know people who took 4 months to get used to the adamo because of that area. But did so because they knew it would eventually go away. And it did.
SpicedRum wrote:
sometimes it takes a LONG time to adjust. If your girl junk is happy with the saddle it might be worth sticking it out. It's bruising just like when you rode for the firs time. but since there's likely more weight there and weight hasn't been there much before it's super sensitive. I know people who took 4 months to get used to the adamo because of that area. But did so because they knew it would eventually go away. And it did.
You might be onto something here. It took me a bit of time to get the bones calloused up since prior to riding the Adamo, I hadn't been sitting on the bones.
clm
Nashville, TN
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