After ~5yrs riding, developed my first proper saddle sore last week, it had been brewing for a while but after a long ride it swelled up to the size of a pea, red and inflamed, not nice, could not ignore anymore. After a bit of Googling, decided to try vitamin E, the kind that come in the soft capsules. Pierce the end of capsule, squeez the gu onto the affected area, repeat a few times per day. I saw imprssive results after just 24hrs. Kept this up for a few days and had no probs on yesterday’s ride. One happy camper!
Vitamins may not cure cancer, but they do salve a saddle sore; who knew…
I dont have the link, but i watched a video of a pro cyclist that had very bad saddle sores and he eventually found relief by using ProActiv acne cream as soon as any sign of one appears
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2013 was an absolutely horrible year with boils for me! Especially during my IMAZ build. I mean, I stopped counting at like 10-12! Some huge, some small. Ranging from like 3-5mm up to 12-15mm. Mostly all on my legs, but a couple of my chest. Some weren’t fully healed up in a months time! If that bacteria (likely staph) gets driven down far enough through the dermal layers and into the subcutaneous tissue/muscle, it’s not good! And nothing really helps all that much but time. I’ve used peroxide, prid, neem oil, every single over the counter item mentioned already in this thread. But you MUST get the poison out! Get the thing open up and draining! Really the choice of taking an antibiotic largely depends on your ability to tolerate the pain from that particular boil. They certainly will speed the process up a week or two.
I have posted my story before. Getting one of mine excised was one of the best things I ever did.
Although mine hurt the most while on the bike, I actually found that mine was from running. I would develop mild abrasions from running, and they would get infected. One just would not go away.
The doctor wound up cutting it open, a bunch of bunch of junk came out, and he put a bandage on it. The incision ozzed a bunch of junk for a couple of days and the 10 days of antibiotics I got on was the kicker.
Just had the exact same issue this past summer. My urologist was initially alarmed due to the proximity to the prostate and its size and firmness (location was in the region we don’t like to talk about, yet where most of the tri-bike seat contact is made). Got a complete work up including a scan and blood work. Thankfully negative in terms of malignancy but there was potential for it to create other problems I had it removed under anesthesia, but in an out patient surgical center. Best thing I did- I was riding the trainer within a week, and on the roads within two. I realized I just need to be really vigilant with chamios creme, and sanitizing the shorts after EVERY ride. If you are on the fence with doing something or nothing, when it gets to the point as you described (hard lump), my urologist said that is calcification and it will not go away on its own. You will need to get it removed. Thankfully, doing so isn’t a big deal at all. Good luck!
So it sounds like there’s some experience here I can tap into (having never had an issue til now): I don’t have a visible sore or palpable lump, and I can ride upright with minimal discomfort, but the minute I roll forward onto my aero bars, it feels like someone lit my balls on fire! There’s just no way I can ride aero. I’ve tried multiple pairs of tri and bike shorts, gobs and gobs of chamois butter, no relief. Can I assume this is a saddle sore, even though there’s nothing visible, and no lump?
So it sounds like there’s some experience here I can tap into (having never had an issue til now): I don’t have a visible sore or palpable lump, and I can ride upright with minimal discomfort, but the minute I roll forward onto my aero bars, it feels like someone lit my balls on fire! There’s just no way I can ride aero. I’ve tried multiple pairs of tri and bike shorts, gobs and gobs of chamois butter, no relief. Can I assume this is a saddle sore, even though there’s nothing visible, and no lump?
No, I wouldn’t assume a saddle sore just yet. From description, could be skin irritation, especially if riding static on a stationary trainer, etc.
Most saddle sores resemble ingrown hairs, pimples, etc…and they feel like a small sharp ‘rock’ jabbing into you.
ADD: not usually ‘ball’ related - more of a taint, crotch, crease, issue.
Thanks for the reply. It’s really more ball adjacent, but my beautiful bride thinks she found and ingrown hair that might be the culprit. Yanked it, applied a liberal amount of neosporin, we’ll see what happens. All I know is it hurt like a bitch, and I’m not up for hour+ trainer rides on my hands. Thanks again!
Sounds like me except right side. After continually moving to the right to avoid putting pressure on the increasing sore (a hard lump after a few months), I decided maybe the problem was I was pinching more tissue over there and perhaps making things worse. I gave it some time off and then concentrated on trying not to avoid the area and sit more centrally. It seemed to do the the trick but I need another season to convince myself I’ve got my solution.
Turns out I have essentially developed a thickened layer of skin, which gets in the way. I am booked in to see a surgeon, with a view to getting it removed, but have to wait a while before I get to see him. I actually just jumped online to research if hemorrhoid cream might be worth a try, I think I’m going to be getting some to try. Bummer is I believe that I have removed the initial cause, and that now the symptom has become the cause, sort of a self perpetuating problem now
I get those persistent hard bumps sometimes during the Summer months. I’ve had 2 that were bad that I kept riding on. I ended up taking time off the bike and taking antibiotics. I had some TCA skin peel that I was using on my occasional sweat related breakouts. I started using a very small dab of the peel on the saddle bumps using a qtip. It softens the surface, allows it to drain, reduces the swelling and gets rid of that hard bump pretty quickly.
hey mate, any chance you could give me a bit more details as to who/what type of specialist helped you out?
i’ve got a feeling this is something i’m dealing with, but have been unsuccessful with my ortho and urologist… they’re not sure who to send me to, but are thinking general surgery?
am a little concerned that if i go to any doc they’ll butcher it and i won’t be able to ride. so if you went to a dermatologist, or anything else please let me know. and if you have any extra colour would greatly appreciate it. cheers!
p.s. i tried to dm you but can’t seem to figure it out - my email is also [my username @ gmail . com] if that’s easier
Not a direct answer to your inquiry but more of a question related to your current problem…have you been placed on antibiotics for the saddle sore previously? I ask because I’ve had two previous episodes of really uncomfortable, hard, and large saddle sores. Both times, I was put on antibiotics for two weeks, and used a cream to keep the area dry (I cannot recall the name), and it helped resolve the saddle sores without needing surgery (which I was sure I was going to need because of the size of the saddle sores).
I had a pretty nasty saddle sore that also developed into a hard lump. I made an appointment with my doctor, figuring I would have to go on antibiotics. By the time I was able to see the doc I had been able to deal with it on my own.
Took two weeks off the bike
Treated the area with Tea Tree oil and sudocrem (not simultaneously). When I got back to riding I’d put the sudocrem on first then follow it up with chamois cream. I used 3M Nexcare hydrocolloid bandages over the area with the sudocrem underneath during the day and air it out at night with the tea trea oil.
Now, both of the above were things I was doing prior when I’d get a saddle sore, but inevitably it would come back and worse than before. The thing that I did to stop it from returning was get a new saddle.
I loved my saddle (Bontrager aeolus) and found it super comfortable, but I think it was just slightly too wide. I switched to a specialized romin Evo which was not as comfortable (and still isn’t years later) but it has not given me the same problems.
YMMV, and it’s always a good idea to see a doctor (which I did, but she agreed that it seemed like I was dealing with the issue well enough on my own).
hey, think it is a lipoma and/or PNI, not a typical saddle sore. have been off the bike maybe 5 months now and no change, been dealing with this for over 2 years it feels like
would find it hard to believe it goes away without manual intervention unfortunately. will try a derm and general surgeon in the coming weeks to see what they say
…and yes, will get a full refit of the bike and new bibs etc. once sorted. seems like the guy running my lbs will be able to help out there, so just need to get treatment
