Hi All - There’s A LOT of threads on saddle sores and I read a lot of them before posting. None addressed my specific question so I’m sorry to create yet another saddle sore thread. Sorry for the longer rant, too.
I’m not certain if what I have is a saddle sore or not. I have what looks like an inflamed ingrown hair on my upper / inner left thigh. From Google photos (this was fun), it looks like these are considered saddle sores. I have several, maybe 5-6 at varying stages of healing and inflammation (one woke me up last night).
My inner thighs are not rubbing / chaffing against the saddle so far as I can tell. And I’m only getting the sores on my left inner thigh so I’m a little frustrated I can’t seem to identify the root cause. I’ve also had a bike fitting and got a more narrow saddle to no avail. I’ve used bag balm or assists chamois cream. Maybe I need to put Neosporin, prep h, tree oil, etc on them when I start to see them? My bibs are always clean, but maybe they’re not as breathable as others and this might be part of the issue (I have Ceroti bibs).
Now I’m taking the entire week off out of fear it’s just going to get worse. I’m training for a tri so of course that also means no running or swimming either due to sore location. While I’m training about 13-14 hours a week, I’m usually only in the saddle 6 hours a week (exclusively on the trainer).
For what it’s worth this is my first time training for a tri (70.3) and I’m doing the high volume TrainerRoad plan.
Any thought on root cause of the sores? Part of me hopes by taking the week off it will allow the sores to heal and then won’t happen often in the future.
I used to get these a lot. Mostly on left side, as you. Similar ingrown hair looking thing.
Now I use Chamois Buttr in embarrassingly large quantities and haven’t gotten one in over a year. Like… soak-through-the-chamois-and-make-my-saddle-slippery large quantities. My wife loves it.
I had previously tried Assos, vaseline, Udderly smooth, and any freebie ever available at races, diaper rash cream, neosporin, cortisone ointment, and various mixes of all of these. Chamois buttr for the win. And obscene amounts of it. I apply copiously to skin. Then wipe remainder on chamois itself. Yes, it’s totally embarassing. It’s the only way I found I could handle frequently riding more than 2-3 hrs. I’ve done 6-8-hr rides in hot/sweaty conditions with no issue. Sometimes I take some with me and reapply if going longer than 5 hrs.
Taking some time off may be necessary to heal the existing sores.
Also consider lowering your saddle by 5-10mm if on trainer. This is my n=1!
drain it with a clean needle, then keep it clean and protect it. don’t ride for a few days to make sure it seals up, then start riding again, if it keeps bugging you after that go get a prescription for bactrim, and take it for a while maybe 3 or 4 weeks. thats my method, and i feel pretty qualified through failure and successes haha. and i stayed at holiday in express
And try lowering your seat height. Seriously, do this first. If your seat height is too high, you will be plagued with saddle sores, whereas when it is lowered, it cures the vast majority of them. YOu may have to lower your seat a LOT to start with, like so low it feels too low (often even 2cm+) and then work it back up from there.
And try lowering your seat height. Seriously, do this first. If your seat height is too high, you will be plagued with saddle sores, whereas when it is lowered, it cures the vast majority of them. YOu may have to lower your seat a LOT to start with, like so low it feels too low (often even 2cm+) and then work it back up from there.
I too found this to be the best answer when stopping sores from coming on.
And try lowering your seat height. Seriously, do this first. If your seat height is too high, you will be plagued with saddle sores, whereas when it is lowered, it cures the vast majority of them. YOu may have to lower your seat a LOT to start with, like so low it feels too low (often even 2cm+) and then work it back up from there.
I too found this to be the best answer when stopping sores from coming on.
It’s so effective that in the case I actually do have a saddle sore (most often happens when I adjust the seatpost height and forget that it’s not optimally set), it’s worth riding with it a little too low while it’s healing, to take extra pressure off the sore areas. After the sores are better, you can raise the seat back up to what works best for you.
Hi All - There’s A LOT of threads on saddle sores and I read a lot of them before posting. None addressed my specific question so I’m sorry to create yet another saddle sore thread. Sorry for the longer rant, too.
I’m not certain if what I have is a saddle sore or not. I have what looks like an inflamed ingrown hair on my upper / inner left thigh. From Google photos (this was fun), it looks like these are considered saddle sores. I have several, maybe 5-6 at varying stages of healing and inflammation (one woke me up last night).
My inner thighs are not rubbing / chaffing against the saddle so far as I can tell. And I’m only getting the sores on my left inner thigh so I’m a little frustrated I can’t seem to identify the root cause. I’ve also had a bike fitting and got a more narrow saddle to no avail. I’ve used bag balm or assists chamois cream. Maybe I need to put Neosporin, prep h, tree oil, etc on them when I start to see them? My bibs are always clean, but maybe they’re not as breathable as others and this might be part of the issue (I have Ceroti bibs).
Now I’m taking the entire week off out of fear it’s just going to get worse. I’m training for a tri so of course that also means no running or swimming either due to sore location. While I’m training about 13-14 hours a week, I’m usually only in the saddle 6 hours a week (exclusively on the trainer).
For what it’s worth this is my first time training for a tri (70.3) and I’m doing the high volume TrainerRoad plan.
Any thought on root cause of the sores? Part of me hopes by taking the week off it will allow the sores to heal and then won’t happen often in the future.
Are you shaving in that area?
Is it within an area where your bib chamois is located?
I have suffered a lot over the years with sores in all sorts of weird and wonderful places.
You may not need an entire week off training. If it is not bothering too much on the bike just keep persisting, depending on how far out your next race is etc.
Seat height is likely important, but can depend on where you are getting them.
In terms of popping them with a needle, the way infections work is you need things to have coalesced into pus, otherwise a needle won’t do anything. Generally when that happens it is a day or so away from bursting on its own.
You might want to buy an antibacterial chlorhex skin wash and use that regularly for a week or two just in case you have some funny bugs growing down there.
Otherwise welcome to the club…it ain’t fun.
Thanks, all! Appreciate the feedback. Some answers to questions:
I just had a professional bike fitting and saddle replacement so going to see where that gets me before dropping the saddle some.Today I started to treat the sores with a higher dose of hydrocortisone.I’m not shaving the area and my understanding is shaving may make it worse.I decided to take a week off because even when they pop and start to heal, my running and swimming irritate them and the cycle doesn’t seem to end. First week off in 16 weeks, hate it.Most significantly, sores are all associated with areas covered by the bibs. Not necessarily where the chamois is located. I have sore on the outside of my thigh, back of thigh, middle of butt cheek. Seems less friction related to me and more bacterial. I clean my bibs and shower immediately after all rides. I may try the antibacterial chlorhex skin wash or use this as an excuse to buy The Black Bibs everyone talks about.
Thanks, all! Appreciate the feedback. Some answers to questions:
I just had a professional bike fitting and saddle replacement so going to see where that gets me before dropping the saddle some.Today I started to treat the sores with a higher dose of hydrocortisone.I’m not shaving the area and my understanding is shaving may make it worse.I decided to take a week off because even when they pop and start to heal, my running and swimming irritate them and the cycle doesn’t seem to end. First week off in 16 weeks, hate it.Most significantly, sores are all associated with areas covered by the bibs. Not necessarily where the chamois is located. I have sore on the outside of my thigh, back of thigh, middle of butt cheek. Seems less friction related to me and more bacterial. I clean my bibs and shower immediately after all rides. I may try the antibacterial chlorhex skin wash or use this as an excuse to buy The Black Bibs everyone talks about.
As others have suggested, drop the seat height and see how things go.
The hydrocortisone is probably not that helpful to be honest, particularly with an infection it may just make things worse.
I would ride through things if you can.
I also subscribe to the chamois cream everywhere rule, as in on my skin and on my bibs as well.
It looks like you have received lots of excellent advice here. Is it possible this could be a running related problem? Shorts chafing and thighs rubbing can cause what you describe. Generally speaking you would feel discomfort while running though. Just a thought…
I was plagued with saddle sores for the longest time trying every trick to no avail…got a prescription to doxycycline from my doc and never had a problem again. I usually take it during the warmer months.
I also wash all my cycling shorts separate from my other clothes in Lysol laundry sanitizer.
It looks like you have received lots of excellent advice here. Is it possible this could be a running related problem? Shorts chafing and thighs rubbing can cause what you describe. Generally speaking you would feel discomfort while running though. Just a thought…
I’ve run for years and never had an issue until I started cycling.
I was plagued with saddle sores for the longest time trying every trick to no avail…got a prescription to doxycycline from my doc and never had a problem again. I usually take it during the warmer months. I also wash all my cycling shorts separate from my other clothes in Lysol laundry sanitizer.
I’m seeing a dermatologist tomorrow to get their input. The fact I have these bumps where this is no rubbing makes me think it could be something like folliculitis, which can be caused by regularly wearing clothing that traps heat and sweat. It’s treated with doxycycline so maybe that’s the solution.
So far I’ll be off a week this Saturday and I haven’t seen much improvement. Hopefully I can get back on the bike Monday … big training week next week.