You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I know this has been done before but the search didn't give anything useful and I'm desperate!
I need to get rid of a saddle sore QUICK before a biking holiday!
I know about prevention (washing before and after rides, always wear clean shorts, proper bike fit, decent saddle, decent shorts etc). BUT I did 6 hrs tough riding on a new MTB with a different riding position (and stupidly didn't realise that the saddle was slightly twisted to one side). The result is a saddle sore which feels like a large painful pea under the skin.
I've stayed off all bikes for 5 days but it hasn't got much better and the holiday is looming. I asked a pharmacist and he said there is nothing I can do.
Anyone have any lotions or potions that worked for them?
Don't fiddle with it is the main thing! Maybe a bit of sudocrem on it. many years ago I had a spot from my saddle that I tried to squeeze and it turned into a huge abscess, ended up in hospital, they decided not to lance it but had to go on antibiotics.
Jim - you are a walking disaster areas when it comes to bikes.
Hot bath with salts in
Hot, wet flannel draped over the are
Heat and moisture will help draw it out, but to be honest, sometimes they can take a bloody long time.
It's VERY satisfying when they finally soften and decide they're ready to burst though... :-p
Drapolene...
Other nappy rash creams are available
Honestly, probably a good amount of sleep will do some genuine good. It's a healing process...just with any other skin problems, there isn't really much you can effectively do from the 'outside'.
Jim - you are a walking disaster areas when it comes to bikes.
I've been a terrible mountain biker for 23 years, I've had a lot of time for new things to go wrong! This was quite a while ago when I still had quite a few spots and wasn't living very healthily though, can't see it happening these days.
I got one and unlike Jim didn't play with it (he can't help it and that's why he's blind in one eye). Every morning and night I'd put tea tree oil on it with a cotton bud, this dried it out and it went in about 3 days!
I got one and unlike Jim didn't play with it (he can't help it and that's why he's blind in one eye)
I was actually blind in one eye for a few days once! Anyway I think you are even more accident prone than me...!
Never blinded myself......good shot sir
If it hasnt quite healed up by the time you need to ride still, try putting a corn plaster on it, like a small padded ring shaped plaster, that'll keep some of the pressure off it. Get them from Boots and Superdrug etc
Never blinded myself......good shot sir
One tries ones best
I've had this several times and each time it was a visit to the doctor and antibiotics that cleared it up pretty quick.
I blinded myself in one eye for a week with a spectacularly unlucky hailstone while trying ride through a flash blizzard to get to work. Crashed the bike, too.
That taught me the value of eye protection on bikes...
Tea tree oil also worked quick smart when I had one.
Thanks for the advice. I might give tea tree a try and if it's no better I might see the GP, though a bit worried that the GP will throw me out for wasting their time....
Alcohol hand wash gell. Put a pea sized blob on the spot, then put a waterproof plaster over it. Doesn't get rid of it completely but seemed to kill off the infection enough that it went down quite quickly after that.
These are all sensible suggestions, and not what we wanted to hear. My remedy involves a bottle of vodka, a needle, and a camera to catch the look on your face when it goes.
Just as the night is darkest just before the dawn, the crescendo of building pain as you squeeze reaches a point just before it pops that can only be described as delicious.
The INSTANT solution - meaning you can go out and ride right now, is to take an angle grinder (leatherman, chisel,stanleyknife etc) to the saddle and scullop out a dip in the saddle so the lump can sit there undisturbed until it is ready to burst and run down your shorts.
It works.
And is a wonderful feeling too.
You may end up getting a new saddle at some point, but it will save your holiday.
I sometimes get a small bump when I cycle multiple days. It came on a few years ago on a multi month tour after never having had them before. Apparently it's an infected hair follicle (folliculitis). I use an antibiotic ointment applied frequently and it clears up in a few days. Catch it early and it doesn't get to the pain stage. I've thought of getting it chopped out on return but the ointment has worked its magic by then and everything has cleared up so where to chop?
From the description, I'm assuming the OP's is not friction related (I.e. rubbed raw) and hygiene/management is being properly applied.
I got my last tube of cream [url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151189406458?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT ]here[/url] but you should be able to get similar via the local quack.
a compeed plaster?
The INSTANT solution - meaning you can go out and ride right now, is to take an angle grinder (leatherman, chisel,stanleyknife etc)
I've got to admit, you had me worried at that point...
Metanium for nappy rash is by far the best for nappy rash(as advised to me by nurses on the maternity ward) and is equally fast working on saddlesore. It's titanium based so perfect for STW.
Beware the in growing hair as well...
whichhazle? I also have had this experence o nthe night before teh dunrun (200k + to and from start) I just rode and after a 10k of pain I went numb.
Two pairs of shorts for extra padding if it's not totally cleared up.
I'm definitely in the squeezing/poking club, but wouldn't advocate it as a safe treatment.
Sudocrem.
Cured a baboon's backside overnight.
Micracle ointment.
Kamilosan. Or is it camilosan? Think it's for chapped nipples but works. plus Loose fitting underwear.
If you have to ride then maybe try a compeed patch. I would avoid 2 pairs of shorts especially in this weather as that's just going to be more uncomfortable
sudocrem is my choice ...
was sore after the SDW on Saturday but absolutely fine now ... good stuff.
Sudocrem is working wonders for me at the moment - am desperately trying to keep a couple of saddle sores under control prior to the Ride London 100...
Bepanthen - it's a bit more light weight than Sudocreme, absorbs better and lets a bit of air in. Sudocreme always feels like slapping on a layer of finishing plaster. Which may or may not be a good thing.
Sudocrem
^^ I do this too ^^
I'm intrigued but too chicken to try squeezing and poking!
I forgot about bepanthen, I used it about 4 years ago during a 2 week holiday with lots of cycling that led to a saddle sore. Now got to decide between tea tree oil, bepanthen and sudocrem!
I run a set of children, one just out of nappies, the other firmly still in them. I can confirm that bepanthen is some of miracle cure. Sudocrem does the job but nowhere near as quick as bepanthem.
Lance the bugger.
I squeeze them. Better out than in is my thinking but IANAD... Bepanthen is brilliant but I thought it was best on broken/damaged skin (eg rash) which I don't think this is.
This suggests some treatments (going against my solution above, I note...) and a link to WebMD which is probably better qualified than most of us on here. By the sounds of it, hot compresses are the way to do it.
https://psyclingfriday.wordpress.com/tag/boils-cycling-prevention-treatment/
Burst it , Bath salts & sudocream.
I second the recommendation above about using Compeed as emergency protection, if you can't clear it up in time. The advantage of Compeed is that it will stay in place while you are riding, which a conventional plaster in that location almost certainly won't. I've used Compeed during a stage race and it didn't budge during several days of hard racing.
You can get a small pot of drawing paste from the pharmacy to slap on it overnight and it will draw the infection/hair/whatever's in there to the surface....my grandmother used to make her own.....sugar, was one of the ingredients but I can't remember the hot poultice recipe.
Magnesium sulphate paste
Lance the bugger.
He's been called worse.