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Sorry, bit of a TMI thread but then I guess you knew that if you saw the title and clicked anyway.
In 15 odd years of cycling I've never had a saddle sore at all before but got one a few weeks ago. I had my wife confirm it's not a more sinister type of lump and then just put it out of my mind.
Anyway, fast forward 4 weeks and its still there. For some reason I decided to Google a solution late last night right before I went to sleep (asking for trouble) and saw something about how they shouldn't be ignored as they can subsequently turn into permanent hard lumps that then require minor surgery to remove.
So now I feel a bit regretful about simply ignoring it and carrying on riding and running 5 times a week with it for like a month. I went to the chemist this morning and bought some hydrocortisone cream which I'll start applying today and I guess I'll take a week off exercise too.
My question is, do they normally last that long and I surely can't be the only one that just ignored it...right?!
Secondly, anything else I can do to get rid of it?
Google suggests that if no luck then eventually I should go to the GP and get steroid cream or something...I can't really remember last time I went to the GP but would they be OK if with it if I turned up at the local clinic for something like that? Or am I being dramatic and most of us are just riding round with these types of ailment and I should just forget it?
I'm not too worried about my equipment/saddles/bike positions or anything like that, mainly as the first one I've ever had and I'm fairly sure its because I'm cycling and running throughout the week and have got in the habit of sitting around drinking coffee afterwards and whatnot in the same clothes...which it seems is a mistake.
I would give cycling a rest while it heals up just like you would with any bike related injury.
They normally resolve quite quickly
I did get a saddle sore a few days before the Polaris challenge and competed with a Compeed blister plaster and a spongey saddle.
I often get one in the same place (on me) when doing longer tours. I think it might be an infected follicle or similar. I can mostly avoid it by using Sudocreme (sans cat) as a preventative. But, if it does occur, I use triple Antibiotic cream from Amazon in the God damn US of A. I bought a tube years ago over there across the counter in a Pharmacy (AKA a chemist shop) and just get another one mail order every few years. Its usually well expired by the time I use it up but that doesn't seem to be an issue.
Try a few simple things from your chemist, make a note of what you've tried, and if it's not working go and see your GP. One more hairy arse isn't going to ruin my day, and sometimes it's quite nice to see something simple that I can actually do something about.
Resting it is usually a good one. I tend to suggest rest for up to six weeks, if it's longer than that then it's probably worth looking at.
I had one years ago that keep coming back. Eventually went to my GP, who proscribed antibiotics. I haven't had one since.
I get a few bumps down there during high volume cycling periods. Rest from the saddle, clean shorts every time, shower with Tea Tree/mint Original Source shower gel and apply savlon when dry going commando for a little bit to let it dry works for me.
Dont let them fester. I attended a graphic BC coaching session once which showed the required surgery of an infected perimum. 🤮
Dr Scholl made a small felt plaster like a little doughnut great for relief. Don’t know about hydrocortisone, it’s an infected follicle AFAIK so Neosporin perhaps?
I’m not too worried about my equipment/saddles/bike positions or anything like that, mainly as the first one I’ve ever had and I’m fairly sure its because I’m cycling and running throughout the week and have got in the habit of sitting around drinking coffee afterwards and whatnot in the same clothes…which it seems is a mistake.
At the very least, I'd make sure your saddle isn't knackered. I got a - rare for me - saddle sore a few months back and realised that the saddle on my most ridden bike was a long way past its best and had developed quite a lot of excess flex in the shell compared a new one. A week off the bike, some antiseptic and hydrocortisone cream and a new saddle and all good now.
In addition to the saddle, I'd also check your bibshorts. Mine were getting a bit slack and moving around, which doesn't help. I found 2-3 wks of the bike was required or it would reappear. Sudocreme after a ride.
Thanks folks, all useful and good to know! And nice to know in theory it would be OK to go to the GP if it did become a reasonably significant issue.
Good point about equipment tbf- now I think of it, I've been using the turbo a lot and wonder if the combination of static position on there (its a very old bike and saddle) plus cheap, old generic padded shorts from Amazon might be the issue.
I always just assumed I must be immune to this sort of thing, but clearly not. Good to know I'm not the only one anyway 👍
Capasal tar shampoo is great. Smells like the 70's and has antiseptic properties. As you say, excersise, shower and change would probably have helped.
I find that this stuff helps to keep them at bay. Liberal dusting after a post-ride shower seems to do the job
Old fashioned talcum powder after a shower and a week without underpants cleared a stubborn one for me a few months back
have got in the habit of sitting around drinking coffee afterwards and whatnot in the same clothes…which it seems is a mistake.
I think that’s it.
A sore that's still there after 4 weeks isn't a trivial thing, regardless. I had similar, turned out a normal sore had picked up a fungal infection, it was basically never going to heal by itself and was a perfect opening for bigger problems, I got properly told off by the gp for leaving it so long. Basically "neglecting stuff like this makes GPs quieter but hospitals busier"
After years of cycling I randomly started getting a sore, looked like an ingrowing hair and was well painful. Tried all sorts, ended up going to the docs who said it wasn't that and told to treat with tea tree oil and time off bike till it went away. He also said tilting saddle a smidge downwards to avoid skin pinching between bibs and saddle. Seemed to work for me, up until then I had never had a problem and that's with a bike fit too. Still worth looking at setup.
Good advice, I got a saddle sore for the first time recently. It was a new Brooks saddle so I got a sore on a contact point. Started to get a bit concerned as it grew a day or so later. I rested, was braced to go to gp, substituted walking for cycling and it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. It itched a bit too, but that maybe because I kept touching it hoping it would go.
I think I d have been a bit more concerned if it was like a hard lump, my sore was more bruise like in texture. Anyway, never knowingly had one before and I used to daily commute.
My question is, do they normally last that long
If you keep riding on them, yes.
Antibiotic fucidin cream rubbed around the infected follicle.
Has anyone tried compeed plasters as a preventative?
hair removed first, of course.
Sounds like a bursar (sp). Had one for over a decade . Basically a soft "lump" in the erm saddle area.
Had it looked at, inc hospital referal (and some intrigued medical students who wanted to see it...)
Doesn't cause me any problems these days, especially after various bike fits and adjustments, etc.
Worth checking your bike fit, bike saddle pressure mapping is a thing now and may also help with rectifying if the saddle is the cause (although saddle alone usually unlikely)
Usually caused by a combination of the saddle causing too much pressure on your sit bones and ill fitting shorts, like a seam or something in the pad rubbing. A change of shorts should help, and swap the saddle to one you know is more comfortable.
Get out of your cycling shorts as soon as possible after each ride.
Google 'witch hazel spot remover boots' and get the one on a lttle stick. Apply as often as you can at least several times a day. The fucidin cream mentioned above also works but I think it's prescription only. Antibiotics like erythromycin will also work, again prescription only though.
If you ignore it will more than likely become a cyst, ie a hard shell will form around it and then you'll need surgery to have it removed. It's happened twice to me in the last twenty years, one in 2005 another around 2015/16. Not a pleasant experience in the slightest, you do not want this believe me.
Get proper advice. Some really crap advice on this tbread. Powders are definitely contraindicated. You need to work out if its infection or not.
I had a boil on my arse that burst and healed. Then a year later a massive abcess that put me in hospital and needed surgery . When it healed ithealed over sime dead flesh hence tbe abscess
It could be skin infection from friction and sweat. It could be an ingrown hair. It could be a sebaceous cyst.
Get thee to a doc
I’ve been using the turbo a lot and wonder if the combination of static position on there (its a very old bike and saddle) plus cheap, old generic padded shorts from Amazon might be the issue.
I'd sort that even if it's not what caused the sore.
I've come seriously unstuck using an old saddle on the turbo. Now i get the cheapest version of the shape i like. So there's a 200 quid arione (R1 i think) on my road bike and a £65 steel railed, plastic shelled one on my turbo/training bike. (No, i didn't pay 200, or 65 quid for them.)