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Saddle sores? What did you do for treatment?

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Saddle sores? What did you do for treatment?

Old 12-12-20, 06:00 PM
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Saddle sores? What did you do for treatment?

I’ve been plagued with a soft area in the perineum area for a while now about the size of a large grape marked by some hard spots inside. Yeah, I know all about proper saddle and bibs, position on the bike and chamois cream. I’ve gotten it to go down but never completely away. Those that have dealt with it, what did you try to get rid of it...some kind of cream, minor surgery to cut it out? It’s flared up on me yet again probably due to more time on the trainer with the advent of colder weather. Thanks!
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Old 12-12-20, 06:11 PM
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Sorry to hear this, happens to me more on or near crevice near junk haha but ya it sucks. Maybe different saddle also saddle height. I’m sorry I don’t have an answer for you I don’t even have one for me haha. Time off the bike different bibs etc etc hope you can fix it.
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Old 12-12-20, 06:40 PM
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I had a hard painful nodule for the past year. I didn’t think it was a cyst but the urologist that I went to said it is a sebaceous cyst. I now believe he was correct.

Several things I tried have been helping:

1) Epsom salt soaks in the bathtub. I put the salt on the washcloth and try to keep a concentration of salt there as long as possible before it dispersed into the water.
2) I took 2 weeks off from riding
3) I tried organic apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball then covered with a large bandaid over the affected area for the better part of a day. I have repeated this multiple times on an every other day schedule.
or (craziest option of all) #4 - I am using a whole turmeric rhizome from the Indian grocery and slicing a medium thick slab of it lengthwise, soaking it in some more apple cider vinegar then strategically positioning the turmeric over the nodule. I found that it stays in place in my drawers without a bandaid. The big bandaids can be carefully applied but they bunch up quite easily and fall off.

I don’t think I need the minor surgery now because the above interventions have been working and the almond sized nodule is flat now and not giving me “pinchy” sensations like they were.

I’ve never used a saddle with a cutout or a center channel but I did purchase a used Fizik Antares VS saddle with a center channel which I may try out on one of my bikes.
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Old 12-12-20, 07:45 PM
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When I get a saddle sore, the following helps:
1) Cleaning the area thoroughly(!!) with Tucks pads before riding
2) Using Chamois cream
3) Wearing a different bib with a different pad for the next few rides
and if all that fails, I resort to the most drastic measure:
4) Take a day or two off the bike entirely.
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Old 12-12-20, 07:46 PM
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I had to have Surgery to Remove mine.
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Old 12-12-20, 08:32 PM
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Bag balm and hydrocortisone after shower before bed. Clean area with isopropyl alcohol and hydrogen peroxide a few times daily and air out once in a while. Tiny bit of bag balm on area before riding to help with the pinching sensation (i do not use a chamois, so YMMV on this one). I have flare-ups occasionally, but have not had to take time off the bike if i am diligent in these techniques.
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Old 12-12-20, 08:42 PM
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
I had to have Surgery to Remove mine.
Tell us more! I didn't get the surgery which I think would have been better than what was done. How long before you could ride for hours again?
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Old 12-12-20, 08:49 PM
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+1 to Bag Balm, but feel free to use plenty. (Your shorts may smell of Bag Balm after washing but that won't matter to either the shorts or your butt.)

Another trick if you have to ride with saddle sores - a 2-bolt seatpost. Then you can loosen the rear bolt, tighten (or loosen) the front bolt (say) 1/4 turn and re-tighten the rear. Ride and put up with the less than optimum saddle tilt that gives your sore a break for the next week or two. Sore gone? Reverse the saddle adjust to where you were before. Easy and exact. (A trick from an ex-racer from the days when we all rode with 2-bolt seatposts (that required special wrenches! Now, ordinary Allen keys do the job.).
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Old 12-12-20, 08:51 PM
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I haven't been dogged with saddle sores for years. But I used to take a long hot bath at first sign of irritation.
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Old 12-12-20, 08:52 PM
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I went to a dermatologist who injected a steroid into the nodule. That turned out to have been a terrible idea. It's been many months and it still hasn't healed after the steroid destruction. My belief is that the nodule was misdiagnosed. Should have been excised instead.

But usually, all the above ideas work. They all worked for me until they didn't. Mine finally became a nodule with a bleeding sore on top, like blood on the shorts pad kind of thing.

I had a thing maybe like Masi61, above. I got it by riding a saddle which was too narrow for years. My dermo also diagnosed it as a cyst, but IMO it was a perineal nodular induration. Now it's just a total mess, a skin ulcer which won't heal. I'm beginning to doubt it will ever go away and maybe my long riding days are over.
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Old 12-12-20, 09:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
Tell us more! I didn't get the surgery which I think would have been better than what was done. How long before you could ride for hours again?
It was Blood Blister that would not go away.. It would become large and hard. Nothing I could do to Remove it.
Full surgery room and sedation. Guess back to riding after the stiches were removed,
Sorry no pics.

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Old 12-12-20, 09:30 PM
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All my problems went away when I changed my cleaning regime: after biking, I shower thoroughly (which was never sufficient), and scrub my bottom with my fingernails (this was the trick).
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Old 12-12-20, 10:01 PM
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Any moisture barrier ointment that contains zinc oxide. Most cycling related creams omit zinc oxide because it's very difficult to clean off the chamois pads. But it's by far the most effective barrier cream because it's so persistent and won't easily wipe off the skin.

Try a tube of the generic stuff in the drug store, usually near the hemorrhoid cream or adult diapers. The best stuff contains a little menthol -- not enough to burn, just a mild analgesic -- and some astringent to reduce the swelling. But if it doesn't contain zinc oxide it won't be as effective.

I only use it when I develop a boil from ingrown hairs. Switching saddles minimized that problem. For awhile I tried saddles with cutouts for perineum relief, but every cutout saddle I've tried (four or five now) only shifts the weight and friction from the entire sit-area to the flesh over the ischial tuberosities. So that's where the irritation occurs. Switching back to solid top saddles fixed the problem, at least for longer rides. I still have one saddle with cutouts for shorter rides and indoor trainer sessions, and I use shorts with much thicker and more resilient pads to reduce the irritation.
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Old 12-12-20, 11:00 PM
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better fix the cause or it will just come back later, it is usually due to a poor bike fit
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Old 12-12-20, 11:05 PM
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Neosporin.
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Old 12-13-20, 08:20 AM
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Originally Posted by masi61
I had a hard painful nodule for the past year. I didn’t think it was a cyst but the urologist that I went to said it is a sebaceous cyst. I now believe he was correct.

Several things I tried have been helping:

1) Epsom salt soaks in the bathtub. I put the salt on the washcloth and try to keep a concentration of salt there as long as possible before it dispersed into the water.
2) I took 2 weeks off from riding
3) I tried organic apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball then covered with a large bandaid over the affected area for the better part of a day. I have repeated this multiple times on an every other day schedule.
or (craziest option of all) #4 - I am using a whole turmeric rhizome from the Indian grocery and slicing a medium thick slab of it lengthwise, soaking it in some more apple cider vinegar then strategically positioning the turmeric over the nodule. I found that it stays in place in my drawers without a bandaid. The big bandaids can be carefully applied but they bunch up quite easily and fall off.

I don’t think I need the minor surgery now because the above interventions have been working and the almond sized nodule is flat now and not giving me “pinchy” sensations like they were.

I’ve never used a saddle with a cutout or a center channel but I did purchase a used Fizik Antares VS saddle with a center channel which I may try out on one of my bikes.
Thanks for the tips!
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Old 12-13-20, 08:26 AM
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
I went to a dermatologist who injected a steroid into the nodule. That turned out to have been a terrible idea. It's been many months and it still hasn't healed after the steroid destruction. My belief is that the nodule was misdiagnosed. Should have been excised instead.

But usually, all the above ideas work. They all worked for me until they didn't. Mine finally became a nodule with a bleeding sore on top, like blood on the shorts pad kind of thing.

I had a thing maybe like Masi61, above. I got it by riding a saddle which was too narrow for years. My dermo also diagnosed it as a cyst, but IMO it was a perineal nodular induration. Now it's just a total mess, a skin ulcer which won't heal. I'm beginning to doubt it will ever go away and maybe my long riding days are over.
I think my symptoms are very similar to yours...a soft area with several nodules in it that at the moment is bleeding a little which it has done in the past. I have used a triple antibiotic cream in the past which seems to have helped but I was never able to get the soft area to go away completely.
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Old 12-13-20, 08:34 AM
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Originally Posted by canklecat
Any moisture barrier ointment that contains zinc oxide. Most cycling related creams omit zinc oxide because it's very difficult to clean off the chamois pads. But it's by far the most effective barrier cream because it's so persistent and won't easily wipe off the skin.

Try a tube of the generic stuff in the drug store, usually near the hemorrhoid cream or adult diapers. The best stuff contains a little menthol -- not enough to burn, just a mild analgesic -- and some astringent to reduce the swelling. But if it doesn't contain zinc oxide it won't be as effective.

I only use it when I develop a boil from ingrown hairs. Switching saddles minimized that problem. For awhile I tried saddles with cutouts for perineum relief, but every cutout saddle I've tried (four or five now) only shifts the weight and friction from the entire sit-area to the flesh over the ischial tuberosities. So that's where the irritation occurs. Switching back to solid top saddles fixed the problem, at least for longer rides. I still have one saddle with cutouts for shorter rides and indoor trainer sessions, and I use shorts with much thicker and more resilient pads to reduce the irritation.
I have been reading about a cream called Terrasil that has the zinc oxide you mentioned in it. Can be gotten on Amazon. $24 for small tube. Might be worth pursuing. I’ve also read that acne cream might help dry it out and be helpful.
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Old 12-13-20, 10:18 AM
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Originally Posted by whitemax
I think my symptoms are very similar to yours...a soft area with several nodules in it that at the moment is bleeding a little which it has done in the past. I have used a triple antibiotic cream in the past which seems to have helped but I was never able to get the soft area to go away completely.
No, not at all the same. My issue was a single hard lump maybe 2" long and 1/2" wide. Once that lump formed, it wouldn't go away no matter what. The raised area abraded no matter what goo I put on it.

You problem is much more likely to be the standard follicle blockage, which can be resolved by steroid injection. See a dermatologist.
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Old 12-13-20, 03:20 PM
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I've never had a saddle sore. I do get a painful burning sensation that my wife believes is like diaper rash. Either Dr. Smith's or Diaper Rash Paste clears it right up. Both have 40% of Zinc Oxide. Wearing cotton underpants when it's hot and sweaty brings out the worst problem. While wearing nylon is usually less severe, if a all. Sometimes I forget and grab the wrong pair.

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Old 12-13-20, 03:55 PM
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I've always been told saddle sores come from bad bike fit
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Old 12-13-20, 04:13 PM
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consider a product known as hibiclens

discussed here:

https://barndoorcycling.wordpress.co...-saddle-sores/

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Hibiclens-Ant...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

is your saddle too high? one might think your spot is the result of being rubbed the wrong way by your saddle. maybe you'd change your weight distribution and thereby the rubbing profile by lowering your saddle a bit or tipping the nose upward or downward or some combination of the three. food for thought:

Last edited by eflayer; 12-13-20 at 04:17 PM.
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Old 12-13-20, 04:30 PM
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^do they know what there talking about on bike fit Tuesdays? Goof advice or not?
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Old 12-13-20, 05:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
No, not at all the same. My issue was a single hard lump maybe 2" long and 1/2" wide. Once that lump formed, it wouldn't go away no matter what. The raised area abraded no matter what goo I put on it.

You problem is much more likely to be the standard follicle blockage, which can be resolved by steroid injection. See a dermatologist.
Wow, you’ve really been through the ringer with this problem so I’ll consider you an expert of sorts. You’ve been on this forum for quite a while and it sucks that you have to pull back on your riding because of this. Ironically, I had an appointment with my dermatologist last week. I was there to get some moles and sun damage checked out but it did not occur to me to ask him about it probably because it only flared up on me this past weekend.
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Old 12-13-20, 06:01 PM
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Originally Posted by eflayer
discussed here:

https://barndoorcycling.wordpress.co...-saddle-sores/

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Hibiclens-Ant...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

is your saddle too high? one might think your spot is the result of being rubbed the wrong way by your saddle. maybe you'd change your weight distribution and thereby the rubbing profile by lowering your saddle a bit or tipping the nose upward or downward or some combination of the three. food for thought: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJDeVD5YTo0
Thanks, I’ll check the hibiclens out. Nope, my saddle is at the perfect height, spot on.
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