Vulvar Varicosities & Bike Saddles - EEK!

[CarbonMama]

During my second pregnancy I had varicose veins in my vulva, which went away after delivery. Lately I've noticed that when I squat the veins protrude like they did during pregnancy, primarily on the left side. I also have new small varicose veins running down my left upper thigh, behind the adductor longus tendon, potentially implicating the ovarian or pelvis veins. I have to admit that I haven't been riding much the last couple of years, but I went for a short ride this week and my girly parts were KILLING me! It used to take a few rides to get used to my saddle again, but this pain was much worse than it should have been, and afterward even my undies bothered me for days. So a couple things:

1) Has anyone else ridden on vulval varicose veins, and it is sitting on a bike seat more painful than normal?

and

2) Has anyone else had vulvar varicosities treated with sclerotherapy or embolisation? How did that work out for you? When were you able to return to the bike?

Many thanks to anyone brave enough to respond!

[Wahine]

Thanks to Sheila for bringing this to my attention. I haven't been on the forums much lately so I wouldn't have seen this if not for the nice note she sent me.

I honestly don't have any immediate recommendations for you. It sounds like hip flexion increases the intra-pelvic pressure and makes things worse, so decreasing the amount of hip flexion required through the pedal stroke might help. I'm just thinking out loud here.

Have you had a bike fit before? Are there other positions other than squatting that seem to aggravate the venous distention/

I'm going to let this percolate and see what I can come up with. I'm also going to talk to a colleague who does a lot of pelvic floor work and is also a cyclist. It would be interesting to see what she comes up with.

[CarbonMama]

Thanks Sheila, these are helpful. And thanks for getting Wahine involved in the conversation!

The thread that led me to this forum was http://forums.teamestrogen.com/archive/index.php/t-5300.html The thoughtful and conscientious nature of the replies made me comfortable to post my own sensitive question.

To answer your questions, I live in Arizona and have a Cobb V-Flow saddle, which I used to love, though when I was riding a lot I remember thinking I wished it was just a tad wider. I am more the size of a man than a woman, but with womanly (meaning wide) hips.

Wahine, thanks for getting involved in this response. I think you may be on to something with regarding hip flexion. I've been off the bike awhile with back issues, which have resolved in part after correcting my posture. I've incorporated a little bit of a lumbar curvature into my everyday movement and posture, as opposed to the flat back which has been typical of my posture for decades. As a result I have just a little more hip flexion when sitting. I did think that my road bike, which was fitted for me almost 4 years ago, felt different, but I attributed that to having been out of the saddle for so long and just not being used to it.

So perhaps the increased hip flexion in my riding posture is contributing to venous distention during my ride. Plus it may be the case that simply having varicose veins would increase sensitivity in that area, whether or not they are distended while riding. Plus I'm certain that I'm sitting a little more forward on my pelvis bones than I used to, which puts my weight on top of a more sensitive zone. Plus my geometry and saddle were all put together for my old posture. Which makes me think my first priority is getting re-fit, and possibly a different saddle. I've been on my mountain bike very briefly a few times and it didn't cause such an issue, I don't know if it's the different saddle or the more upright posture (less hip flexion) that is the difference.

I'm riding tomorrow and I may switch saddles if possible and I'll report back.

I'd still like to hear if anyone else has varicose veins in that area and how you deal with it, or if a procedure has helped or not.

[Wahine]

So I spoke to my colleague about this issue today and her response was that yes, it's unusual and yes it should be checked out by a PT that is trained in women's health issues. She was of the opinion that if there is a lot of congestion in the area, there could be something that could be done manually in terms of releasing pelvic floor muscles that may help the situation. She also agreed with me that perhaps a cycling position that opens up the hip angle may help. If you are willing to tell me your location (that could be done in a PM), I may be able to help you find appropriate practitioners in your area.

[CarbonMama]

PM'd you, my post has been awaiting moderation for awhile