Help. An actual saddle sore.

[Velodog]

Well, since there isn't a catagory for butt sore's that I don't want to ask anyone about face to face, I'll ask here. Anyone have advice on how to rid myself of a single, sort of deep, saddle sore. I usually have dry, teflon skin and don't have much experience with this. What has worked for you. Go ahead, be specific.
Thanks, Moritzburke.

[RoadRaven]

Welcome to the board Moritz - you new here? or a lurker?

Anyways, I searched saddle sores for you and the engine found six pages of links to threads in this forum

Here are a few...


Ladies: HELP! Saddle injury question!
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=5300&highlight=saddle+sore

saddle sore - HELP!!
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=6385

What is a saddle sore?
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=5317

Saddle Sore & Desperate
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=5029

Anyone have a Chamois creme favorite?
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=1426

Already saddle sore!
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=3780

Folliculitis!
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=2799

[maillotpois]

Moritzburke's my sister in law, and not having any experience with saddle sores (just holes in shorts), I told her she should come here and ask....

I know there are a lot of threads on saddle sores - alot end up with discussions of ingrown hairs which, from talking to her, is not the issue!

[Veronica]

I know somebody here had what was a cyst of some sort that needed to be removed by a doctor.

If I ride in jeans to work, I sometimes get what looks like a large pimple, in the crease between thigh and butt. It's not an in grown hair. I use acne stuff on it and that makes it go away. It doesn't bother me when I ride, just when off the bike. Someday I'll see a doctor about it. They'll probably say, "Don't ride your bike in jeans." :D

V.

[Grog]

Well Moritzburke if you could be a bit more specific with your ailment maybe we could be more specific with our suggestions... "Saddle sores" cover a very wide array of phenomena unfortunately... (Or an unfortunate array of phenomena...)

[Duck on Wheels]

I keep waiting for the nurses amongst us to answer this one, but haven't seen any (that I know of) taking hold of the thread. Let's see if I've absorbed any nursing knowledge from researching their working conditions from time to time ...

I'm wondering if a saddle sore is anything like a bed sore, also known as a pressure sore ...? If so, then you might find treatment options by googling those terms. Also if so, the cause is poor circulation, often due to pressure. So logically the long term solution, so as not to get another sore in the same spot later, might be hmmm ...? a different seat? better bike shorts? circulation breaks from time to time (i.e. stand, or even walk a bit) while biking?

Now come on nurses. I know you're out there. Correct me if I'm wrong here. Supplement me if I'm merely underinformed.

[RoadRaven]

Well... having had quite a bit of discussion about sadle sores in this house over the last few years, the conclusion is there is not actual cure... short of hopping off your bike, or having it dealt with surgically

Top riders in races like the Giro and Le Tour have pulled out because of unmanageable saddle sores - and they have the best cycling specialist doctors their teams can buy!

If you put in the miles, you will get saddle sores, the way to minimise saddle sores is prompt hygiene practices straight after a ride - airing/cleaning the skin and washing the shorts...

If Moritz's SS is as deep and painful as she suggests, Mallio, then I suggest she gets to a good sports doctor and has it looked at, and promptly. Good luck Moritz...

[Lise]

Ok, ok! ;)

Concurring with what everyone else has said. I get about one boil (big pimple) a year at the crease where my thigh meets my butt. This year I plan to use a scrubby puff with anti-bacterial soap to wash there after riding. A boil is an infected hair follicle gone berserk, so I'm trying to keep the bacterial load down. Once you've got one, only warm compresses, keeping pressure off it, and waiting really help. Some cortisone cream might reduce the inflammation.

If, however, you're talking about a decubitus, in which the layers of skin are rubbed away, that needs medical attention. Skin should not break down like that if it's healthy, and otherwise uninjured.

Keep us posted--where else in the world are so many strangers interested in such things?!? :) Lise

[Prairiedog]

Well this is actually quite interesting to me because before now...I had not thought about 'saddle sores'. Yikes!

As an ex-nurses aide working in a nursing home when I was in high school...we would treat bed sores by putting the old sun lamps on them. (This was the 70's) Butt the theory was the UV light would help to aid in the healing by drying the sore. If the bed sores were caught in the very beginning the light therapy did help tremendously and the sores would heal quickly. But, if the sore had gone unnoticed and was open...then more involved treatment was used besides the UV lights.

Okay, having said that...one of my kids was prone and I do mean PRONE to diaper rash when she was a babe. What worked to get rid of the rash was to wash the area of course and make sure it was clean and then I would thoroughly dry her entire bottom area (including in the butt crack) using a hair dryer. I started using this method after giving some thought to how we used to treat those bed sores in the nursing home because my ped. was only prescribing medication for dd's rash but that alone was not working. Once I started drying the area WELL with the blow dryer (set on low heat) and then apply the medicine the rash would clear up in a day or two.

So, try using a blow dryer on the sore a couple times a day especially if it is getting wet when you urinate. I would say the key is to keep it dry as possible and maybe even try a diaper rash ointment on it after you blow dry because the oinment will form a barrier for when you do urinate and might possibly rewet the sore.

Hope that was explicit enough! And goodluck getting that to heal.

Let me ask...is it just a sore red area or is it open and it oozes?

[Velodog]

Thanks for all the help!!! I know I'll find something in here that will work.
Here are more details for those that asked. It is not an ingrown hair, it is not "open", it lives on my butt in the crease I refer to as the "Twinkie" part. It is created by my sit-bone on my saddle, so it's far enough away from my front parts that I call it my butt area. Someone mentioned that a harder saddle helped for them, but I already have a fairly hard saddle, so I'm thinking of trying a new one. Either a Butterfly or one of my sister-in-law's.
I have been able to stop it from getting worse by putting 2% hydrocortisone on it with a bandaid. And then sometimes antibiotic cream. It is not so bad that I can't ride, but after 60-70 miles it is fairly uncomfortable and takes a couple days to settle. I have had it about two months and it would probably go away if I was off the saddle for 3? weeks, but that is a depressing amount of time to wait and I'm not willing. Yet.
So.... on with more gory details; it does not have a head on it, it is kinda purple, and seems like it has a harder part in the center but not as hard as the "vein" example above. I did try poking it with a needle one night. It bled. It was a little better. But did not go away. There, I have admitted it.
I am going with the warm compresses for now and continue to keep it clean and dry.
I have never been on a forum before, so forgive me if I am new to forum etiquette. Thank again.

[Prairiedog]

Well...and what a way to make new friends! lol I feel like I know you 'intimately' now. ;)

It sounds like you've hit on a therapy that is working. The main point is that is doesn't get worse/bigger and it seems you've been successful there. Indeed, try a different saddle and see if that helps relieve the pressure spot.

Goodluck...but I would be curious to know what works for you in the end so please, do keep us updated, okay?

[CorsairMac]

Moritz: The one and only saddle sore I had was caused by the seam of my shorts.....not the saddle. The chamois was broken down (I don't know how else to describe it) and the seams were causing irritation. I did what you did, used 2% hydrocortisone creme and bought new, higher end shorts I found on sale and I haven't had any issues since. Good luck.

[Ninabike]

You might try using antibiotic cream or ointment like Bacitracin in your bike shorts. It works just like Chamois Buttr but prevents infection. It washes out well too. Cortizone cream is Okay as a short term antiinflamatory, but if you use it for a prolonged period, it weakens and breaks down the skin. A general rule of thumb for any skin condition is "if it's wet, dry it; if it's dry, wet it". This is from my old RN days (prior career, but you never forget that stuff). You just might want to use some antibiotic cream all the time until the condition goes away. There's also the old "sitz bath" thing: sitting in a tub of warm water a couple of times a day.

[KnottedYet]

On the sitz bath idea-

Gentle saline soaks or baths can help a lot, too. Mix 1 cup of water with 1/4 tsp salt and warm it up in the microwave until it's body temp. (35 seconds in my micro)

Put it in a canning jar or cup with the right size opening. Hold the jar to the sore, and kinda suction it into place. (you might want to be lying on your side) Hang out for about 5-10 min with the warm salt water in contact with the sore the whole time.

don't try to scrub it or wash it or anything. Just let it soak.

You can also drip the saline over the sore for 5-10 min. That uses a lot of saline, but can be a bit more effective if you've got yucky stuff that you want to wash off gently without irritating the tissue underneath.

[KnottedYet]

Lise-
Do the wound care supply folks still make those cool jelly-patch things to put over decubs?

If those patches could stand up to the pressure, there could be a huge untapped market for them in the biker world...

[Quillfred]

Knotted,

You sort of read my mind. ;)

A while ago I wondered if putting Duoderm (a fine foam protein membrane) or the clear gelatinous square called ??? on the ichial tuberosites would prevent skin breakdown during a long ride. It is remenicent of using moleskin on the achilles before going on long hikes.

I have some shorts with a heavier gel material (Flubber) that remind me of the product "X".

I know both the items were still on the market as of two years ago. I think Duoderm was about $7 a 4" x 4" square.

Of course if the covering would rub off or move during a ride that could be a problem.

Quillfred

.

[Velodog]

Thank you for all the help. I went with the warm to almost painfully hot washcloth idea and it helped. I also got new shorts. That helped. Plus a different seat. I just got back from a short ride and my angry twin bump is no worse and still on the mend, so I think I'm headed in the right direction. I am probably going to try that saline/jar thing next if it does not continue to heal. Partly just to see if I'm capable of doing it. It sounds very 18th century and I'm intrigued.