Cysts in the nether regions!

[shigatsu1179]

I have been riding for years, but this is my first year racing. With the huge increase in training hours on the bike since the winter, I have had a HUGE problem with ingrown hairs/cysts in the saddle area. I'm not a new rider...I understand proper saddle and bike fit......I have great bibs....I use a chamois cream..etc, etc. My problem.....(and I'm going to be blunt, ladies)....is that I am just so damn hairy down there. The hair continues on the sides where my inner thighs begin. My teammates advice is to just keep the area shaved and use lots of lubricant before rides. I do use lubricant/cream EVERY time I ride, but shaving that area on a regular basis makes the issue even worse. Currently I have 3 large deep cysts, and it will probably take a couple of weeks for them to go away. After they go away, I'll probably ride for a couple of weeks before developing a few more cysts in different spots. I've spoken with my doctor about this (who races as well, so he knows), and my cysts are never bad enought to require antibiotics, but since he is not a women he cannot offer anymore suggestions. Does anyone else suffer from this issue??? All of my teammates do not, so I'm really fishing for help. By the way...this is not your run of the mill ingrown shaving bump that everyone gets....I'm talking hard big DEEP cysts.

[Tuckervill]

Maybe once you're healed up, you can get a wax instead of shaving?

Can a wax really be that much more painful than the cysts? It's over in a heartbeat.

What about electrolysis? Maybe a permanent removal would be the best thing.

I dunno, I'm a newbie.

Karen

[bikerchick68]

I have a sebacious cyst right now in the bend of my inner leg as well... right where the saddle rubs... I actually get ingrown hairs worse FROM shaving... so now I use a trimmer and wear board shorts (they look better than a swimsuit with my tan lines anyway)...

the cyst I have will not go away on it's own... it's been there for months now... it goes down and seems almost flat until I ride... then it puffs up, is painful and will sometimes burst and drain on my shorts during a ride. I have an excellent fit etc as well...

my doc said this will not go away on it's own. If it didn't hurt I'd leave it... but mine is being removed June 6... stitches adn 2 weeks off the bike

[caligurl]

uhm.... ok... so dumb question... when you say cyst... do you mean like a pimple? that if you sqeeze it... gook comes out? or is it something else?

[Shimpie]

+1 Waxing

I'm prone to ingrown hairs too. It has something to do with my Asian skin not exfoliating very well. I have to sit in a hot tub for at least an hour to slough off layers of skin in with a loofa. Who has time for that? I don't. Shaving just made my ingrown hairs worse. As soon as I could afford it, I started having my legs and bikini line waxed (okay I go Brazillian). Now, I only keep razors around for my underarms.

I still get ingrown hairs with waxing, but much fewer in number, and the hairs are softer and easier to work out. They definitely don't cyst up the way they used to.

[Steph_in_TX]

The whole thought of waxing or the issues that would come with shaving were a complete turn off to me. I just clip mine very short, maybe 1/8th of an inch, and it really makes a HUGE difference in my comfort level. It takes about two weeks to grow to a length that starts getting annoying. It took a little getting used to at first, but I wouldn't do anything different now. Good luck!

[RoadRaven]

uhm.... ok... so dumb question... when you say cyst... do you mean like a pimple? that if you sqeeze it... gook comes out? or is it something else?

A cyst is more deep seated - it doesn't have a head to it like a pimple/pimple-like infection would have. It will feel like a lump under the skin - like a small ball-bearing but some get as big as a golf ball.



Shaving or waxing both can lead to more in-grown hairs - it is better to trim (like Bikerchick or myself) if you don't like the long hairs. As hairs grow back from shaving or waxing, they can curl back on themselves (particularly in the nether regions where hairs are curly anyways...)

Most cyclists who shave their legs will suggest you do not shave above the shorts line.

[Dianyla]

I highly recommend laser hair removal. I struggled for years with crotch acne and ingrowns and this has essentially resolved my problems in that department. I'm not that hairy but the hairs I do (did) have are extremely coarse and they are very prone to becoming ingrown. Also my skin is more sensitive than most. You know, I don't think there's anything worse in the world than an ingrown cyst in your buttcrack.

Shaving closely always caused ingrowns/cysts for me, no matter how carefully I did it and how religiously I exfoliated. Waxing and epilatory creams - ten times worse than shaving. Before I had lasering done the best technique was trimming them down to 1/8-1/4", which is stubbly and not that great.

It wasn't cheap but it wasn't horribly expensive either. When I had it done a few years ago it was about $200 per treatment, five treatments total spaced out over a year. I basically looked at it as $100 per month and paid along the way. I went for the full brazilian treatment to get the "junk in the trunk" but still left plenty of "decoration shrubbery" in the front because I didn't want a permanent pr0nstar look.

[withm]

my doc said this will not go away on it's own. If it didn't hurt I'd leave it... but mine is being removed June 6... stitches adn 2 weeks off the bike

How did it go? Are you all right? What kind of Dr. did it?

[Technotart]

You may want to look up "Bartholin's Cyst" and make sure it is not that - this is completely different than an ingrown hair and can cause bigger problems, more pain and keep you off the bike much longer than the average ingrown hair. No amount of hair removal will help this problem, but there are things you can do to help reduce the friction and irritation on the area so it doesn't become blocked.

Your Bartholin glands are in just the right place to become highly irritated by a saddle and can make you extremely miserable!

[pattaloo]

You may want to look up "Bartholin's Cyst" and make sure it is not that - this is completely different than an ingrown hair and can cause bigger problems (snip-snip) but there are things you can do to help reduce the friction and irritation on the area so it doesn't become blocked.

About ten years ago I had a few Bartholin's Cysts. They never caused me so much trouble that I had to go to the doc, but I found out what they were because a friend had one that was much worse.

So I just started cycling this week -- and reading this topic made me realize I know nothing about how to reduce friction and irritation, etc.

Please, info?

Thanks so much!

[hellosunshine]

salt baths!work a treat.............but,never bypass the bah bit and rub salt down below on the offending pimp AS I ONCE DID

[3gr8goys]

I, too have had problems recently with cysts/ingrown hairs. I make sure I take my shorts off and shower as soon as possible after my ride. I use benzoyl peroxide cream (like for pimples) and that really works well. If I can get anything out of the cyst/ingrown hair, I will try and then put the cream on 3x a day and this really seems to make the cyst go down fast. I also try not to wear underwear unless I have to (difficult for me!!) and keep the area as dry as possible.

[indysteel]

I, too have had problems recently with cysts/ingrown hairs. I make sure I take my shorts off and shower as soon as possible after my ride. I use benzoyl peroxide cream (like for pimples) and that really works well. If I can get anything out of the cyst/ingrown hair, I will try and then put the cream on 3x a day and this really seems to make the cyst go down fast. I also try not to wear underwear unless I have to (difficult for me!!) and keep the area as dry as possible.

I've had good luck with benzoyl peroxide as well. My only caveat is that it can bleach fabric, so be careful what you wear after you apply it.