saddle sores or somethin' else? (WARNING: yucky)

[cathleen]

Hi Ladies,

I've been riding a road bike, casually, for about 2 years now. Hit the road for 15-30 mile cruises on the weekends and about once a week just a neighborhood / city tour of a few miles.

OK, here's the question:

Do saddle sores look like zits? I've got about 7 or 8 such beauties right on the skin directly over my sit bones. On either side, they're all concentrated within a space about the size of a quarter. Most are on the left side. I also have 2 smaller ones on the right which are a little farther forward on the *ahem* "lip". They're fairly firm, don't itch, but if you touch 'em they hurt.

I've got an appt. to see my doc this afternoon because the irritation is quite a nuisance and I suspect there may be some kind of bacterial/yeast folliculitis going on that may require something stronger than my treatment thus far which has been "keep it clean & dab on some neosporin with a q-tip". Some actually went away after about 4 days or so, but some are pretty nasty.

ETA: Oh, I forgot to mention something...

This was DUMB, I know. These all showed up about in the space of about 2-5 days after I did something DUMB. I wore some unpadded shorts for a brief spin around the city on a Sunday afternoon. Afterwards, I when I came home, I accidentally fell asleep on the couch and woke up several hours later, still in shorts, having had no shower. So yeah, I am probably paying the price for letting sweat, dirt, germies, etc. hang out right in my craw all night. (Dumb, dumb, dumb. Probably would've been safer to fall asleep in the shower!)

[KSH]

Do you shave the area where you see these "zits"?

I know I can't shave certain areas down there... because I will get a horrible irritation.

Otherwise, I coudln't really tell you what is going on.

Uuumm... do you wear biking shorts? Do you wear underware under your biking shorts? Do you use body glide on these parts (before the irritation?).

[cathleen]

Yes I shave, and, since I've hit the beach a few times, I probably have been a little overzealous with it.

Also, yes, I normally go underwear-less & have padded shorts. Though I don't powder or lube, I usually have no problems.

This one time, I wore some unpadded shorts. (Figured, "hey, it's a short ride.")

But now, I am all broken out and am thinking that between shaving, different shorts, and falling asleep in my bike clothes, I have just got one painful mess going on.

PS: I plan to throw those shorts away.

[madisongrrl]

Yes, saddle sores do look like zits. At least that is how they start out. It can also be irritation from shaving. Either way, you might want to consider using lube in your shorts.

[cathleen]

um, dumb question:

do ya put the lube on your girly bits, or on the shorts chamois?

[madisongrrl]

You can lube both....

[KSH]

I would almost bet that you have ingrown hairs from shaving and riding.

When I get an ingrown hair down below, it turns into this nasty bump and a zit. It's really gross looking.

I have had to stop shaving in between my legs... if that makes any sense. Sure, it's not *sexy*... but I couldn't deal with the backlash of irritation when I rode.

One night the irritation was so bad, I couldn't wear panties to bed.

Let us know what the Doc says though.

OH! And you put the body glide on your skin. I always put some on between my legs... up near the private parts... before I ride... even if it's only going to be 20 miles.