saddle "issue"

[dreadpirate]

good options - I'll take those into account.

In the interim, I've found a gel saddle cover that I've put over it (by Royal Gel)

It's a cheap option to a full-on new saddle, which I'll look into later

I can't believe that they make a gel cover that fits a racing saddle - very slim, fits exactly on the Jett - but they do.

It does make the saddle look like a total grandma saddle, but it's helping. The lump is not getting bigger. Used to be after a long ride I'd get home and the thing would have grown - not so much with the gel cover.

does anybody like the anatomica?

[CycleTherapy]

Dreadpirate,

I actually ordered a Selle Anatomica....but ended up returning it. I received the saddle and was in a bit of shock when I realized how heavy it was. At the time, the site that I ordered it from did not detail the saddles' weight. When I returned it, I suggested that they may want to put that information in their product description, which they have now done. So, if weight is not an issue I'd say try it out. I had heard alot of positive reviews about the comfort.

[dreadpirate]

OK. So. I'm putting this out here because I think it should be OK for women to talk about stuff even when it's weird.

Last week I saw my GP. When I said (helpfully) "I think it might be a Bartholin's cyst" he said yeah, sure, that's it - barely touched it, prescribed me antibiotics Just In Case. I went with it because it matched everything I had read and heard up to that point, but I thought the guy was being a bit stand off-ish.

That said, I just got back from seeing an actual gynecologist nurse practitioner today. And she said, No Way is that a Bartholin's cyst, it's way the heck up over there. She said, it's a sebaceous cyst - the kind that only plastic surgery can get rid of. It's because of where your pelvis is - which means it's a saddle issue (which I already knew).

So - it just goes to show that just because somebody is a doc doesn't mean they know jack about ladyparts. Go see a ladypart doc for ladypart issues. Silly me!

I'm still not sold on the plastic surgery issue - I'd like to resolve this with a saddle - because my thought is if I stay with the same saddle (and have the lump removed), it'll just come back, or I'll have another issue, or something.

In the meantime, the gel cover is working (as a band-aid).

[KnottedYet]

DreadPirateRoberts - I'm wondering if you'd be better off with a more "T" shaped saddle so you avoid the friction that kicks off a sebaceous cyst.

Unfortunately, the only saddle I know of that's T shaped is the Brooks B66, B67, B68, B72, and B18. (Cuz I have wide ol' sitbones, and these are the T shaped saddles that fit me. It's all about me, y'know!)

The An-Atomica is a more pear-shaped saddle.

I'm sure if you post in the "Favorite Saddles" area, and give your sitbones measurements and saddle needs, someone will be using the saddle that will suit you.

Meanwhile, are you taking the antibiotics? Are you considering surgery to get the cyst out of the picture? (ask the gyn ARNP what she thinks) I'm doing women's pelvic health, and I'm amazed at what the male docs just throw their hands up in the air over. Dude, those guys are sooooooo easily embarrassed! We got a woman in for "pelvic pain" who actually had a hip joint dysfunction!!! She just needed regular physical therapy. TG she had a doc who could refer to some female practitioners who aren't shy....

<me? shy? never! >
Edit: well, at least not at work.

[dreadpirate]

I think you may be right - something that's wide across the back but narrows immediately to accommodate my Gi-normous pelvis and Huge Enormous Quads (as if) would probably help. dang - Brooks you say? Those brooks saddles can be quite heavy, no?

OK - I'll post in favourite saddles and see what comes up.

The antibiotics was a 7 day course - which I had already started, so I finished (dang it). If I knew then what I knew now, I would not have taken them. Grr...

I'm on the fence about having it out. It would have to happen after my last race of the season (late October). So I have some time to think about it. Surgery seems a bit extreme. I'll probably try other saddles in the interim and see if it changes things. I think that silly lump is there to stay, however, I am willing to be proven wrong.

Anybody ever had luck with hydrocortisone cream?

Yeah - dude GP doc was really not helpful. About the most helpful advice he gave was "follow up with your Gynecologist."

[KnottedYet]

Brooks aren't generally known for their light weight, nope...

But I would bet someone has found a "T" shaped saddle that *is* light.

(I have the Brooks B67 with springs. Yeeehawwww! You can get muscles just carrying that critter home from the mailbox! Most comfy saddle for my hind end I've ever found, so I bought a 2nd one for my other bike too.)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'm on the fence about having it out. It would have to happen after my last race of the season (late October). So I have some time to think about it. Surgery seems a bit extreme. I'll probably try other saddles in the interim and see if it changes things. I think that silly lump is there to stay, however, I am willing to be proven wrong.

Think about what you would do if that lump was on your arm, or on your forehead. Would you just leave it there, or would you get it removed?

[Zen]

excellent point, Lisa.

Surgery's not so bad. My biggest worry during surgery is the anesthesiologist.

[amy]

I would say modern medicine, even when practiced by a "lady" with "lady parts" is sorely lacking when it comes to actually knowing what to do with the "lady parts". After doing 5 years of doctoral work looking at women's experiences with pelvic pain, I couldn't take it anymore. Be careful and make sure any decision you make feels right for you. As far as surgery being an extreme measure... some would argue that riding on two jelly beans for hundreds of miles and choosing not to do anything until AFTER race season would be an extreme stance on life. ((Ride on girl, ride on!))

You might consider a second opinion if you can manage it. Just because she was a "lady parts" doctor, does not mean she has all the answers all the time.

Good luck!

[KnottedYet]

Ooooh, Amy, can you PM me your dissertation info?

We just started a pelvic program, and I'd love to read your findings!

(please?)

[dreadpirate]

OK, so I just found a link to a usenet forum with dude cyclists (not as useful to me as chick cyclists, but still...) in which, this guy talks about something called "Cyclists Nodule"

http://www.cyclingforums.com/archive...p/t-13233.html

I am stunned. He's describing almost exactly the same thing as me - he even calls it a testicle (I was only half joking when I called it an undescended testicle).

Also, I did not know that guys had perineums. I thought that was an exclusively chick term.

Thought I'd share.

On an update note, it's getting smaller - I think just the gel saddle cover is enough for it to dissipate. While I'm indecisive, it may just go away on its own!

[emily_in_nc]

Just got back from my yearly physical with my GP, who is a triathlete so very understanding about athletic issues. I too have a sebaceous cyst (aka big honking saddle sore that won't ever go away). She said that the only way it will go away is to have it excised, which she recommended I have a dermatologist do (not a plastic surgeon). Fun fun....

I will probably wait until the off season since it would take several off-bike weeks to heal, and I'm not willing to give up fall riding, so maybe in early January would be the time to have it done if it's still there. In the meantime, going back to a wider saddle (Terry Butterfly) has helped relieve some of the pressure on it since it distributes my weight over a larger area. I still have a harder, narrower saddle on my mtb, though, and the cyst is a bit tender/irritated now after a longish mtb ride on Wed. night

I feel your pain!

Emily

[dreadpirate]

I did the Colorado Relay last weekend, injured my ITBand. The week before that, I laid off my training so that I could try and kill an impending headcold. So I've done less cycling than usual in two weeks.

Here is the report: after two weeks of little or no riding, or just riding the spin bike = LUMP GONE except for the nerve that started it all.

How very interesting.