Cycling shorts issue - any thoughts?

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

Okay....I gathered some courage after all (plus I had to figure out how to attach a picture again) since others here appear to have the same issue....

Is THIS what it looked like?? (please say yes please say yes) :P

Its only on the tops and outsides of my thighs... no where else.

(The other rounding welt by my right knee there is just a mosquito bite...doggone things are plentiful around here after all the rain we've gotten in Oklahoma... BLEH.)

[bmccasland]

Yeppers, BabyBlue, I've seen that too, up close and personal. Looks like heat rash to me. The rubber grippers aren't allowing our skin to breathe so that's why it's worst right there. Ring around the thigh. I don't ride every day (call me lazy ), so mine ususally goes away between rides. That and I have different brands and/or lengths of shorts - and so far haven't had one really big band of heat rash.

[GLC1968]

Yep..that's it! Except mine was much more swollen than that...they stuck out from my skin more. The worst case I got stuck around for about 4-5 days and left discoloration after the swelling was gone. Since then, I've been more careful.

Oh, and cooling off the legs helps, but it's actually more effective to keep your overall body temp down by cooling off the head and body and utilizing shade whenever possible.

I'm SO glad to hear that I'm not alone (not that I'd wish this on anyone else, but...well...you know...)!!

[Jo-n-NY]

My husband actually gets hives from chilly weather. If he takes Claritan a few hours before he is ok. It doesn't matter what he wears, if it is chilly or damp, his skin just hives up. It began years ago when my son began playing ice hockey. He found there is a name for this type of thing but I forget what it is called.

~ JoAnn

[NMRider]

Hi there Tulsa - you courageous woman!
Mine too are quite a bit worse than that, but that's just what mine look like --
today (2 days after a mid-day 63-miler - wanna get through Hell's Gate!) they are just sort of a brown pink discoloration - but on Sunday afternoon they were like big mottled raised pink bands across the tops and over the sides of my thighs.
I, too, am happy to hear GLC's practical advice, esp what she said last re overall body cool down...
Wichita Falls or bust!

[Dianyla]

What the OP is describing really does sound like hives to me, which may suggest a latex allergy. Does it happen with shorts that have silicone leg grippers (like Sugoi)?

Note: It is entirely possible to be allergic to something in general, but the symptom only manifests itself under high heat. Sun-warmed latex is likely to offgas and emit more reactive allergenic particles than cold or room-temperature latex. Also, high internal body heat can make your immune system more likely to react. I'm fairly prone to hives/urticaria caused by certain food colorings and additives, but I have more outbreaks during hot weather or when I have a fever.

Jo-in-NY, the term for what your DH has is cold urticaria. My ex used to break out in hives on his cheeks whenever he went playing in the snow.

[NMRider]

Dian - any thoughts on why it would only happen on top of the legs instead of all the way around? Just because the sun is hitting the tops of my legs? Granted, it's 90+ degrees when it strikes. Not sure what the grippers are - shorts are Cannondale, grippers are smooth/clear. I've never been allergic to anything before. You're thinking hives as opposed to rash? It seems like many of us get this sort of thing... way more than I expected when I posted.
Thanks.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

YEP- I occasionally get the very same itchy heat-rash looking rash on the tops of my thighs underneath my shorts too. Same thing!

I came to the conclusion it was a reaction produced somehow by the sun hitting lycra material.
One morning we were having pre-ride breakfast in our outdoor cafe, and I was sitting in the sun. The morning was still pleasantly in the 70's, and I hadn't exerted myself yet. After a while I felt my legs itching under the shorts and went in the ladies room and sure enough- the rash was starting! Only under the shorts, on the tops of my thighs only. It had been activated merely by my sitting in the sun in my shorts....not really so much from being overheated or sweaty. I put on some cool feeling hand cream, sat with my legs in the shade, and it went away.

When this rash is mild, it can go away in a few hours. When it's bad, it stays for a day or two. I found it did help to put sunblock or other lotion on my legs there before putting on my shorts.

[aicabsolut]

Okay....I gathered some courage after all (plus I had to figure out how to attach a picture again) since others here appear to have the same issue....

Is THIS what it looked like?? (please say yes please say yes) :P

Its only on the tops and outsides of my thighs... no where else.

(The other rounding welt by my right knee there is just a mosquito bite...doggone things are plentiful around here after all the rain we've gotten in Oklahoma... BLEH.)

I get those too!! Except mine are only BELOW the shorts line (maybe a few stray ones at the level of the leg grippers). I've gotten them with cannondale shorts, because that's mainly what I had till recently. They have silicone grippers. But, most of them occur on the exposed skin.

The hives stay even after I cool down and shower like normal heat rash. Then they turn dark. Benadryl cream works wonders. The weird thing is that I've ridden in some major heat and had no problems. They ONLY showed up on rides loner than 60 miles. It doesn't itch.

My dad (a doctor but not dermatologist) said it looked like a photosensitive reaction to him. I don't get a sunburn. It's the weirdest thing.

[li10up]

I had them on my legs after the HHH also. A friend who also did that ride had them too. I thought it was due to the extra pressure exerted on the skin in that area due to the leg gripper...figured the pressure and heat build up caused it. Only happens on long rides. I too have wondered if Body Glide would help by reducing friction but since I use Chamois Butt'r I haven't been able to try it.

[Ogresse]

are you sure it isn't a latex problem? I don't think there is a such thing as shorts without some form of latex, truly. My dad is highly latex allergic and (thanks for telling me, dad) got a hivey/diaper rash sort of reaction the first time he tried bike shorts... Just a thought.

[silver]

Why don't you ladies with this problem just remove the elastic from the shorts? I've just started doing alterations for bike clothes and have found that I'm much more comfortable now that I've custom fit them.

If you don't know how, I could do it for you, if you mailed them to me.

[GLC1968]

Mine is definitely not a latex thing...I wear the same shorts under my leggings in the winter and never get any rash. I also did a century in August where the sun never came out and temps remained below 90 the whole way. 102 miles and no rash. They are mostly on the skin that is not actually under the shorts unless I wear my super long shorts and then they still show up in the same place, but now they are under the fabric and above the gripper! Plus, I used to wear latex gloves daily and never had any reaction (though I have no idea if they were chemically the same compound or anything).

Aicabsolut - Yours sound exactly like mine....they get dark when the swelling goes away. That's really interesting about the benadryl cream. I'll have to try that! Do you apply it after they appear, or before?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Aicabsolut - Yours sound exactly like mine....they get dark when the swelling goes away. That's really interesting about the benadryl cream. I'll have to try that! Do you apply it after they appear, or before?

Regular old Hydrocortisone creme works well for me.

No, it's not from chafing, and no, it's not from the elastic band. For me, it only happens occasionally, in high heat and sun, under my shorts/lycra, only on top of my thighs. Sometimes it fades away after the ride, sometimes lasts a day.

I suspect it would not happen if i were wearing my merino wool knickers, which breathe well and are a more natural fiber...but they would be too hot to wear on a really hot day, so I won't be testing it!

INterestingly, one time I was sitting in the hot sun in my bike shorts, pre-ride, and felt that itchy irritated feeling of them starting up on my thighs. I went to the ladies room, saw the blotches starting up there, and put some sunblock on my thighs under the shorts, simply because it was the only lotion I had with me. It immediately faded away and did not return even during my ride that day in the heat. Odd.