Sore spots.

[UKcyclinggirl]

Hi everyone, I have been road cycling on my mountain bike since April this year and everything has been great.
I have found a comfy saddle with a cut out hole and have been using this since May and all has been fine until recently after doing a 26 mile ride I have developed small spots on the outer side of my lady parts nearest the groin.

They have been really sore and are quite lumpy. I did give one a bit of a lancing and it oozed out really horrible yellow stuff but has since felt alot better and seems to be healing.

I now have anther small one on the opposite side. I can feel the saddle pressing on them all the time which seems to aggrevate them. I was thinking they where blocked follicles and if so, what is the best way to prevent developing them?

I wear good padded shorts etc. but I think the saddle pressure is causing them I love my saddle and don't really want to change it.

[Aquila]

I had a couple problems that sound like yours a while back. I'd shaved the area (like a pants line shave) and then went for a long ride, and ouch!

They were like really big pimples or very tiny boils. And they hurt! I, too, lanced the two (they didn't seem that serious, and I wasn't going to wait six weeks to try to get a doctor's appt), and then used ample neosporin (a basic antibiotic cream/ointment) on them morning and evening, and they healed up.

From what I read, mine sounded like blocked follicles aggravated by the shaving and biking that day.

I gave up shaving the area totally, and once they healed up, I've had no repeats at all.

I used A&D ointment both before, on the ouchie ride, and since, regularly, so I have no idea if that had a positive, negative, or no effect.

Good luck with yours. I hope you feel better FAST, because even little sores HURT for riding.

[emily_in_nc]

I get these too. I have a huge "double" one (it's kinda long, like two saddle sores merged together) on the left, and a leftover small one on the right from last year. They take a LONG time to go away on me, if they ever do. I had a really bad one several years ago on the left, and it finally went away, but it took most of the winter off the bike to get rid of it! Hopefully yours will not be that long-lived.

[Warning: grossness ahead!]

If saddle sores like this do come to a head like your one did and you can lance them yourself (I use a sterilized needle) and get out yellow goop, then keep antibiotic ointment on them, they will usually heal, but mine often won't ever come to a head; they're just way down under the skin and are inflamed and sore but purple in color, not white, so there's no pus near the surface of the skin. And every time I ride, the saddle presses on them, and they're very uncomfortable, to be sure.

I had my doctor take a look at my bad "double" one a few weeks ago when I went for my yearly appointment. She said it was a sebaceous cyst and would have to be removed by a dermatologist. She didn't think it would go away on its own. So, if it's still around come January, I'll get it excised; I'm not willing to deal with this again next year. She said that healing time from the incision would be 2-3 weeks off the bike. I only ride on the trainer in the winter unless we have some really warm days, so I'll just have to plan on a break around that time.

Good luck - saddle sores are no fun at all!

Emily

[UKcyclinggirl]

Thanks for the replies. They do seem to have appeared after shaving, which I am not going to do again.
They are feeling alot better this morning but will have to see what they are like after a ride.
I am going to apply some vaseline to the area before my ride and see if it helps.

[OakLeaf]

I've never liked Vaseline as a lube (see the thread about Chamois Butt'r) but as long as you're applying petroleum products, why not use a triple antibiotic ointment? That's what I always use on sores like that (as soon as they appear) and it takes care of them promptly.

[UKcyclinggirl]

I've never liked Vaseline as a lube (see the thread about Chamois Butt'r) but as long as you're applying petroleum products, why not use a triple antibiotic ointment? That's what I always use on sores like that (as soon as they appear) and it takes care of them promptly.

I don't really now of any antibiotic creams here in the UK that you can get without seeing the doc.
The Vaseline did help though, the sore patch was much better today, alot less uncomfy.

[Aquila]

That's good news! I hope it heals up quickly!

[bacarver]

UKcyclinggirl - I'm having problems with this also. I have two areas under the skin that rub when I ride. I sure wish they would come to the surface and erupt so that the healing process would begin. I had a sebaceous cyst several years ago that took forever to open up to the skin surface. Once it drained, it sealed itself off and was almost instantly healed.
I saw my doctor about a month ago and she showed no interest in doing anything about it. If the bumps are still there in the spring, I may have to clearly ask her to lance and drain them. Riding is uncomfortable because of the tenderness, but I'm not going to stop cycling.
My bumps are in such a hard place to see that I can't imagine draining them myself. I'd end up standing on my head!
The joys of riding.
Barb

[crazycanuck]

Hey UK,

What about using Savlon? It's an over the counter cream i believe you can purchase in the UK?

C

[jules]

i have a problem with cysts too - it only bothers me when i spend lots of time on the bike. and it just started last year. no idea why, considering i've been riding for a long time. anyway, it's very painful. one time i was able to drain it, and the discharge was brownish yellow and thick. then it bled. sorry to be so graphic. anyway i have seen the doctor three times. the first time, the doctor told me that he would drain it for me if it got really big, and he gave me tetracyclene. the second time i went, the doctor prescribed me more tetracyclene. the third time i went, i asked for it to be drained or removed, and the new doctor told me that it was too small to be removed, and also pointless, because another cyst might just pop up next to it. he gave me more tetracyclene. i am completely frustrated. certainly there must be a way out of this.

[ehirsch83]

I have found that diaper rash cream works wonders!
Because, if you think about it- what you are having is almost exactly diaper rash- you are in wet shorts for a period of time, and that is what happens. Same thing that happens to a baby in a wet diaper. The creme dries it all up.
I use it after my rides, and then after showers, sometimes I apply it again during the day if needed.

[emily_in_nc]

I have found that diaper rash cream works wonders!
Because, if you think about it- what you are having is almost exactly diaper rash- you are in wet shorts for a period of time, and that is what happens. Same thing that happens to a baby in a wet diaper. The creme dries it all up.
I use it after my rides, and then after showers, sometimes I apply it again during the day if needed.

What I have is not diaper rash -- it's a large purple lump, about 1" in length, bulbous and sore (sorry for the graphic description!) It's right on the crease between my leg and crotch. I am only riding 2x a week so am amazed that I've managed to develop such a sore. It won't come to a head so I can't get anything out of it. My doctor called it a sebaceous cyst and recommended I have my dermatologist excise it during the off season (which sucks, because I still ride on the trainer during the winter). I've had rawness and chafing before, and diaper rash cream does help somewhat with that, but this is something entirely different. It even hurts when I sit on a hard chair just right. Ugh!

Emily

[ehirsch83]

What I have is not diaper rash -- it's a large purple lump, about 1" in length, bulbous and sore (sorry for the graphic description!) It's right on the crease between my leg and crotch. I am only riding 2x a week so am amazed that I've managed to develop such a sore. It won't come to a head so I can't get anything out of it. My doctor called it a sebaceous cyst and recommended I have my dermatologist excise it during the off season (which sucks, because I still ride on the trainer during the winter). I've had rawness and chafing before, and diaper rash cream does help somewhat with that, but this is something entirely different. It even hurts when I sit on a hard chair just right. Ugh!

Emily

Emily,
I have had that same thing, not fun!
I was advising to use the diaper rash creme on the small bumps that the other posters had mentioned- the ones that they lanced and got yellowish fluid out of, not on your cyst.

[dreadpirate]

I am pleased to report that my sebaceous cyst/undescended testicle is gone.

I put a gel cover on my saddle and that was enough to change whatever was going on to cause the thing. My saddle looks like a grandma saddle but I do not care - my crotch is happy. The jellybeans are gone. Yay!

I've been testing new saddles - so far no dice. But I'll keep trying.

[bacarver]

I've scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist soon to have these nagging, tender bumps checked out. I am riding more this year and this has resulted in more friction on the saddle.
I want to ask her to just numb the area, drain them, and I'll stay off the bike for a few days to let them heal.
Riding is so uncomfortable lately because of these spots.
How in the world do the Tour riders cope with saddle sores? I cannot imagine!
We'll see if her plan is the same as mine . . .
Barb