Saddle Sores

[ACG]

I just rode a century saturday, after being off the bike for 2 weeks. And now I have saddle sores! I started to feel sore after mile 75 but didn't really pay attention to it. I was sore for a few days, even rode 30 miles on Monday (in pain) but again just figured it would go away. Finally I took a mirror and voila!

So out of my own fault I've got these things but how can I minimize them? Do I soak in a hot tub? Is there some kind of thing I can do? Or do I just wait it out?

Additionally I have a 60+ mile ride planned for Saturday and really I'm really wanting to ride my bike.

Thanks as always all suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

[pardes]

The very old remedy for bed sores in elderly patients who can't soak iin a tub and will continually be rolling on them was tincture of benzoin. It helped to dry them up, toughen them up.

If they are open saddle sores that are weeping and burn, soak it a tub with a few handfuls of epsom salts in the water. It helps to take the sting out of them AND it's a great tense muscle reliever. (I buy epsom salts by the truckful.)

I'm sure the pro riders here have other suggestions as well.

[Becky]

I'm a big fan of tea tree oil (TTO) for its anti-microbial properties. I mix it into my chamois cream, and even have some TTO body wash for after rides (but I use it all the time 'cuz it smells so good!).

I'd probably dab some TTO on the sores to help them heal. But the old adage about "an ounce of prevention" rings true... Use chamois cream during rides (especially long ones) if you need it, change out of your shorts right away after rides, loose fitting clothes to "air things out" afterwards.

Feel better soon!

[indysteel]

I had my first saddle sore in May after a long weekend of riding. It was in the crease between by thigh and pubic area and was a large cyst and not an open sore. I used benzoyl peroxide (zit cream, basically) on it. I read that suggestion on another cycling forum I think. It cleared it up within a couple of days. Just be careful, the stuff will bleach your undies, shorts, etc. I tried other things like bag balm, hot baths, neosporin, with no success.

[aicabsolut]

I just got another one. It was really really really swollen yesterday (though it was relatively fine after my ride on Sunday). I did an epsom salts compress today to get it to drain some, which cut down on the pain a lot. My derm gave me a prescription for Zithromax. I've put off taking it, hoping it would just resolve itself on its own. It's turning into being like one I had in the same spot that lasted for a LONG time, so I guess I'm going to try the antibiotics and see how that goes...

[wolfak]

On my last one I used A+D baby ointment at night, then the non-smelly Smooth Baby Butt Lotion the next day (it's seriously called Baby Butt the brand is Bordeaux, I think.) Mine was essentially a diaper rash, just a lot of red, red skin. I did a lot of searching here on cures, and there are so many options. I'm doing my best to prevent them now!

[kenyonchris]

I am a mounted patrol officer as well as competitive event rider (and, obviously, a cyclist). On some of our mounted details we are on twelve hour shifts. Especially in the heat, even with a seasoned butt like mine, saddle sores happen if precautions are not taken. The BEST things I have found are:
1. Preparation H. I'm serious. Use it on any existing saddle sores and any place where you might chafe.
2. This stuff called Anti-Monkey Butt. I sometimes use the two together.
You can get anti-monkey butt on Amazon.com or through a tack store.
3. Udder balm. Not as good as preparation H but less embarassing to buy.


At the last concert I worked I was on 12 hour in the saddle days (as opposed to mids) and my lips got so sunburned despite my chapstick with sunscreen that I resorted to putting preparation H on my lips. And it helped! I should write heloise.

[amy]

My grandmother swore by Preparation H. She would put it on anything!! Have a cut? Preparation H. A sore muscle? Prepartion H. A chapped or runny nose? Prepartion H. Chapped lips? Prepartion H. I was a teenager before I realized what she was rubbing on me. But it does work.

[ACG]

Thanks ladies!

I bought epsom salt.
Won't wear a almost new pair of cycling shorts on a century ride again.
Do have Preparation H
Ordered a new seat (mine is 4 years old)

Agains, thank you, thank you, and my rear end thanks you too.

[kenyonchris]

Also, someone told me that Prep. H is great if you get bags or puffiness under your eyes. I have NOT tried that yet. The lips were a desperation move.

[emily_in_nc]

Also, someone told me that Prep. H is great if you get bags or puffiness under your eyes. I have NOT tried that yet. The lips were a desperation move.

Ewwwww, are you sure it's safe to ingest? Anything you put on your lips is going to be ingested to some extent. Not sure I'd risk that!

[OakLeaf]

Ewwwww, are you sure it's safe to ingest? Anything you put on your lips is going to be ingested to some extent. Not sure I'd risk that!

Well, considering it's supposed to go at the margins of your digestive tract at the other end, I don't know that that makes any difference. Although I understand things are absorbed differently through the stomach, through the colon and directly through external mucous membranes.

But I just looked up the ingredients, and it does contain parabens. So none o' that for me.

[RoadRaven]

Get a mirror, get comfy, and check for ingrown hairs, or infections around hairs - pluck those hairs out... and then tea-tree oil or whatever antiseptic solution you use...

[Brandy]

I'm going to try the Preparation H. on the one that I got this weekend. In the past mine have gone away on their own in time.

[SlowButSteady]

I get them about twice a year since I've been cycling (including one that needed to be lanced and an adverse reaction to abx landed me in the ER getting IV's). I've tried about everything. I like hot soaks in epsom salts. I did not like Preparation H, but I like A&D ointment.

Prep H is an osmotic--it "draws" fluid out of the tissue. Not trying to be graphic, but I don't like that "juicy" feeling I get when I use it.
A&D, in my opinion, is far more soothing and is a better lubricant than Chamois Butter. A & D smells like fish oil or diaper creme; I guess I'm weird and I find the aroma comforting.