Saddle Sores

[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.

[ilima]

May be TMI, but I had one that I ended up going to a surgeon to get removed. It was an easy in-office procedure and I'm glad I had it done because the dang thing just didn't seem to be going away on its own.

[kermit]

I just got my first saddle sore a couple of months ago. Thanks to this forum I knew what it was and didn't loose my mind. I have found that a 10% acne cream works really well. It dried it out and has kept it from coming back. I also soaked in Epsom salts and YES I love prep-H. It lubricates and is an anti-inflammatory. I still don't know why I all of a sudden got one, must be the Miami heat I guess.

[aicabsolut]

Prep H is great when the sore appears. I tried DZ Nuts (marketed toward men - hence the name). It stays on better than Chamois Butter and seems to help keep sores at bay.

Good to know. I have been using a mix of Assos and Chamois Butt'r (on more sensitive spots that can't handle the menthol), but Chamois butt'r doesn't really last, especially in the rain. I'd been waiting for a review of DZ Nuts.

May be TMI, but I had one that I ended up going to a surgeon to get removed. It was an easy in-office procedure and I'm glad I had it done because the dang thing just didn't seem to be going away on its own.

A lot of sebaceous cysts will return even after they appear to clear up on their own or with antibiotics. The first one I got hasn't come back, luckily, but now I have another one right next to it. The antibiotics are helping a lot, but I had to use preparation H and epsom salts to get some of the goo out first, because it was just too painfully swollen. We'll see how this one turns out. I'd really rather not have any lancing and stitches in that area, but It is common for cyclists, I guess. A friend of mine had to have one removed last year, and she had to be off the bike for about a month. I've also heard that cortisone shots from a derm can make them shrink pretty quickly.

[Misandal]

Ok, I have a question. And I'm not being sarcastic, I seriously have a question. If the little bumps and red, raw-feeling skin is just basically "adult diaper rash" why do we powder babies' diapers but butter our chamois? Should we be making an attempt to keep our chamois/skin dry? Should it be a combination of powder on the chamois and ointment on the skin?

Since I have lots of hours in the saddle coming up (I'm doing the Blue Ridge Epic Tour Sept. 8-12) I am seeking ways to stay comfy in my shorts from day to day.

[Jiffer]

Ok, I have a question. And I'm not being sarcastic, I seriously have a question. If the little bumps and red, raw-feeling skin is just basically "adult diaper rash" why do we powder babies' diapers but butter our chamois? Should we be making an attempt to keep our chamois/skin dry? Should it be a combination of powder on the chamois and ointment on the skin?

Interesting way of looking at it. I think the idea of the ointment is to make your skin slip and slide in your shorts instead of rubbing and getting irritated.

I have to say, I have never understood the purpose of baby oil for babies. I have had two babies and the baby oil just sat there never being used! Kind of a similar confusion as you are having about chamois butter, I guess.

[emily_in_nc]

I've also heard that cortisone shots from a derm can make them shrink pretty quickly.

I'll vouch for that! Mine was not diagnosed as a sebaceous cyst but was a chronically inflamed saddle sore on the crease between my buttocks and crotch. A cortisone shot from my dermatologist stung for a few seconds but provided instant relief. Still, it returned when I went back to riding on that same saddle several months later (I got the shot during the winter and started riding again in the springtime). Turns out I needed a wider saddle so that my weight was supported on my actual sit bones and not further inwards. Since I've gone back to a Terry Butterfly (from a narrower SSM Atola), I haven't had a bit of a problem with this area.

Good luck -- saddle sores of any variety are no fun!

[aicabsolut]

Mine are from clogged pores or a pinch or something aggravated by the folds at the sides of the chamois. It really came on after a wet ride when my chamois cream had pretty much disappeared and I was all red and raw. I suppose better fitting shorts/chamois could help, but I take what the team gets.

As for buttering our butts versus powdering a baby's, I think it has to do with the inevitable amount of sweat we produce when riding. Yeah, I guess some powder would help keep us dry, but it's a losing battle, especially on long rides. It's also not in a very good area for evaporation, so we're going to be a bit soggy. Sure, babies get sweaty, but between the diaper changes and baths, I think we keep that pretty well under control, right? I mean, you don't want to be hanging around for a long time in a wet chamois just like you don't want to leave a wet diaper on a child, but if you're riding around for several hours, you don't get the luxury of changing frequently enough. In light of that, the best thing is to try to reduce friction, condition the skin, and use something with antibacterial properties to make all that moving around in dampness as comfortable as possible. And if we do irritate the skin harshly despite all the lubing, to then try to keep the bacteria on our skin from causing some sort of infection (whether a cyst, infected hair follicle, ulcer, whatever).