Saddle Sores

[OakLeaf]

Okay, keeping the area hair-free...that's a good topic, too. How do you ladies manage? Razor? Laser? Some kind of depilatory cream?


Roxy

I just trim it very short. Any time I actually try to remove the hair, I wind up with ingrown hairs and infected hair follicles.

Could be that's part of why I'm not much on swimming, either... my "natural" hair seems like it grows halfway down my thighs...

[bluebug32]

An electric razor

[Norse]

+1 on the electric razor. Every single time I have tried a non-electric razor I break out in bumps worse than any saddle sores.

[bluebug32]

Agreed. Anything other than an electric razor turns my skin into braille!

[Tri Girl]

Ok, so I have a really, really, really dumb question. I feel so much more comfortable asking you ladies than going to the quick clinic and dropping trouser to show a strange doctor.

I think I've developed a saddle sore. Been riding for 4 years and never had one. I also have never lubed up before rides, but certainly will now.
Like LPH said; it feels like an olive is trapped under my skin. It's not open, it's just big and sore. It's gotten bigger in the last couple days since it appeared. I've taken everyone's advice and have bought some prep H (hasn't worked so I'm off to buy acne cream today). Here's my really, really dumb question: can the saddle sore be on your lower labia (near the sit bones)? Soooo sorry if that's TMI. I just read a ton of stuff online and most sites indicated that saddle sores are on the buttocks or sit bones. Mine is not. It's close, but not.
Also- at what point do you go to the doctor, show him all your glory and get medical help? When it's been there and hurting for a week? Two?

Thanks for any help. I will try all the remedies listed here one at a time until I find relief or until I don't and break down and go to the doctor. It's not an open sore, so that's good I suppose.

[kermit]

I had them. They look like blood blisters, hard under the skin. I got into a tub and actually popped the first one. Then a little acne cream will dry it up. Mine was right where my upper thigh meets my crotch. I'm sure you can get them anywhere there's pressure.

[endurancerider]

hey Tri Girl, I think that different bodies must respond better or worse to different treatments. Acne cream, tea tree oil, antibiotic cream (including prescription) all did nothing for me (didn't try Prep H, will keep that in mind for next time). I got them even though I used Chamois Butt'r, Assos cream, and Hammer's saddle cream. But when I followed Levi Leipheimer's method and tried petroleum jelly, I finally had some relief.

In complete honesty, over the last year the only thing that really makes them go away completely, once they're there, is--time off the bike. It seems to take a week. Luckily (?) every once in awhile I have to leave my bike behind for work-related travel, so a week/ten days off the bike can happen!

[mcglasson]

I've done a lot of reading on the subject because I've just started having problems with saddle sores. According to what I've read, most saddle sores are actually boils. I've found that if I soak in a hot tub, it helps bring the boil to a head. Once the boil has a very defined head, I pop it with a sterile needle, wash the area around it with Hibiclens and then apply lots of triple antibiotic cream and cover it with a band-aid. I change the band-aid and add more triple antibiotic cream daily. It's amazing how quickly the boil quits hurting once it is drained. One word of caution, don't try to drain a boil that hasn't "come to a head."