saddle sores or somethin' else? (WARNING: yucky)

[Nanci]

On my ride Saturday, we were fantasizing about how you could make a saddle with those blue ice gel packs for the seat...

The only time I ever got _really_ swollen down there was on my 400k when my knee was hurt and I kept shifting around trying to find a comfortable position. I am NOT exaggerating- my cootchie was unrecognizeable as such and looked like I had been sititng on a wasp nest for several hours. (And felt like it too!)

I took a hot bath, lathered it all up with Bag Balm, went to bed with an ice pack between my legs at 10PM, and was back on the bike completing my ride at 5AM. I was sort of afraid to look, before I got back on the bike, and remember kind of shrieking the first time I sat down, but after a while it was ok, and by that evening, and more baths and icings, everything was back to normal.

I get a lot more damage from chafing from running say a trail marathon. That takes a lot longer to heal- say a week, than some swollen girly bits from on the bike.

Nanci

[pooks]

All I can say is -- Nanci, you are an inspiration.

[bikaroney]

That is pretty impressive Nanci!

I'm so intrigued. so you really just lather up with Bag Balm? In your coochie?? Who knew? I've been having some burning problems after I ride (like when I'm in the shower or pee). I just got a new saddle (specialized jett) and I know I need to adjust things a bit, but think that might help if burning persists?

[Nanci]

Well, not _in_ the cootchie, but all around it. I get that blue tube of "original" bag balm, which is lanolin. It stays on a long time. It feels really good after a long ride. Probably would feel good during the ride, too- but it's just one more thing to carry. I will carry the small tubes of Butt But'r, though, on rides over 200k.

But yesterday I got that new Brave Soldier Friction Zone. I am not kidding- it smells _wonderful_, not sheepy (lanolin) at all. I kept trying to think of a reason I needed to put some on just so I could smell it! :-) Well, maybe after my ride tomorrow...Maybe before! That's what it's for, after all.

I was reading on some list- apparently it's common for male long distance cyclists to wear _two_ pairs of shorts, with chamois cream both on themselves and in between the shorts. I don't know- maybe for a really, really long ride.

Nanci

[pooks]

Newbie question here -- what is generally used and when and where?

Chamois butter, etc. I don't know what any of it is. Thanks!

[cathleen]

A couple of days later, I am feeling a lot better. No pain or irritation. Most redness is gone. I think the antibiotics are doing their job of kicking any bacteria that irritated the skin.

My doc did note that the area looked ever so slightly abraded, likely a result of sweat + friction. Which, would then create an ideal opportunity for a little secondary infection.

When my doc & I spoke today, she said, "yeah, your labs came back negative" and I had to stifle my desire to go, "Yeah, duh!".

I know docs try to be careful and cautious, and I appreciate her looking out for me to make sure this wasn't something that could've been serious, but seriously, I wish more docs were savvy to bike injuries. Oh well, can't really expect them to be sports medicine specialists.

Maybe in the future, I'd be better taking this kind of stuff to a dermatologist? Someone who can look at weird skin stuff and better pinpoint, without saying, "I'm going to run a culture for *insert name of scary disease here*." ?

On the upside, I should shut up and be grateful that it's nothing more than saddle sores that are going away.

[Selkie]

Aquaphor is great for post-ride chafing. I use Bag Balm before I ride and it seems to help. I think it has antiseptic qualities which might help ward off saddle sores.

[RoadRaven]

The only time I ever got _really_ swollen down there was on my 400k when my knee was hurt and I kept shifting around trying to find a comfortable position. I am NOT exaggerating- my cootchie was unrecognizeable as such and looked like I had been sititng on a wasp nest for several hours. (And felt like it too!)

And this is why I have only mild interest... not a burning desire... to do endurance rides/races...

[Nanci]

But that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been riding fast way out of my speed range with the B riders for the (glorious) first 80 miles! The ITB injury eventually made it so I couldn't pedal, and was trying to do anything to make my knee not hurt, so that is why I was shifting all over the saddle and causing way too much friction.

I love Aquaphor, too. Especially for that chafing you can get, running, where your arms touch your armholes of your shirt. I also love to lather up my feet with it before a long run.

Cathleen, that's great that it's all resolving.

Pooks, chamois cream or butt but'r or bag balm is all lubricant that people put either on their chamois or on themselves to keep from getting chafed on the bike. Some people use it all the time, some use it on long rides, (me) some never use it. I'd say, if you aren't having any problems down there with chafing (rubbing skin off) then I wouldn't bother with it.

If I'm doing a really long ride, eventually even with the best shorts and saddle, things get a little sore. Chamois cream is soothing. Plus, with all the peeing you do over the course of the day, the urine, if not gotten completely off, is _very_ irritating, as is sweat in that area. Chamois cream protects your skin from that, too. But for a few-hours ride, since my stuff is so conditioned to long rides, that isn't irritating to me, so I don't bother.

Nanci

[pooks]

Thanks, Nanci!