How To Avoid Damaging Your Man Parts On A Ride

Keep these common saddle-area issues from derailing your ride.

This article has been re-posted from Bicycling newsletter – https://www.bicycling.co.za/health/how-to-avoid-damaging-your-man-parts-on-a-ride/

Let’s start by dismissing the elephant in the room: Contrary to what you may have heard from well-meaning friends and family members, cycling does not cause erectile dysfunction.

In a study of more than 5,282 male cyclists ranging in age from 16 to 88 published in the July 2014 issue of the Journal of Men’s Health, there was no connection found between cycling and erectile dysfunction (or even infertility) no matter how many kilometres and/or hours the men logged each week – even among those cranking out more than 8.5 hours or 320 kilometres a week in the saddle.

That, of course, is good news, but it’s not to say you’re 100-percent immune from some problems below the belt. This includes bouts of nerve damage, numbness, and other more superficial issues like saddle sores, says Andy Pruitt, founder of the University of Colorado Sports Medicine and Performance Centre (formally the Boulder Centre for Sports Medicine) and medical consultant to numerous World Tour teams and riders.

“Men have gotten better about understanding the importance of saddle selection and fit,” he says. “But there’s still some work to do to make sure everyone gets the message about what is acceptable discomfort and what is not.”

Here’s what to watch for and how to keep everything safe and sound.

Genital Numbness

It goes without saying that genital numbness is never a good thing. Some riders can ride nearly any saddle all day and not experience genital numbness, because their nerves and veins are buried under many layers of tissue and aren’t affected. Others need to be more careful. The important thing to realise is that no amount of numbness is okay, says Pruitt.

“I’ll have guys say to me, ‘I only get numb after four hours in the saddle.’ Or ‘I get a little numb, but it’s gone by morning.’ That is not okay – numbness of any kind or duration should not be tolerated, period,” says Pruitt, because it means nerves are being compressed. And if your nerves are being compressed, your hollow structures – a.k.a. the arteries feeding blood into your penis – are being compressed. Sure, they all may bounce back so to speak after an hour or so, but you could be doing long-term damage if you ignore it.

RELATED: Saddle Sores: What Causes Them, How To Treat Them

“Imagine taking an electrical cord and garden hose and driving over them with your car again and again and again,” says Pruitt. “They may rebound initially, but over time they’ll stay collapsed and won’t function as well.” Same with your nerves and plumbing. Nerves will scar and become less efficient. Veins and arteries will collapse and scar internally. “That’s why you’ll have a 40-year-old who is fine; but then he turns 60, and he’s having problems and wondering what went wrong.”

What went wrong was he was tolerating numbness from an incorrect saddle, an ill-fitted bike or both. Saddles with grooves or cutouts are well known to reduce pressure on the perineum, but the size and shape of the saddle still needs to match your shape and physiology. And the saddle needs to be in the right spot.

“The right saddle in the wrong place is as bad as the wrong saddle in the right place,” says Pruitt. You want the majority of your weight to be resting on your ischial tuberosities (the hard bones you feel when you sit down) or the pubic rami (the pelvic bones further forward), depending on how aggressive and aero your position is, and not on your perineum. “Along with testing various saddles, get a good professional bike fit.” That means dialling in your reach (being too stretched out places pressure on soft tissues), your handlebar height (both in and out of the drops), your saddle height, fore and aft angle, as well as the shape and size of your saddle.

Saddle Sores

“Saddle sore” is a bucket term for everything from infected hair follicles (folliculitis), chafing, and open ulcerations – all of which have the potential to be quite painful. Like many saddle woes, the right saddle and proper bike fit can go a long way in preventing these maladies. Proper hygiene also helps.

Other preventative steps include:

  1. Lubricate: Chamois cream is designed to reduce friction between your skin and your shorts. You can rub some on the chamois itself as well as your skin for maximum protection.
  2. Manscape: If and where you stop shaving your legs is a matter of personal preference. But get too close to the “Speedo line” and you open the door for sore razor bumps, ingrown hairs, and infected follicles. If you’re prone to razor burn and infected bumps, try applying a light layer of antibiotic ointment like Neosporin to the area after shaving.
  3. Add Gels: Guys with larger or close-set thighs may have issues with inner-thigh chafing, as the sides of the saddle rubs that sensitive skin raw. Triathletes (who are very prone to chafing since they jump right on the bike soaking wet from the water) often use anti-chafing gels, which are specifically designed to prevent chafing from skin rubbing on skin or skin rubbing on clothing, by forming a silky protective surface on the skin.
  4. Switch Chamois: Like saddles, chamois comes in all shapes and sizes, and some may fit your behind better than others. You want a seamless chamois that stays put and doesn’t irritate your skin or cause hot spots when you ride. And never wear underwear with bike shorts; they’re meant to be worn commando.

Testicular Pain

Cycling shouldn’t be a pain in the family jewels. Like numbness, if you feel soreness, a dull ache, or any sensitivity in your testicles after you ride (assuming of course you didn’t actually whack yourself on your top tube in some unfortunate mishap), something is wrong. And that something is – you guessed it – an improper saddle choice, bike fit, and/or both.

RELATED: 4 Bike Fit Tips to Knock Out Knee Pain

You have a nerve called the pudendal nerve that runs between your genitals through your perineum to your anus. Compressing that nerve can cause pain in the scrotum, penis and/or perineum. To avoid it, follow the same steps you would to prevent and alleviate genital numbness.

Prostate Problems

The connection between cycling and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, which are often used as a key test of possible prostate problems, is a subject of much debate. It appears that long-distance cycling could temporarily elevate PSA levels. In a study published in February 2013 in PLOS One, researchers checked the PSA levels of 129 cyclists participating in rides averaging 102km in length both before the ride and within five minutes of when they finished. Their levels rose by an average of 9.5 percent, which led the researchers to recommend that men might want to avoid long rides before their regularly scheduled prostate exams as to not get an artificially elevated result. But otherwise the study raised no cause for concern.

“This is pretty much old news,” says Pruitt. “We did a similar study during Ride the Rockies back in the early ’90s and found the same thing. We speculated that the saddle and vibration caused the PSA rise, but that it was not a cause for concern because it returned to normal quickly.”

Like other saddle issues, you can minimise or even eliminate this one with proper saddle adjustment and bike fit, says Pruitt, who’s worked with men with prostate disease using PSA as a bike-fit marker. To do that, he and researchers would draw their PSA before a bike fit; do the bike fit; send the cyclists out for a two-hour ride and then immediately draw their blood at the lab when they returned, with tests showing little to no change. “It just illustrates that saddle choice and overall fit is crucial to urinary and sexual health,” he says.”