Mountain Biking - Mountain biking and scrotum damage. Anyone heard of this before?

Hi guys,
Has anyone else heard of this "scientific study"?

http://www.mercola.com/2000/nov/5/biking_male_fertility.htm

It is not the usual infertility crap, and it doesn´t quote the REAL scientific study or who conducted it. Just wondering if we should be concerned or not.

Take care and happy riding,


Ricardo

Hi guys,
Has anyone else heard of this "scientific study"?

http://www.mercola.com/2000/nov/5/bi..._fertility.htm

It is not the usual infertility crap, and it doesn´t quote the REAL scientific study or who conducted it. Just wondering if we should be concerned or not.

Take care and happy riding,


Ricardo
IMHO, that is highly overrated. I mean if you ride 12 hours a day, 7 days a week on rough terrain then this might concern you greatly. However, if this was a REAL problem, wouldn't you think there be warning labels on new bikes mentioning the dangers of scrotum damage? Haha. I wouldn't worry too much. If you are really concerned, I suggest you avoid sitting on the saddle as much as possible to avoid pressure on your testicles. That's what I do - although not due to the possibility of scrotum damage, but more due to discomfort of constantly sitting on the saddle on bumpy terrain.

BUT then again, what do I know? :D

Ride Hard.

It's worth it

If you gently massage your scrotum after a ride you should be fine

/yes, I'm kidding


Seriously...get a seat with an anatomical cut-out.

Its probably going to affect us freeriders more, due to our pals getting mad top-tube action so often.

If you gently massage your scrotum after a ride you should be fine


I guess this is why baseball players, including Managers, never have any problems. :)

Who knows? Maybe people with scrotal abnormalities are more apt to take up mountain biking?

My scrotum is pretty normal though.

did you guys catch the doctors comments on the botton of the page?

Dr. Mercola's Comment:


Exercise is wonderful and mountain biking is enormous fun that is an incredibly powerful way to improve your cardiovascular fitness. The guys do need to be concerned about over doing it though, especially if they are interested in having kids. Frequent rests are the key to minimizing the problem and should be followed regularly along with wearing one's helmet.

So , wait , If I wear a helmet my scrotum will be just dandy?

The most damage my boys ever received from biking happened after I had a bad landing off a small jump. I veered off the the left, and my left handlebar grip clipped a tree and spun around. The bike stopped, but I kept going forward, hitting the end of the handlebar about an inch away from my...uh, yeah. I was on the ground in the fetal position for about five minutes, and was in a fair amount of pain for a day or two.

I wouldn't worry too much about what that report said. It doesn't sound too legitimate to me. I think road bikers are probably the only people who need to worry about that. Mountain bikers are probably out of the saddle too much to be affected.

...and it doesn´t quote the REAL scientific study or who conducted it
The Lancet October 21, 2000;356:1414

It doesn't sound too legitimate to me.
lancet is a reputable source

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20021207/fob2.asp


The bikers spent more than 2 hours a day, 6 days a week, riding mountain trails. They logged roughly 3,000 miles a year. Recruited for the study from a biking club, these men had been riding mountain trails for 7 to 28 years.If I get to ride that much, I won't have time for kids anyway. Win-win!

Getting your "boys" damaged is a real possibility in Mountain Biking. Its not something to joke about, wear a cup, have a softer seat, whatever you need to do, please do it.

wear a cup

ahahaha...yeah right.

I'll look after my own scrotum, thanks.

I use a seat with an anatomical cutout, and I stand on the saddle everytime I'm not relaxing or cruising on smooth terrain (or standing still). I would recommend that you do use a good saddle and that you try to spend more time standing up.

I think XC riders who spend many time in the saddle or roadies should worry, downhillers and freeriders run the risk of smashing "the boys" against the tob tube but then again, DH/FR riders run much bigger risks than that so its all okay.

...and I stand on the saddle everytime I'm not relaxing or cruising on smooth terrain...

Wow, that must look awesome! Most people I know "sit" on the saddle, but whatever floats your boat...:rolleyes:

i hurt my nuts everyday on the trail from crashing. knowing the fact that there is less of a chance for my gf being impregnated makes me feel a lot better.

I ve had lots of damage

I ve had lots of damage but the human body is amazing at repairing it-self.

1. they've bruised the Hell out of themselves and the study showed after effects of the damage, but that may not be a problem. The authors speculate the trauma might increase the chance of testicular cancer but it is only speculation.

2. they have a lower sperm count but probably simply due to having the boys cooped up in shorts so much. Testicles like to stay to cool. So that may really not be a problem either.

3. Some of them had erectile difficulties. Now that is a problem!

Of course this is plausible-getting hit in any part of your body will damage it.Now the critical study will be sperm counts,the activity and shape of these sperm along with actual fertility studies(do their female partners get pregnant-by them).
I sure would attempt to decrease the risk by a proper seat,and a cup.If you aren't up for a cup, at least wear a jock that keeps"them" from bouncing around-hard accel and decel-that could hurt them also,not just diect blows to the "area".Luck,Charlie
PS Pad that top tube!!

Of course this is plausible-getting hit in any part of your body will damage it.Now the critical study will be sperm counts,the activity and shape of these sperm along with actual fertility studies(do their female partners get pregnant-by them).
I sure would attempt to decrease the risk by a proper seat,and a cup.If you aren't up for a cup, at least wear a jock that keeps"them" from bouncing around-hard accel and decel-that could hurt them also,not just diect blows to the "area".Luck,Charlie
PS Pad that top tube!!

There are two distinct possibilities that cause this.

1
Generally, one purchases a mountain bike that is at least one size too small.
Of course, we want to avoid the top tube, but. . .
This makes the handlebars quite a bit lower than anybody ever intended.
And, you smash your goodies.
There are stem risers (for threadless/Aheadset), there are $7 Wald "North Road" 3-speedy, 23" wide handlebars (looks okay with huge MTB/BMX grips), and there are large high-rise MTB "Mary" bars that can all re-size your bike back UP to the correct size for your body so you don't smash your goodies.
In this case, areodynamics aren't a concern unless your back is in a "C" shape, and, really, you are only taking steps to make the bike the correct size anyway.

2
The other way to smash your goodies is having too tall a standover height for city riding. If you're saving your knees by remaining seated at the stoplight, you might need smaller tires or to slide the seat all the way back, and then lower the seat post 1/2 inch or so. If after that, you're still aching, then you'll need longer cranks so you can lower the seatpost even more. Bear in mid that cranks are measured in millimeters, and that the difference between 170 (standard) and 180 (huge) is enough to ruin your knees, but only lowers the seat by 1/2 inch. A new saddle, such as the Cloud 9 by Velo, could also help, if the saddle doesn't have a very high horn (top of saddle should be flat) or long horn (most ladies models have a short horn) on it. Changing to a frame that has the seat tube pitched farther back is an expensive way to fix this problem. A Kalloy Uno seat post (or similar) can be marginally helpful because it goes back a bit more than average, and putting the seat farther back allows you to lower the seat while still maintaining proper leg extension.

As for me, I put the seat back, but then couldn't reach the handlebars (at all), so I had to fix that first. Later, I found out that my bike was too small. . .and that I had already fixed it. ;)

ok guys;

here is an update on the issue. The same study was on Science News which is a REPUTABLE source so this is not crap. Beware. Most scientists think that the study is on the "right path" and that the low sperm count can be due to the fact that while being on the saddle, the scrotum canot elongate in order to cool down the testicles, so the high temps inside them can kill the sperms.

Let´s see what saddle marketing hype will come thanks to this new study...

Ricardo

Kill the sperm? So what, your body will just make new just like every other time you lose sperm.

I'd be more concerned about a saddle that puts too much pressure on the soft tissue where the blood vessels are located. This is what could cause erectile difficulties because of the vessels flattening, thus getting larger in diameter, reducing blood flow.

we should just get testical helmits

we should just get testical helmits

Oh, you've got my vote!