sac02

I did my first race of the season (first road race ever) today and came away with what I consider a respectable 8th out of approximately 35 or 40 starters. I also came away with a nice size saddle sore. I've always been conscious of saddle sores: keeping the undercarriage clean, changing out of dirty bibs immediately after the ride, etc. I know some of you are going to be unable to resist telling me how irresponsible I was to get a saddle sore in the first place and how I don't know the first thing about hygene, but regardless of how it got there, I've now got a nice saddle sore where the sun don't shine, and I need to get rid of it. I'd appreciate your input regarding what is your preferred method to treat a saddle sore once you've got it?

Thanks,

Mac

Machka 

Actually it's more about bicycle setup than hygene, but now that you've got it ... take a long hot shower, wash well, and dab it with zinc oxide cream.

Busta Quad

I've heard the old balms that contained Mercury worked wonders.

bo00on

a bow tie and a tuxedo?

Val23708

tiger balm

ericm979

I have gotten two kinds of saddle sores- the big pimple kind, and the rubbed off a bunch of layers of skin kind.

For the pimple sores, 10% benzoil hydoxide pimple cream works well. The drawing salve has got to be the nastiest gunk in the world and it doesn't work. Neosporin or Bacitracin doesn't work very well, but at least they don't smell like 200 year old gasoline.

Treat the raw skin sores like any skin injury. Neosporin etc. work great there.

Red Rider

Usually I don't get saddle sores but two weeks ago on a 40-mi. road race I got 2 crescent-shaped rub-the-skin-off sores on my ischial tuberosities (aka "sit" bones) from a poorly made chamois (new kit, same b.s. chamois problem as last year). On the advice of my ob/gyn I took 2-20 min. sitz baths per day, using a shot glass of hydrogen peroxide to 4 cups of water, dried the area, swabbed liberally with Betadine, let dry, applied Neosporin and Nexcare bandages. What a pain in the -- well, yeah.

Result: No infection, full healing (discontinued the sitz baths after 5 days but continued the rest of the routine until new skin grew to cover the wound), back on the bike 2 days post-injury. With the right chamois and saddle everything was perfect.

I thought it was overkill but the doc made a good point -- that area of the body doesn't get much air circulation, and bacteria love that kind of environment.

I hope you heal soon.

bigtea

Use large quantities iodine to clean the wound, then apply a red-hot 12" Bowie knife and cauterize it. You may want to bite down on a leather strap when applying remedy.

StanSeven

I find my saddle set up this time of year is different from what works later. I need to lower my saddle now and raise it in a couple months as I get in better shape.

sac02

My BF sarcasm-o-meter is all kinds of f'ed up - you're not serious are you?

I googled "sitz bath" quickly and got the general gist. Do you buy some sort of special medical "apparatus" (pan?) for this or do you just use something from the kitchen (that will of course never be used for cooking again).

Mac

cooleric1234

After suffering from the pimple type of saddle sores I decided that I would get the advice of someone who knows. I went to a dermatologist. They gave me some anti-bacterial lotion (clindamycin). The doc also said to take a bath once a week and add half a cup of white vinegar. That vinegar trick has been the most helpful to me, but it's definitely preventative. I need to do it before I get sores and before I'm going to ride a lot (I had to take December off this past year and didn't have a trainer).

CrimsonKarter21

Have it bitten off.

nycphotography

This is not a saddle sore, per se. A saddle sore is the classic pimple / boil on the bum.

However, for the raw skin deal...

A+D ointment and/or cortisone cream...

AND to prevent recurrence trim the um "butt hair" short (or use nair) and use chamois cream from now on.

dandela

Machka is right. Zinc Oxide cream applied twice daily after washing with soap and water and drying well. Sitz bath is a pain in the a** both literally and takes too much time. Buy A&D ointment in the baby aisle. Also, Machka mentions bike set up. The most common reason for saddle sore is improper bike fit or saddle height causing the perineal area to rub on the saddle as the pelvis shifts from side-to-side. Hope you heal quickly.
DB

Red Rider

I sat in my bathtub and swished the water around.

Nachoman

+1 on a couple 15 minute baths each day for a few days in a row.

wcoastbikr

Calendula works awesome for the rubbed off skin type or any cut, scrape, or road rash. This stuff is awesome, way better then neosporin and speeds up healing. I use Boiron Calendula Gel. It helps with rashes and irritations almost instantly. I highly recommend it if you haven't tried it. It's got pretty good reviews on drugstore.com as well.

I've gotten the pimple type but it really didn't do much for healing but helped with the pain/irritation. I'm sure any 10% benzyl peroxide would do just fine for it, stuff was a miracle cream for me back in high school.

I also found that epsom salt baths help with the irritation and itchiness. Plus it really helps with sore muscles.

avmanansala

Never needed it, but I read Bag Balm works wonders....

https://www.bagbalm.com/download/bikemag.pdf

nycphotography

Also:

Saddle sores are usually caused by (i think) the staph bacteria. There are antibiotics that can help, keflex comes to mind. Ask your doctor, and see what he/she recommends.

C5FCC

I had this problem last year. And asked the same question on another forum. What works for me is OXY (10% benzoyl peroxide acne cream), and bag balm for the pimple type. Never had the rub skin raw kind.

JohnDThompson 

Saddle sores are essentially a special case of bedsores caused by friction and shear. If it's not infected and only superficial use an unmedicated ointment of some sort while you're riding and keep it clean and dry when you're not riding. Look for the cause of the problem and try to alleviate that -- if there's a seam in your clothing find a garment without seam or at least in a different place. Shift your position on the bike frequently to avoid continuous pressure on any one spot.

Some saddle sores begin as an infected hair follicle; in this case an antibiotic ointment may be useful. Once again, keep the area as clean as possible and avoid pressure on that spot.

Psimet2001 

Wash. Bag Balm.

Tons of causes. Usually fit, clothing, hygiene or some combination of the 3. Usually worse at this time of year because trainers cause differnt pressures than riding on the road does. On top of that people hit the road in greatly different condition that they were in last year - lighter or heavier with different flexibility. Shorts are now either worn out or too baggy/loose, etc.

It's to the point now that when I know I will be doing high cadence or long duration intervals I wear the tightest bibs I have to help prevent sores. Usually works.

MONGO!

Bag balm didn't do much for me.

This is works a lot better.
Get some antimicrobial soap like Hibiclens, wash with that then mix together some A+D diaper rash creme, Neosporin and hydrocortisone and apply it.

Repeat as necessary. Usually gets rid of it in 24 hours or so.

JimF22003

I got the skin-rubbed-raw kind on my Saturday right. I've been using the same shorts I've been using all winter (washed of course.) But I've been wearing tights over them. No problems. On Saturday I wore just the shorts with no tights. I'm guessing the extra padding was what made the difference.

Busta Quad

How do you address a saddle sore?

Sir, yes sir! Whatever you say, sir!