Don’t stop turning the pedals just yet. Bike seats and proper fit can help limit perineal problems, say doctors and industry experts.
Is there a correlation between cycling and a troubled taint? There doesn’t have to be. According to experts, you can put your perineum at ease by riding comfortably on the proper saddle.
Most guys hop on a bike without giving it a second thought. It’s good for getting around, low carbon emitting, and best of all, helps keep you fit. Why overthink it, right? But, could riding your bike be causing or contributing to a numb taint and worse, long-term sexual health problems? It depends entirely on the fit of your seat.
Taint Troubles Broken-Down
Cycling and numb taints go together like peanut butter and jelly and you can thank two decades-old studies that coupled groin pressure with dated saddle designs for that. This Norwegian study looked at 160 riders and found 33 of the respondents experienced penile numbness and 21 reported impotence lasting more than one week. A similar German study — one that’s still cited by bike fit experts — noted a 50 percent increase in reported cases of erectile dysfunction amongst cyclists versus guys who didn’t ride — certainly not the best endorsement for a bike-riding commute.
Andy Pruitt, EdD, athletic trainer and author of “Andy Pruitt's Complete Medical Guide for Cyclists” is an expert on bike fit and cycling injuries and explains men (and women) who ride have bike companies like Specialized to thank for decreased taint troubles. (Interesting and obvious though seldom talked about factoid: women, too, get sensation issues from riding by way of numbness around the clitoris, vulva, and edema in the labia).
When Specialized started focusing on limiting damage to the pudendal nerve — the main nerve of the perineum that carries sensation from the penis to the anus (in other words, your taint, grundle, fleshy fun bridge) — Pruitt says it changed the dynamic between saddles and penises forever.
“Numbness in the groin and incidences of erectile dysfunction got real 20 years ago when these studies were released,” says Pruitt from his home in Colorado (coincidentally home to one of the top ranked cities in the US for cycling). “That forced a change in modern saddle design, led by people and companies who sought to relieve pressure from the pudendal and penile arteries and veins to prevent scarring — the cause of numbness and dysfunction and ultimately diminished sensation in men in the first place.”
Why Does My Taint Hurt?
Sitting in the saddle should give you the same enveloping feeling you get when you sink into your Eames chair — the comfy lounge and ottaman, not his hard plastic designs. If the fit is correct, sized for your sit bone width and suited for the kind of riding your doing, it should give way to the experience of riding a bike altogether, says Garrett Getter, an exercise physiologist and current product manager for saddles at the aforementioned California-based bike maker, Specialized.
Having spent years working for the leading bike fit system in cycling, Getter says trying different saddles with alternative foam shapes, cutouts, lengths, and contours is critical to solving sensation problems.
“Not every rider will have the benefit of doing a tissue scan of their pelvis,” he says, talking about the extent to which his work strives to create pressure-free designs for all types of riders. “You can, however, look at things like cutouts, shorter saddle lengths, no-nose saddles, and different foam densities to help, all of which we’ve seen make a big difference in saddle pressure for men and women.”
There are many ways to find a bike saddle, but rest assured none of them involve squeezing the saddle with your thumb and saying, “hmm, soft.” The right place to start is a shop that gives you the opportunity to demo saddles till you’re blue in the — well, happy with how it fits when you ride it. Beyond saddle type however, there are a slew of other variables you should be asking about — predominantly related to fit — when doing your homework.
This article was originally published on AskMen.com.
“There are so many lesser considered reasons why people experience fit and comfort challenges when riding — finding the right saddle type is just one of them,” says Munich, Germany-based Bregan Koenigseker, a former employee and current consultant for London-based saddle manufacturer Brooks England. What men should be focusing on, he says, is a broader list of fit fundamentals: how you’ll use your bike (to get to work or to get fit), flexibility of materials (foam density, leather, synthetic, and curvature of the saddle itself), saddle height and saddle position backward or forward.
Answering these questions alongside a fitter who understands cycling and basic physiology is the best way to remedy numb taint. A fitter also understands challenges beyond the saddle - such as saddle height, handlebar length, and all the other fit elements that might be affecting positioning and thus, comfort.
“Once you find your fit and think about the kind of riding you’re doing and on what bike you’ll be doing it, you’ll then be able to narrow down the saddle type that works for you,” says Koenigseker.