My penis wont fall off...... Will it?
Discussion
Same bike I've riden for years, same saddle yet something is going wrong. On recent mountain biking sessions, after 15minutes plus riding, my penis, scrotum and testicals go completely numb (think of your arm when you've lain on it the wrong way in your sleep then imagine it all going horribly wrong in a neck of the woods where you'd rather it didn't). Worse is to come. The pins and needles as the circulation returns is quite excruciating and I'm left with a testicular sensation very similar to how they feel after a hard kick.
What's going wrong and what solutions (eg gell saddles?) can be suggested.
What's going wrong and what solutions (eg gell saddles?) can be suggested.
Edited by Tannedbaldhead on Wednesday 29th May 18:45
otolith said:
That's frightening. Think I might take up swimming. Funny to hear the Flite saddle mentioned, Flite Titanium is what I had on all my bikes 20 years ago,never uncomfortable even though they looked like a razor. I have a sella Italia with a cut out now, I sometimes after several hours in the saddle go a bit numb so not ideal - admittedly rarely in the saddle long enough these days for it to be an issue.


Edited by Herman Toothrot on Wednesday 29th May 23:14
Go and see your doctor - particularly if numbness is turning to pain.
The problem is not immediately nerve damage, but bloodflow restriction caused by the simple mechanics of bearing your weight on the soft tissue under there that contains blood vessels.
Just last year I developed a thrombosis. I was very lucky to get away with it, but it could have killed me.
I changed my saddle and now ride a Selle SMP like this:

At £185, not a cheap option (you can find them for about £130), but it's better than dying!
There's a brilliant article by an australian bike fitter who goes into the advantages of the Selle SMP design. I ride every day and haven't had a problem since changing my saddle to one of these. Read here: http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/09/a...
The problem is not immediately nerve damage, but bloodflow restriction caused by the simple mechanics of bearing your weight on the soft tissue under there that contains blood vessels.
Just last year I developed a thrombosis. I was very lucky to get away with it, but it could have killed me.
I changed my saddle and now ride a Selle SMP like this:
At £185, not a cheap option (you can find them for about £130), but it's better than dying!
There's a brilliant article by an australian bike fitter who goes into the advantages of the Selle SMP design. I ride every day and haven't had a problem since changing my saddle to one of these. Read here: http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/09/a...
Before buying new kit, start simple with this:
Mr Will said:
Pressure on the nerves is the cause. If neither the saddle or you has changed then I'd suggest it's a position issue. Try resetting the saddle so that it's spot on horizontal first, then a couple of degrees nose down if that doesn't sort it.
I have one of them SL flites 1990 on my Klein now, and had one on my old Klein back in the day.
I suffer from numb penis sometimes when on the bike, I did change the seat position to allow a slight slope forwards so there wasn't much pressure and it did help, and also changing position of the body while on the bike. Stand up, move from side to side,etc this helps a lot.
If you haven't changed anything but yet it never used to happen, then some things wrong I would say. I would recommend getting docs to check, but I say this to everybody, my brother has been through Cancer of the testicals twice in 4 years
not good
Be safe, and get it checked, then check your position on the bike.
It only seems to happen to me when I sit in the same position for a length of time.
I suffer from numb penis sometimes when on the bike, I did change the seat position to allow a slight slope forwards so there wasn't much pressure and it did help, and also changing position of the body while on the bike. Stand up, move from side to side,etc this helps a lot.
If you haven't changed anything but yet it never used to happen, then some things wrong I would say. I would recommend getting docs to check, but I say this to everybody, my brother has been through Cancer of the testicals twice in 4 years
not goodBe safe, and get it checked, then check your position on the bike.
It only seems to happen to me when I sit in the same position for a length of time.
Tannedbaldhead said:
Worse is to come. The pins and needles as the circulation returns is quite excruciating and I'm left with a testicular sensation very similar to how they feel after a hard kick.
What's going wrong and what solutions (eg gell saddles?) can be suggested.
I had exactly the same problem. I kind of self diagnosed the problem, but went to the docs for a professional opinion, and I would advise you do the same - be prepared for the rubber glove treatment though. Same as you, I was using the same bikes I'd ridden over thousands of miles and it suddenly all went numb. In fact my numbness 'moved around' so sometimes I had a numb glans penis (bell end to some), sometimes the testes, sometimes it was my groin and top of the legs. The pins and needles was very uncomfortable. I solved it by changing my saddle to a WTB saddle - I was that impressed I changed nearly all my saddles to WTB saddles, they seem to suit me. What's going wrong and what solutions (eg gell saddles?) can be suggested.
Have a look here, it may help:
http://pain.about.com/od/exercisehealthylifestyl/f...
Your penis probably won't fall off - mine didn't (but to be honest, in my case there's not much to miss if it did)
And.
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