Sensitive: for women only

Originally Posted by alexandra166

I just registered and agreed to the rules of not posting anything sexually oriented, so I will try to be clinical. I do not want to offend, just get some help please!
I first started racing about 5 years ago and used a Terry seat with a cutout for women. I do not remember having sore girl parts and I was having an intense daily relationship with my coach/boyfriend.
I stopped outdoor riding for awhile and started up this summer, riding on that same Terry cutout saddle. I ended up with a very sore right labia. The guys at Excel said that the Terry saddle was too wide and gave me a new Italian saddle(with no cutout).This new one proceeded to chaf me higher up, right near our most important place, to the point that my relations with current boyfriend have been affected( I can't feel anything, even though the urge is there!). This is VERY alarming. Any suggestions girls?
The pro at the bike shop experimented with moving the seat forward and that helped a little. He recommended buying the Assos creme and that does help. But I still find that I am not the same. I have scanned every thread to see what other women have to say about the soreness issue and you have all been helpful with your suggestions. I have gotten more good ideas here than anywhere else. So far, I am going to try another cutout seat, a shorter head stem and maybe moving the seat forward slightly. I found a brand of shorts that work, so I will just use those.
I do worry that continuing, constant friction may permanently affect me where it matters, so if anyone has any ideas or similar situation, PLEASE! share.

Originally Posted by ausgirl

An update on the situation... I decided to take matters into my own hands and see what i could do to improve the situation and this past week i've been trying (free of charge) a number of different saddles from my bike shop - this is to try and find out what works best for me eg, gel, cutout, narrow or wide nose - all those sorts of things. So my bike mechanic has ordered in a ladies selle italia with cutout which will be fitted to my bike tomorrow for me to try for a few days.

The thing is, it wasn't until i started to think about all these sensitivity issues that i remembered (I'd been off the bike a few weeks with injury and am just getting back on) about the pain and discomfort i'd experienced from my current saddle. I think its because we are told to "work through the pain" with any cycling related pain and you get so used to doing this that the pain or discomfort becomes a normal part of your cycling. Anyway, if this seat with the cutout does a good job and i can ride without pain or much pressure in that region, it might help me in the long run with my cycling and the sensitivity issue.

Originally Posted by mochitwee

How about rashes?? Does anybody get like weird dry spots.... coz uhm I do... and no I'm not sexually active... also.... i wonder if I should completely shave all P-hair... :-) thanks!!!

Originally Posted by ausgirl

Do NOT shave! That is the quickest way to ingrown hairs and even more pain than you are already getting. Wax instead - brazilians are great, but bikini waxing is a very personal choice to make.

As for the weird dry spots - that sounds a bit odd. Maybe they are a result of chafing or rubbing, just without the skin breaking. Maybe there is a cream that the doctor can recommend to stop the spots from drying out. If it continues for long I'd recommend letting a doctor (probably female) have a look at it.

Originally Posted by jessmcph

i shave, too, but when i wear bike shorts (not when I wear other kinds of shorts) I get ingrown hairs but not wearing bike shorts i get numb and it does cut my sex drive. i was told recently not to wear anything under the shorts. that seems a little odd and i haven't tried it because i am currently recovering from an injury. any suggestions (am i wearing the wrong types of shorts, etc) oh and i have a selle italia seat with the cut out no gel thanks

Originally Posted by alexandra166

Hey Grits. One other thing: my friend the doc, is about the same age as me and has quite an active intimate life(she is lesbian) and says she has no problems. She does not ride every day, but does ride alot, for anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. I am willing to try anything that others have said will work. I am in the same situation as you as my return to cycling has definitely put a damper on the frequency, number and intensity of my O's. Just like you, several days off fixes things down there, but then I feel out of shape. What do we do?

Alex

Originally Posted by ausgirl

Now, this is a delicate topic, but have any women out there noticed a decreased sensitivity in the area 'down there' after cycling for a couple of years (or less)? Perhaps because maybe the tissue builds up to protect us from pain and isn't as soft and sensitive as it once was. I think it might be more likely to happen with women who do lots of kms (or miles), but please let me know if anything like this has happened.

Originally Posted by boobs

Hey, my boy friend is a doctor and I asked him about the problem. The only way to avoid that condition is to race only a few miles per day. But if you still want to race so many miles a day and want to get relieved of the condition, here is a possible solution: Bathe in a warm to hot water bath and after that apply some soothing cream on the area. You can also massage yourself gently on the area and can even try to stimulate yourself gently(no offence, just being clinical) to lower the sensation threshold of the area,which has been increased in threshold sensation due to the mechanical shock form cycling.