Saddle sores - which chamois cream?

[BottomGear]

I've not suffered from soreness for rides up to around 3 hours duration but in extending my prep & mileage for my End-to-End ride I'm experiencing a degree of soreness down below. I noticed after a couple of 65 mile days cycling I get soreness from chaffing in the folds around the perineum area - I wonder if chamois cream will help? and if so what products would you recommend?. I've read that sudocrem is a good but more so for aftercare.

Apologies if this topic has cropped up before.

thanks!
Rich.

[greyingbeard]

Im assuming you have actual leather in your shorts, most these days are synthetics, much easier to wash. Perhaps your need something that fots better ?

[fishfright]

Assos's chamois cream will sort you out. I won't ride far without it nowadays. Other brands work too but this one works best for me.

There will be people along shortly who'll tell you there line there shorts with sand paper and sit on a perch carved from granite and have never need anything. But you're the one with soreness so give a chamois cream or similar and see what happens.

[Paulatic]

I'd agree with Assos, I bought a tub 15 yrs ago when I audaxed and still have some left.
Shaving the under carriage helps me no end. I found when hairs sweat they tend to bind together and you end up sitting on something resembling string.
Sorry , I know, too much information lol

[BottomGear]

Im assuming you have actual leather in your shorts, most these days are synthetics, much easier to wash. Perhaps your need something that fots better ?

No, I've synthetic padded lycra shorts, but I was under the impression that chamois was applied to the body or even the padding regardless of the material?

Assos's chamois cream will sort you out. I won't ride far without it nowadays. Other brands work too but this one works best for me.

There will be people along shortly who'll tell you there line there shorts with sand paper and sit on a perch carved from granite and have never need anything. But you're the one with soreness so give a chamois cream or similar and see what happens.

thanks, I've heard of the brand and it seems rated.

I'd agree with Assos, I bought a tub 15 yrs ago when I audaxed and still have some left.
Shaving the under carriage helps me no end. I found when hairs sweat they tend to bind together and you end up sitting on something resembling string.
Sorry , I know, too much information lol

Shaving? oh well if it helps its worth the sacrifice! by the way do you apply direct to your person or apply to the padding?

[Paulatic]

It's recommend to apply to both person and padding. For a 200 I often just applied to body. For anything longer than that I applied to both.

[Vorpal]

I would recommend looking at what is causing the chafing. If you don't sort that out, chamois cream may not be sufficient. Or it may only be enough for a couple of days.

The idea behind chamois cream (these days) is that it provides lubrication, where chafing might occur. You apply it yourself where it occurs.

Things like this are personal, and everyone isn't suited to the same solution or vice versa.

Firstly, in case it isn't obvious, cleanliness is very important. Make sure that you clean well and regularly. Some people find wipes and things like that help; other find they do the opposite. Always wear clean shorts everyday. Wash the shorts on hot now and again, or use some napisan, or something to kill bacteria. These can be a bit hard on the cycling shorts, but it will help prevent problems.

Secondly, wearing synthetic stuff like lycra can increase problems like that because they tend to make people more sweaty, and may keep in the bacteria that thrive in such situations. You may be better off with normal cotton boxers and some toursers with not too much seam in them. If you find you need padding, you might try some padded underwear for cycling instead of lycra.

Thirdly, if you do try shaving, leave yourself a few weeks for things to grow back, in case it makes things worse; it does irritate the skin some, and that might be a problem.

Fourthly, your weight should be on your sit-bones. If you have weight on anything else that is causing or contributing to chafing, look at position on the bike, saddle shape, etc. You may find that a different saddle shape is helpful, anyway. On the other hand, you could try 30 saddles, and find that you still have the same problem.

Good luck

[BottomGear]

It's recommend to apply to both person and padding. For a 200 I often just applied to body. For anything longer than that I applied to both.

200km or miles? either way that's way more than I'll be looking at on daily basis!

I would recommend looking at what is causing the chafing. If you don't sort that out, chamois cream may not be sufficient. Or it may only be enough for a couple of days.

The idea behind chamois cream (these days) is that it provides lubrication, where chafing might occur. You apply it yourself where it occurs.

Things like this are personal, and everyone isn't suited to the same solution or vice versa.

Firstly, in case it isn't obvious, cleanliness is very important. Make sure that you clean well and regularly. Some people find wipes and things like that help; other find they do the opposite. Always wear clean shorts everyday. Wash the shorts on hot now and again, or use some napisan, or something to kill bacteria. These can be a bit hard on the cycling shorts, but it will help prevent problems.

Secondly, wearing synthetic stuff like lycra can increase problems like that because they tend to make people more sweaty, and may keep in the bacteria that thrive in such situations. You may be better off with normal cotton boxers and some toursers with not too much seam in them. If you find you need padding, you might try some padded underwear for cycling instead of lycra.

Thirdly, if you do try shaving, leave yourself a few weeks for things to grow back, in case it makes things worse; it does irritate the skin some, and that might be a problem.

Fourthly, your weight should be on your sit-bones. If you have weight on anything else that is causing or contributing to chafing, look at position on the bike, saddle shape, etc. You may find that a different saddle shape is helpful, anyway. On the other hand, you could try 30 saddles, and find that you still have the same problem.

Good luck

Thanks for the advice Vorpal, much food for thought.

I certainly think that chamois cream is worth trying, there's a particular area 'down below' that seems to rub so that will be my focus of some TLC. For the record I don't really sweat and find the lycra comfortable to wear, in fact it would feel strange to wear anything else. I will definitely take a second set of padded shorts so as to always have a clean dry pair to swap into for each day. As you say, this is a very personal thing and what works for one may not work for another but at least I have an idea of what to try now, thanks again. Rich.

[mig]

use horse udder cream

[mjr]

I would recommend looking at what is causing the chafing. If you don't sort that out, chamois cream may not be sufficient. Or it may only be enough for a couple of days.

This. Times a thousand. I found that most shorts manufacturers put a pad seam right in a place where I am very vulnerable to irritation so I could only do two long ride days back-to-back. Switching to unpadded bamboo seamless long-leg boxers and switching saddle shape (to a saddle shape!) has mostly solved this. I did make the mistake of wearing padded shorts again for days 4 and 5 of my recent 6-day tour after a rather rough day 3, but I'm still paying for the irritation.

[mjr]

You may also like Saddle soreness.... a modern epidemic?

[meic]

Conotrane cream available from Boots (ask for it, not displayed) and a few other chemists.

About £1.50 for a 100ml ish tube or £6 for a 500g tub.

No mater how often you tell people they just insist on paying a fortune for Assos cream instead because of some mysterious quality given to it by virtue of it having a brand name.

https://www.pharmacy2u.co.uk/conotrane- ... p7398.html

[53x13]

I actually found I had a small knot of thread on the saddle I was using, hard even to see with the eye but once I changed saddles, any soreness disappeared almost overnight!

[Paulatic]

Must be a demand I see another company sprung up

http://www.CrotchGuard-uk.com

[bigjim]

Udderly Smooth from Amazon for me. Decent price and works very well. No soreness.