Cure for numb nuts?

Question

It's been about 5 years or so since I did any amount of bicycle riding to speak of. Recently, I picked up a mountain bike (Giant Revel 2) and started getting back into riding around some local roads on a semi-regular basis. My goal is to work myself up to at least riding for one hour, three days a week.

However, there's a small problem with this. It seems after about a half-hour on the bike, I begin to experience numbness in my genitals. This usually clears up within a few minutes of standing, off of the bike.

What are some likely causes for this? Are there particular adjustments or modifications I should make to the bicycle or my riding technique to avoid it?

Answer 1

Perineal compression? - http://www.livestrong.com/article/346680-bicycle-seat-nerve-damage/

Basically, you need to change your saddle and/or your bike fit needs modification.

Very valuable information:

This usually clears up within a few minutes of standing, off of the bike.

This is very clearly telling you that either the bike fit or the saddle is entirely wrong. My suggestion? Tweak your bike fit; then, seriously consider a new saddle.

The issue is compression of the perineum which reduces blood flow. Here's some light reading: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=84072

According to Andy Pruitt's Complete Medical Guide for Cyclists the issue is actually more common with recreational cyclists and not racers so much. Apparently, racers tend to be lighter and so aren't supporting so much weight on soft tissue. And also, tend to lift their hips off of the saddle frequently.

Andy Pruitt's key points for solving the problem are making sure that one has an appropriate saddle and especially good bike fit. Generally he recommends that the saddle is at the correct height and usually horizontal. However, for some individuals a slight downward tilt is optimal. An upward tilt is bad news for the perineum.

. wdy

Answer 2

First thing to come to mind is poor bike fit.Second is are you wearing cycling shorts?If you bought the bike at a local shop see if they offer a fitting service.If they don't see if they will show you how to make some adjustments to the saddle height,forward-aft,and angle so you can experiment to see what makes improvements

Answer 3

As others have suggested, bike fit, padded shorts, anatomical saddle, etc.

When it comes to bike fit, consider the tilt of the saddle: try tilting the nose of the saddle down. If it's above level, or even level, you'll exacerbate nerve compression with the small surface area of the nose. Don't tilt it too far down or as you slip forward you'll constantly be pushing yourself backward on the saddle. Further, examine the position of the saddle relative to the BB. If the saddle is too far back, you'll be sitting on the nose - try moving the saddle forward such that your bum is resting on the wider section of the saddle. Note that saddle position and tilt can affect the saddle height. So write down your saddle height before messing around and readjust afterward if necessary.

Also consider your body position. Are you resting your upper body on your handle bars, or are you supporting it with your core? This will affect hip rotation. The former causes you to roll your hips forward putting more pressure on your perineum. The latter will rotate your hips back relieving pressure on your perineum and resting more on your ischium (I think that's the bone you'd be sitting on.) You can work on your position by keeping your elbows rotated down, relieving weight from your hands, making a conscious effort to use your core, and a conscious effort to feel the effect of hips rotated forward and backward (as far as I can tell, rotating your hips back is done more with your lower abs, similar to thrusting your pelvis forward.)

All this considered, I still get numbness. I compete, I ride a bazillion km/year, I've got padded shorts and an anatomical saddle. Whatever. Likely because I don't support my upper body with my core and roll my hips forward. It's an aggressive position that I like, so I mitigate the issue by occasionally standing - if I'm on flats I switch to a high gear and turn over a low cadence, or I'll just rest my thigh on my saddle and coast (I do this a lot riding in traffic approaching red lights and stop signs.)

Answer 4

If you're just getting back into riding after a long break, this is normal. It'll still happen for a while - especially on longer and longer rides as you build up your endurance.

There may be some fit issues there, but if you get a saddle with a cutout and your fit looks good (and there's no sharp pain) then you may just need to build up your tolerance a bit.

Cycling shorts definitely help this, as do not overly padded seats. You want your seat to have minimal padding and let your chamois do the padding for you.

Additionally, if you're mashing your pedals instead of spinning you'll most likely experience unnecessary numbness from all the bouncing in the saddle. If you find yourself bouncing, slow down and concentrate on spinning fluidly. There are a lot of threads here on how to improve spin.

Answer 5

Read the link that Dan sent; it's frightening! I used to get this 50 years ago, but bikes were were much more rudimentary then, and so were saddles, often made of hard leather. I used to angle it forwards but then always had a re-adjust my sitting position every few hundred yards. These days, saddles are so much better, so get a new and good one. And also wear gel shorts which really help.