Slightly embarrassing numbness...

robthehungrymonkey

Hi,

I rode the longest ride i've done at the weekend for a small charity ride, not a massive ride by most standards. I was quite pleased with how I coped as I went much faster than I was expecting (not through choice though, was trying to keep up with others!).

But since i've had a problem which i've never encountered before (despite similiar lengths of time in the saddle) which I think was caused by my saddle ending in up in an obviously wrong position (I had adjusted it the previous day, and a combination of me not doing it up properly and an unexpected bridleway caused).

To cut to the chase, I still have a numb penis. :oops:

Everything seems to be *working*... but it's still numb.

As you can probably imagine a man is very protective of this part of the anatomy!

Should I be worrying? I think it might be getting better but very slowly.

Pokerface

Damn right you should be worrying!

markos1963

robthehungrymonkey wrote:

Hi,

I rode the longest ride i've done at the weekend for a small charity ride, not a massive ride by most standards. I was quite pleased with how I coped as I went much faster than I was expecting (not through choice though, was trying to keep up with others!).

But since i've had a problem which i've never encountered before (despite similiar lengths of time in the saddle) which I think was caused by my saddle ending in up in an obviously wrong position (I had adjusted it the previous day, and a combination of me not doing it up properly and an unexpected bridleway caused).

To cut to the chase, I still have a numb penis. :oops:

Everything seems to be *working*... but it's still numb.

As you can probably imagine a man is very protective of this part of the anatomy!

Should I be worrying? I think it might be getting better but very slowly.

You hit the nail on the head,so to speak. You should avoid adjusting anything on a bike the day before a big ride, it doesn't give you enough ttime to iron out any problems, things like saddle positions,bars,cleats and chains are all best sorted a week or so before.

As for the numbness it should go quickly, I had something similar when I started going on longer rides but it soon settled down.

robthehungrymonkey

markos1963 wrote:

You hit the nail on the head,so to speak. You should avoid adjusting anything on a bike the day before a big ride, it doesn't give you enough ttime to iron out any problems, things like saddle positions,bars,cleats and chains are all best sorted a week or so before.

Yeah, it was only a slight adjustment, and I think my main faling was not tightening it enough. Lesson learnt.

markos1963 wrote:

As for the numbness it should go quickly, I had something similar when I started going on longer rides but it soon settled down.

I bloody hope so!

Thanks, makes me feel slightly better

Barrie_G

Get the girlfriend to help with the "therapy" she'll be over the moon with the new longer lasting you.

airborne_warrior

Why is it embarrassing to have a numb c0ck? I have piles and they are a pain in the arrse literally!

robthehungrymonkey

Well, it's embarrassing asking for advice on it... maybe. Also can be embarrassing when you're standing there with your hand down your pants trying to work out what's going on :oops:

huggy

It does go...

Don't worry, seems like the world is going to end at first

bill57

Barrie_G wrote:

Get the girlfriend to help with the "therapy" she'll be over the moon with the new longer lasting you.

I think you're confusing numbness with stiffness

attica

I have had this a bit lately, I tried dropping the nose of the saddle to counteract it but this was exactly the wrong thing to do, I ended up riding far more on the nose of the saddle than on my sit bones, net result more numbness!

It's counterintuitive but raising the nose of the saddle will (probably*) fix this, it'll put you more onto your arse and less on your perenium, that should stop the numbness, but it'll still be a week or two before the little fella is back on duty. He will be back though.

*This is of course all relative to my own experience, make any changes carefully and be prepared to get it wrong before you get it right.

robthehungrymonkey

Thanks for your advice.

We're back to about 80% so far!

attica

80% of what?

On second thoughts, please don't elaborate. :shock:

Blonde

Do you have a saddle with a cut out hole? If not, and the problem is persisting, get a holey saddle. The hole in the saddle is there so that the perenial nerve doesn't get squashed (that's what makes things go numb). My partner uses a holey saddle on all 5 of his bikes.

robthehungrymonkey

Blonde wrote:

Do you have a saddle with a cut out hole? If not, and the problem is persisting, get a holey saddle. The hole in the saddle is there so that the perenial nerve doesn't get squashed (that's what makes things go numb). My partber uses a holey saddle on all 6 of his bikes.

I don't, but i've never had the problem before. I think it was mainly because the saddle moved after it wasn't done up tightly enough.

However, if I get the problem again on longer rides, I will invest in one. Thanks.

shockedsoshocked

Blonde wrote:

Do you have a saddle with a cut out hole? If not, and the problem is persisting, get a holey saddle. The hole in the saddle is there so that the perenial nerve doesn't get squashed (that's what makes things go numb). My partner uses a holey saddle on all 5 of his bikes.

I did this (specialized toupe) and have had no issues since. Possibly the most comfortable i've ever felt on a bike. A good well fitting pair of shorts will help too.