Your Bicycle Seat May Affect Your Love Life

[Brownian Motion]

The New York Times

October 4, 2005

Serious Riders, Your Bicycle Seat May Affect Your Love Life

By SANDRA BLAKESLEE

A raft of new studies suggest that cyclists, particularly men, should be careful which bicycle seats they choose.

The studies add to earlier evidence that traditional bicycle saddles, the kind with a narrow rear and pointy nose, play a role in sexual impotence.

Some saddle designs are more damaging than others, scientists say. But even so-called ergonomic seats, to protect the sex organs, can be harmful, the research finds. The dozen or so studies, from peer-reviewed journals, are summarized in three articles in September's Journal of Sexual Medicine.

In a bluntly worded editorial with the articles, Dr. Steven Schrader, a reproductive health expert who studies cycling at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said he believed that it was no longer a question of "whether or not bicycle riding on a saddle causes erectile dysfunction."

Instead, he said in an interview, "The question is, What are we going to do about it?"

The studies, by researchers at Boston University and in Italy, found that the more a person rides, the greater the risk of impotence or loss of libido. And researchers in Austria have found that many mountain bikers experience saddle-related trauma that leads to small calcified masses inside the scrotum.

This does not mean that people should stop cycling, Dr. Schrader said. And those who ride bikes rarely or for short periods need not worry.

But riders who spend many hours on a bike each week should be concerned, he said. And he suggested that the bicycle industry design safer saddles and stop trivializing the risks of the existing seats.

A spokesman for the industry said it was aware of the issue and added that "new designs are coming out."

"Most people are not riding long enough to damage themselves permanently," said the spokesman, Marc Sani, publisher of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. "But a consumer's first line of defense, for their enthusiasm as well as sexual prowess, is to go to a bicycle retailer and get fitted properly on the bike."

Researchers have estimated that 5 percent of men who ride bikes intensively have developed severe to moderate erectile dysfunction as a result. But some experts believe that the numbers may be much higher because many men are too embarrassed to talk about it or fail to associate cycling with their problems in the bedroom.

The link between bicycle saddles and impotence first received public attention in 1997 when a Boston urologist, Dr. Irwin Goldstein, who had studied the problem, asserted that "there are only two kinds of male cyclists - those who are impotent and those who will be impotent."

Cyclists became angry and defensive, he said, adding: "They said cycling is healthy and could not possibly hurt you. Sure you can get numb. But impotent? No way."

The bicycle industry listened, said Joshua Cohen, a physical therapist in Chapel Hill, N.C., and the author of "Finding the Perfect Bicycle Seat." Manufacturers designed dozens of new saddles with cut outs, splits in the back and thick gel padding to relieve pressure on tender body parts.

Scientists also stepped up their research. Since 2000, a dozen studies have been carried out using sophisticated tools to see exactly what happens when vulnerable human anatomy meets the bicycle saddle.

The area in question is the perineum, between the external genitals and the anus. "When you sit on a chair you never put weight on the perineum," Dr. Schrader said. "But when you sit on a bike, you increase pressure on the perineum" sevenfold.

In men, a sheath in the perineum, called Alcock's canal, contains an artery and a nerve that supply the penis with blood and sensation. The canal runs along the side of a bone, Dr. Goldstein said, and when a cyclist sits hard on a narrow saddle, the artery and the nerve are compressed. Over time, a reduction of blood flow can mean that there is not enough pressure to achieve full erection.

In women, Dr. Goldstein said, the same arteries and nerves engorge the clitoris during sexual intercourse. Women cyclists have not been studied as much, he added, but they probably suffer the same injuries.

Researchers are using a variety of methods to study the compression caused by different saddles. One method involves draping a special pad with 900 pressure sensors over the saddle. The distribution of the rider's weight is then registered on a computer. In another technique, sensors are placed on the rider's penis to measure oxygen flowing through arteries beneath the skin. Blood flow is detected by other sensors that send a "swoosh" sound to a Doppler machine.

The research shows that when riders sit on a classic saddle with a teardrop shape and a long nose, a quarter of their body weight rests on the nose, putting pressure on the perineum. The amount of oxygen reaching the penis typically falls 70 percent to 80 percent in three minutes. "A guy can sit on a saddle and have his penis oxygen levels drop 100 percent but he doesn't know it," Mr. Cohen said. "After half an hour he goes numb."

Dr. Goldstein added, "Numbness is your body telling you something is wrong."

Today's ergonomic saddles have splits in the back or holes in the center to relieve pressure on the perineum. But this may make matters worse: the ergonomic saddles have smaller surface areas, so the rider's weight presses harder on less saddle, Dr. Schrader said. The perineum may not escape injury because its arteries run laterally and they are not directly over the cutouts. The arteries can come under more pressure when they come into contact with the cutouts' edges.

Thick gels on saddles can also increase pressure to the perineum, the studies found, because the material can migrate and form clumps in all the wrong places.

Just as many smokers do not get lung cancer, many cyclists will never develop impotence from bicycle seats, the scientists said. What makes one person more vulnerable than another is not known. Body weight seems to matter: heavier riders exert more pressure on saddles. Variations in anatomy may also make a difference.

Dr. Goldstein said he often saw patients who were stunned to learn that riding a bicycle led to their impotence. One middle-aged man rode in a special cycling event to honor a friend and has been impotent since. A 28-year-old who came in for testing, Dr Goldstein said, showed the penile blood flow of a 60-year-old. A college student who had competed in rough cycling sports was unable to achieve an erection until microvascular surgery restored penile blood flow.

"We make kids wear helmets and knee pads," Dr. Goldstein said. "But no one thinks about protecting the crotch."

The safest seats and saddles, experts say, force the rider to sit back firmly on the sit bones so the perineum is protected.

Dr. Schrader advocates saddles that do not have noses. After finding that traditional saddles reduced the quality of nighttime erections in young policemen who patrol on bicycles, he has persuaded scores of officers in several cities to use noseless seats and is now studying the officers' sexual function over six months.

Nunzio Lamaestra, a 46-year-old police officer in San Antonio, said he appreciated his noseless bicycle saddle.

"You get used to riding without the nose," he said. "I can do everything, including ride with no hands."

[tonym]

BeBop, Ed and other cyclists here; let's 'stand up' against these flaccid remarks.

Let's denounce them together, proudly and upright.....

We'll maybe send photos.....

[BeBop]

This is old news - probably a decade or more - and I thought fairly well discredited by now.

Even after 30 years of 25,000km a year, I'm not paying any attention to all those Viagra ® ads in my e-mail.

And for any cyclists out there, I'm doing most of my riding on an unpadded, circa 1974 Unicanitor. And if that won't do it...

[BeBop]

Can't help but wonder if the author's husband is a cyclist. And if a guy named Schrader has some inflation problems, I shouldn't be surprised.

[Dan Gould]

This is old news - probably a decade or more - and I thought fairly well discredited by now. 

Even after 30 years of 25,000km a year, I'm not paying any attention to all those Viagra ® ads in my e-mail. 

And for any cyclists out there, I'm doing most of my riding on an unpadded, circa 1974 Unicanitor.  And if that won't do it...

←

What exactly has been discredited?

The evidence is overwhelming and as stated in the article, supported by a dozen studies. And just as the article says,

Just as many smokers do not get lung cancer, many cyclists will never develop impotence from bicycle seats, the scientists said.

so the fact that you haven't been effected doesn't mean that the risk is nonexistent. And it certainly does not discredit the statistical evidence that demonstrates the risk.

[tonym]

Maybe the studies were flawed Dan; the amount of cyclists I see who have diabolical postions on the bike and that have their saddles sloping up to the sky or down to the floor. Are these doctors au fait with the ergonomics of cycling? Then again, I could just be speaking for the virile minority.

[Dan Gould]

Maybe the studies were flawed Dan; the amount of cyclists I see who have diabolical postions on the bike and that have their saddles sloping up to the sky or down to the floor. Are these doctors au fait with the ergonomics of cycling? Then again, I could just be speaking for the virile minority.

←

Over a dozen studies, all flawed?

[dave9199]

Wear a diaper.

[Quincy]

It's old news.

I've sometimes have the opposite problem. Riding the bike sometimes seems to cause an errection. So if I'm riding to the grocery store I have to hang around a few extra minutes when locking up the bike lest it appear I'm really glad to be in the produce section.

[Use3D]

I fail to see how this is a bad thing.

[BruceH]

Just get the type of seat with a groove in the middle.

[Quincy]

I fail to see how this is a bad thing.

←

Well, I don't want to be accused of shoplifting cucumbers...

[catesta]

I've never had a problem.

edited, since it looks like my image took a dump.

Edited October 5, 2005 by catesta

[Man with the Golden Arm]

I've never had a problem.

nor does she:

Edited October 5, 2005 by Man with the Golden Arm

[tonym]

I've never had a problem.

edited, since it looks like my image took a dump.

←

Whooaahh!!!!!!!! Dude. That's sooo cooo-el!

[tonym]

Just by chance, the Brit version of that was rather in-appropriately called the.....erm....

see for yourself

[Free For All]

It's old news.

I've sometimes have the opposite problem. Riding the bike sometimes seems to cause an errection. So if I'm riding to the grocery store I have to hang around a few extra minutes when locking up the bike lest it appear I'm really glad to be in the produce section.

←

"Seems"? Do you mean you're not sure that there's an erection, or you're not sure what caused the aforementioned bonage? Also, is that what you call it when it happens at an inopportune time, an "errection"?

Either way we're deep into the TMI zone.

[Quincy]

It's old news.

I've sometimes have the opposite problem. Riding the bike sometimes seems to cause an errection. So if I'm riding to the grocery store I have to hang around a few extra minutes when locking up the bike lest it appear I'm really glad to be in the produce section.

←

"Seems"? Do you mean you're not sure that there's an erection, or you're not sure what caused the aforementioned bonage?

←

I knew I'd get into trouble. I said "seems" in that I'm not sure if it's the seat or that on the path along the river on the way to that grocery store I often pass purdy young things jogging and bouncing, bouncing and jogging, hypnotic bouncing jogging tan...

So maybe it's not the seat but the scenery!

Edited October 5, 2005 by Quincy

[Free For All]

I knew I'd get into trouble.

I'm surprised it took this long!

You KNOW that the resident juvenile humor-types here (like me ) would be all over that, so to speak.

Besides, I expect you probably use the term "Eric-tion".

Well, I don't want to be accused of shoplifting cucumbers...

Or worse yet, grapes.

[Quincy]

I knew I'd get into trouble.

I'm surprised it took this long!

Heh heh, you said long.

Besides, I expect you probably use the term "Eric-tion".

GOOD THING I DON'T SPELL MY FIRST NAME WITH AN "A."

[Quincy]

Just by chance, the Brit version of that was rather in-appropriately called the.....erm....

see for yourself

←

They sold those with the same name in the US. My sister had an orange one. Um, orange bike that is (gotta be careful in this thread.)

It (the bike) was great for doing wheelies on.

Carefully withdrawing...erm, leaving this thread now...

[sheldonm]

It's old news.

I've sometimes have the opposite problem. Riding the bike sometimes seems to cause an errection. So if I'm riding to the grocery store I have to hang around a few extra minutes when locking up the bike lest it appear I'm really glad to be in the produce section.

←

I've been plagued with that my entire life!

[tonym]

Just by chance, the Brit version of that was rather in-appropriately called the.....erm....

see for yourself

←

It (the bike) was great for doing wheelies on.

←

Great for doing wheelies on with your best mate sat pillion. They even had a designated warning stuck to the saddle along the lines of "Please do not sit your best mate on the back and pull wheelies"