Possible perineal nerve damage

graceful said:

Rode a 50 plus bike mile ride in the Rockies last weekend in one day. Crotch went numb and I just ignored it and kept riding. Now a week later I'm having tingly sensations in the area (and for no fun reason) and think there might be some damage. Any advice? Find lots of info on males suffering from similar problems but nothing much re: women. Help.

Check out the thread i started in the women's section - it is about sensitivity in that area. I only started it yesterday so few replies yet, but lots of people looking at it.

Tingling is repair in progress. You may consider riding a level saddle and review bike fit. The situation you describe is unlikely to result in any long term damage.

ausgirl said:

Check out the thread i started in the women's section - it is about sensitivity in that area. I only started it yesterday so few replies yet, but lots of people looking at it.

Too Tall said:

Tingling is repair in progress. You may consider riding a level saddle and review bike fit. The situation you describe is unlikely to result in any long term damage.

Thanks, I'll try it. I have a Serotta, which was custom fit, but I think the 'nose' of the saddle may be too wide. I had no idea tingling was repair in progress -- amazing. :o

Did you find leveling your saddle or changing your position helped you at all?

I too had a similar problem earlier this year, although I still have not found a solution.
I race Cat 2 on the road and after a saddle adjustment (tilting the nose down) before a stage race earlier this year, I ended up damaging myself down there for a week or so, complete numbness and no erectile functioning (absolutely terrifying for a 23 year old).
After regaining functioning and changing my seat position again, I found that this continued to happen any time I "dug deep" and "sat on the rivets" throughout both intense training and racing the next couple of months. I switched saddles, tried the seat "all back", tried it tilted up, tilted town, all forward, down, up, longer stem, shorter stem, raised stem, lowered stem, and all combinations inbetween. After a change of three different seats, complete multiple-hour manipulation of my position every two days for the last 5 months, I still have yet to find a comfortable position.
Here's some interesting stuff to note though that throws me off:
-I have been riding bikes and training endurance-wise since I was 8 years old, raced internationally as a junior on the Mtb World Cup circuit, and never once had this problem with numbness or tenderness - even after long 9 hour training days. My old standard of fitting my saddle position was to put it all the way forward, tilt it slightly up, and bring the saddle high enough up until my hips don't bob. This position doesn't work well on the road though, because I have a lot of forward pressure when trying to reach the drop bars.
-I ride campy equipment, which requires a 105mm bottom bracket, putting my pedals about an inch or more closer to one another (more narrow Q-factor). I don't know if this has an influence or not due to my quite large thighs perhaps pinching or not.
- I have consulted multiple fit 'specialists' and nobody can find a solution that works for me. One suggested that I slide my seat as far back as needed until I can balance while riding at 90RPM around 20MPH trying to reach my drop bars. This only works for me when I slide my Aireone Fi'zik saddle all the way back, tilt it up appx. 5 (!!) degrees, and sit as far back as I can. Only then can I balance on my 'sit bones' and not put excess pressure on my perinium. Unfortunately, this position makes it so that I have absolutely no power while riding (my femur vs. tibia/fibula ratio is relatively 1.05/1), putting my knee way behind the pedal spindle while the crank is in the 3 o'clock position. This is very foreign to my body and counter-intuitive to all the training I have been doing since I was very little.

Sorry if I diverted too far away from your original post, I just wanted to mention that I too have found a problem in this 'area' and still have yet to find a solution (even after searching for almost 7 months).