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Saddle Rash help

I'm with FE on this - in spite of being known for my proactive 'kitchen pharmacy' methods - I ALWAYS try to get a PROFESSIONAL diagnosis so whatever treatment I'm pursuing or augmenting is not contradictory. All of the stuff I mentioned here is mainly applicable to daily kit and body management - and not necessarily how to CURE a fungal infection or rash or whatever. But i believe you need to do 3 main things to solve these issues:

1) Get an accurate diagnosis and medical treatment. Otherwise the issue will just continue and perhaps even escalate. Cycling exacerbates any skin problem. It doesn't make it better, ever.

2) Change up your kit maintenance and throw out any possible allergen or irritant related component. Like soaps, etc. If you have a fungal infection, you'd better even sterilize your kit. Or at least soak it really well in vinegar solution with a small amount of bleach. Wash everything separately of your other stuff - who knows, you may just be re-infecting yourself over and over again. Tea Tree oil or Grapefruit Seed Oil is also effective against fungii (Hospitals use a commercial version) Let your kit hang to dry in the sun.

3) Change up your body care. Follow / try some of the tips here. Soak in epsom salt (relief) , alter your diet (get off the glutens, alcohol, or other potential allergens), boost up your supplements like Zinc, B vitamins and overall just make sure you are eating and drinking as best you can.
 
Some more things to add here is have multiple pairs of cycling shorts. 3-4 pairs will be enough for you to wear and wash rotation so that they are always dry when you put them on.

Also I would always go against the manufacturers advice to hand wash, especailly in the hummidity we get here in Japan. Machine wash at 40c everytime, inside out, dry inside out as well.

If you are prone to saddle sores/heat rash or fungle infections and you want to commute then take two pairs a day, 1 to ride in, 1 to ride out..... and never wear them after the ride, shower dry and change.

dhb do a very good selection of bibs, shorts, tights that are cheap enough to buy several pairs

Also one other tip about Chamois cremes is that you apply it to the chamois not your groin, the reason for this is that you want the anti bacteria creme to destroy the bacteria already cultivating in the padding of your shorts, hand washing and machine washing at 40c isn't going to kill it but the creme will.

Just adding the creme to your groin is going to have limited friction qualities as well as after about 30 minutes of riding the padding will have absorbed the creme and you are left with dry pad again.

Saddle position and height can be a huge contributor to saddle sores so make sure you are fitted correctly on the bike.

If left untreated (we are talking treated by a professional here not self medication) sores can easy turn in to abscess which will require a physician to drain. Untreated as Mike points out can lead to skin and cell damage and heighten the risk of cancer.

On a final note; it seems rather odd that people are more than happy to share this information publicly on the internet yet are embarrased to go see a professional physician/doctor whom deal with these kind of issues on a daily basis.
 
Just back from the doctor and underwhelmed.

This time he looked at me and just said "shishin". This time there was no scraping or test just a visual check. I tried to tell him that this is now the 5th months but he simply will not listen. He's just too eager to prescribe and move to the next patient.

I took the prescription back to my pharmacist friend and was told it's what he has been giving me although stronger, the mixture percentage is different.

There was no "come back in a week" or further instructions/advice.

There is very little I can do until I find a decent doctor. I'm not riding, I'm not drinking and my diet is good supplemented with multi-vitamins. I shower at least twice a day. All I can add is if only I'd went when this started rather than trying to fix it myself.
 
... Get an accurate diagnosis and medical treatment.
...

Morton,

I'm not a doc, and others here do have more experience than I do, but I think the above (as has been suggested a couple different ways in this thread), is where you need to start.

Your present doc is not doing much, so you obviously need to try someone else.

Good luck with that, and if the above jock rash thread I quoted is any indication, I truly do sympathize.

But if it has been 5 months, I really doubt home-based remedies will clear it up (tho there is that outside chance).

You need to be doing some serious doc-shopping. (and you're late at doing that)
 
Are you anywhere near the Niigata Universeity Medical and Dental Hospital?

They have a >> Dermatology << Dept
Scroll down the page and it shows the days/hours open and a phone number.
 
Untreated as Mike points out can lead to skin and cell damage and heighten the risk of cancer.
That wasn't actually what I meant. I was trying to make the point that men, in general, wait longer to consult than women. So they more frequently present with more advanced stages of disease, chronic versus acute symptoms, etc.

I am the same - will wait weeks to see if an bruised whatever is going to heal on its own before finally 'giving up' and finding out that I in fact have a fractured whatever.

University hospital. No letter of referral? Take a good book 'cause you will be waaaaiiiitiinnnngggg. Having said that, they should have the resources to get you sorted.
 
I would suggest shi-ritsu rather than uni. They're going to do what's right/practical rather than being wrapped up in some image of themselves as cutting edge and whatever that may entail.
 
The guy I go to works at the local Ken-ritsu so he should know what he's doing. He's a busy guy but to me seems to be just a money making machine.


Stu,

I'm in the arse end of Niigata. Niigata city is about 2 hours for me. I'm self-employed so even going to a doctor here is a bit of a logistical nightmare, Niigata would be impossible.


My best chance is my pharmachist pal. He's been giving me the medicine for free but is kind of winging it.
 
The guy I go to works at the local Ken-ritsu so he should know what he's doing. He's a busy guy but to me seems to be just a money making machine.


Stu,

I'm in the arse end of Niigata. Niigata city is about 2 hours for me. I'm self-employed so even going to a doctor here is a bit of a logistical nightmare, Niigata would be impossible.


My best chance is my pharmachist pal. He's been giving me the medicine for free but is kind of winging it.

I understand that, I'm self employed as well, often wishing for 36 hours days, fearful of actually getting them. I've not had a day off in six weeks now. All that said, if you want to clear up this problem, maybe you need to make the time to do so...?

Best of luck with it.
 
not wanting to do it because your self employed makes sense but you might regret that you didn't take the hit later when you find out its a much bigger problem than it would have originally been if you would have just sought proper treatment.
 
Extra precautions: (may have been mentioned already ).

New bed sheets.
New blankets.
New mattress.

Or make sure your current bedding is very clean and sheets are changed as often as possible.
Stick them out in the sun as often as possible to nuke the bacteria.

Same goes for bathroom towels. They harbor lots of bacteria if not washed properly.

Especially if you sleep in your birthday suit.
 
If I understand correctly, the condition is quite serious and not getting better, so most likely this is not a matter of reinfection but not being able to tackle the infection in the first place. I would think it is necessary to try a couple of different anti-fungals and see what might work. They may include some of the things Tim recommends, e.g. grapefruit seed extract. I have excellent experience with the latter - basically eradicated mizumushi once and for all while with the usual cremes it would reappear periodically. But every body/skin is different, so mileage may vary.

The doctor you describe is the typical Japanese clinic-based doctor. Not really interested in any patient, any disease, let alone treating more than symptoms. In your case he has probably realised he doesn't know how to help you, but will not refer you to a real specialist. Likely he doesn't even know who the real specialists are. All you can do is do doctor shopping - that's the unfortunately reality in this country. If you are lucky, the next best dermatologist may actually be much better, more considerate, try out the right things. If you are unlucky, you will keep hopping.

In any case, you should definitely do something and not count on time curing your ills. It seems that time has passed.
 
If I understand correctly, the condition is quite serious and not getting better, so most likely this is not a matter of reinfection but not being able to tackle the infection in the first place. I would think it is necessary to try a couple of different anti-fungals and see what might work. They may include some of the things Tim recommends, e.g. grapefruit seed extract. I have excellent experience with the latter - basically eradicated mizumushi once and for all while with the usual cremes it would reappear periodically. But every body/skin is different, so mileage may vary.

The doctor you describe is the typical Japanese clinic-based doctor. Not really interested in any patient, any disease, let alone treating more than symptoms. In your case he has probably realised he doesn't know how to help you, but will not refer you to a real specialist. Likely he doesn't even know who the real specialists are. All you can do is do doctor shopping - that's the unfortunately reality in this country. If you are lucky, the next best dermatologist may actually be much better, more considerate, try out the right things. If you are unlucky, you will keep hopping.

In any case, you should definitely do something and not count on time curing your ills. It seems that time has passed.

May I ask where you bought the grapefruit seed oil? I have had a non-cycling related rash that has appeared off and on for 20 years, and I'd like to try to zap it once and for all.
 
In a pharmacy in Germany... My parents recommended it. Wasn't cheap, but worth the price. I don't know how easily this is available in Japan. Tim might know.
 
The new cream has already helped lessen the fury of the rash. We'll see how it works on totaly eradicating it. I'll go back to the doctor next Saturday anyhow.

The bath salts have arrived already so I'm going to have my first salt bath tonight and I think I'll order some grapefruit seed oil.

Appreciate all the advice.
 
Haven`t read through all the gory details (thanks for not posting any photos), but in case someone hasn`t mentioned it, the shape of your saddle might have some factor in this, so it might be worth looking into alternatives when you are able to get back on the bike.
 
The new cream has already helped lessen the fury of the rash. We'll see how it works on totaly eradicating it. I'll go back to the doctor next Saturday anyhow.

The bath salts have arrived already so I'm going to have my first salt bath tonight and I think I'll order some grapefruit seed oil.

Appreciate all the advice.

About the salts .... I only put about 6" of hot water in the bath, as it makes it quicker to fill, and concentrates the salts more. Two 'cooking' cups of salts.

I think anything over 10 mins will be beneficial, but I have difficulty soaking longer now, as my bird (the feathered kind) has discovered where I have been hiding twice a day. It gets tiring trying to stop him dive bombing into the bath, and messy after he gives up trying to swim, and resorts to dive bombing me from above with carefully aimed poops ...
 
Update.

So for the last week I've used the doctor's medicine, had a salt bath every night, bought new underwear and have started wearing betones when I workout. A couple of day of this and last Thursday was the first day in months without any really bad itching.

The itching has now gone but I've had a few large-ish spots appear and disappear. Touch wood but I think another week of this and I'll be over it. I'd never had anything as bad as this before and should it happen again in the future I am hopefully more prepared.

One last thing. The grapefruit seed extract came yesterday and I thought I'd give it a try. All I'll say is that I'm going to have to be a bit more careful with this and dilute it a whole lot more.
 
I'd never had anything as bad as this before and should it happen again in the future I am hopefully more prepared.

I'm sincerely glad to hear that you are getting some relief and that the future is looking bright! Ideally, you'll alter your habits and hygiene based upon what you've learned and never let this develop again or at least recognize it in it's earliest stages and take corrective action!
 
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