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Post by mad_doc on Sept 19, 2004 22:23:50 GMT 8
Mountain Biking Damages the Scrotum Men who go mountain biking run a high risk of injuries to the scrotum that could affect their fertility, a new study suggests. Austrian researchers studied 45 male mountain bikers and found that 96% had scrotal abnormalities. The abnormalities found included: Calcium deposits Spermatoceles (sperm-containing cysts) Twisted veins These abnormalities were seen in only 16% of 31 men who had gone biking, but not off-road. In addition to the abnormalities, half of the men reported that they had scrotal tenderness or discomfort. As further investigation into this phenomenon, investigators are now getting sperm counts from the men in the study. Biking, regardless of the terrain, has previously been linked to impotence in men, which is believed to result from the damage to blood vessels and nerves caused by the pressure from the bicycle seat. However, with mountain biking, the terrain often results in more severe effects on the scrotum. Researchers speculate that the off-road biking damages the epididymis, which are the tightly coiled tubes folded against the back of each testis where sperm are stored and mature. The Lancet October 21, 2000;356:1414.
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Post by coolangot ☺ on Oct 5, 2005 15:30:02 GMT 8
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 lawit 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 lawit 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 lawit typically falls 70 percent to 80 percent in three minutes. "A guy can sit on a saddle and have his lawit 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 lespu 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."
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Post by eiwol on Oct 6, 2005 6:40:25 GMT 8
hehehe... this is very interesting!
maybe i'll switch to trials... so i don't need to worry about a saddle.... hehehe
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Post by Ben Dover on Oct 6, 2005 8:59:07 GMT 8
OMG! i must test mine right away!
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Post by jr on Oct 6, 2005 11:47:51 GMT 8
OMG! i must test mine right away! In the past 11 years doing biking..still works. I have 17 months old to prove it ;D ;D. Now the gap for the second and the last one is 10 years.. How about the Chinese and Vietnamese..there population is grown so much and they ride a bike everyday. Is that the reason their population is grown so much becuase they keep on testing if still works .
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Post by weekendrider on Oct 6, 2005 12:57:20 GMT 8
Don't worry. If you have problem about sexual impotence, I can be your proxy. heheheheh
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Post by vertigo on Oct 11, 2005 2:27:14 GMT 8
oh noooo....
is there a saddle out there that passes the "scrotum safety" standards?
or better yet, is there a body out there like S.N.E.L.L. who acts as safety standards for helmets, and for that matter, safety standards for our nuts? ;D
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Post by milo on Oct 21, 2005 13:28:12 GMT 8
OK lang.............I will now have an excuse to my gf...hehehehe
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Post by xhibo on Oct 21, 2005 13:32:20 GMT 8
kung s guys nga masakit, wat more 4 us pretty females, hehehe
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Post by coolangot ☺ on Oct 21, 2005 13:53:36 GMT 8
oh noooo.... is there a saddle out there that passes the "scrotum safety" standards? or better yet, is there a body out there like S.N.E.L.L. who acts as safety standards for helmets, and for that matter, safety standards for our nuts? ;D Don, actually its Snell, in memory of Pete Snell a race car diver who died using an inefective helmet. from www.bhsi.org/standard.htmThe Snell Foundation is a non-profit founded in 1957 to promote better helmets after the death by head injury of race car driver Pete Snell while wearing an ineffective helmet. The foundation began issuing auto racing helmet standards soon after it was established, followed by motorcycle, bicycle, equestrian, ski and other helmet standards. Now if there would be a "Scrotum Standards" Foundation, to whom will we name it? ;D heh heh heh
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Post by milo on Oct 22, 2005 13:15:16 GMT 8
oh noooo.... is there a saddle out there that passes the "scrotum safety" standards? or better yet, is there a body out there like S.N.E.L.L. who acts as safety standards for helmets, and for that matter, safety standards for our nuts? ;D Don, actually its Snell, in memory of Pete Snell a race car diver who died using an inefective helmet. from www.bhsi.org/standard.htmThe Snell Foundation is a non-profit founded in 1957 to promote better helmets after the death by head injury of race car driver Pete Snell while wearing an ineffective helmet. The foundation began issuing auto racing helmet standards soon after it was established, followed by motorcycle, bicycle, equestrian, ski and other helmet standards. Now if there would be a "Scrotum Standards" Foundation, to whom will we name it? ;D heh heh heh We can name it as BETLOG STANDARD!!!
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Post by minotaur on Oct 23, 2005 4:09:54 GMT 8
Now if there would be a "Scrotum Standards" Foundation, to whom will we name it? ;D heh heh heh We can name it as BETLOG STANDARD!!! Then we can test for safety standards at the NUT CRACKER FACILITY. ;D ;D ;D
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Post by vq querol on Oct 25, 2005 20:48:07 GMT 8
buti na lang
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Post by pjax on Nov 2, 2005 10:38:56 GMT 8
still dehins pa rin nareresolve ang dilemma - ano na gagawin natin? putulin ang nose? meron na bang safe saddles dyan? 2000 pa yung research eh. 18yo pa lang kasi ako eh. kung itutuloy ko at gagawin kong buhay ang mtb kylangan ko talaga maconcern
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Post by lucban on Nov 2, 2005 10:45:02 GMT 8
Don't worry. If you have problem about sexual impotence, I can be your proxy. heheheheh Ha ha ha !!!!
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Post by trek4400 on Mar 29, 2006 12:19:25 GMT 8
I think it is exaggerated. I've been biking for almost ten years now, and I already produced four kids. The last of which are twins. Probably it may indeed affect our balls but the effect is minimal.
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Post by Poseur on Apr 2, 2006 13:13:49 GMT 8
probably all the jarring are keeping the little guys up and ready always. ;D
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ruel
Bike Commuter
Bike Abuser
Posts: 58
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Post by ruel on Apr 2, 2006 21:21:02 GMT 8
sad but true...At daytime its your bike you love ,at night time its your wife you love, cant drop any of them...
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Post by grnhrnt on Apr 2, 2006 21:49:02 GMT 8
biked w/ a russian last saturday in the munti trails, he had the noseless saddle. he seemed to be able to handle himself quite well thru the ride. it was the one which was too parts pa. so effectively he was sitting only on his sit bones.
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Post by donbautist on Apr 3, 2006 11:38:03 GMT 8
get the specialized saddles. sarap to the bones....heheh
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Post by konablack on Apr 3, 2006 13:19:53 GMT 8
So does this mean you guys are switching to trials now? hehehe
And better get those balls friendly saddles...
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MEG
Free Rider
"are you gonna ride or what!!!"
Posts: 229
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Post by MEG on Apr 4, 2006 15:48:35 GMT 8
should we wear supporters, when bikng isnt uncomfortable, me i just wear cycling shorts underneath my shorts
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Post by mgtimothy on Apr 4, 2006 16:04:58 GMT 8
supporters are beside the point, methinks. the alog-alog isn't the issue, rather the pressure at the point of contact with saddle
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rt
Urban Assaulter
Posts: 77
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Post by rt on Apr 5, 2006 18:41:57 GMT 8
Thanks a lot for this important information.
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Post by anji on Apr 20, 2006 7:39:17 GMT 8
well, hopefully regular visit 2 d doc's can prevent this disease ... hehehe, if not no more jr. mt.bikers.
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oenone
Free Rider
kapoy ug tadyak
Posts: 266
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Post by oenone on Aug 17, 2006 12:17:30 GMT 8
simple solution, i will just have my balls cut off... or would you suggest that i stop biking???
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jonah
Lurker
musikero lang po!
Posts: 7
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Post by jonah on Apr 7, 2007 3:35:38 GMT 8
man! impotency? what a waste... makin love is reeeaaalllyyy gooood!!!
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Post by pjax on Apr 10, 2007 23:26:16 GMT 8
October 4, 2005 Just as many smokers do not get lung cancer, many cyclists will never develop impotence from bicycle seats, the scientists said.
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Post by nell7806 on May 9, 2007 22:16:35 GMT 8
I have read an article as same as this... the solution... get the proper size of bike... when riding... try to stand sometimes on your pedals and not just sit on your saddle all through-out the trip... this way there could still be blood circulating under our scrotum... and one thing the sever causes of those vessels to be damage is when we accidenrtally land on the top tubes (like missing or sliding on a pedal then landing on the toptube with the groin etc.)...this is the severe case that would damage the vessel...
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