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Your Health and Bike Seats
Traditional bicycle seats create pressure points which place unhealthy pressure on the prostate, irritate the urethra, damage the pudendal arteries and dorsal nerves, and cause the development of cysts on the tailbone.
Traditional bicycle seats inhibit air circulation which contributes to he growth of yeasts, and they irritate the vulvar region, which can become an acute problem for women who have vulvodynia and/or contact vulvitis.
But with the SPONGY WONDER BIKE SEAT the pressure is off!:
- The perineum: pudendal arteries and dorsal nerves
- The prostate
- The tailbone
- The privates
No more damage. No more irritation!
The front end of the Spongy Wonder Bike Seats" frame gives as much or more front to rear adjustment than a conventional bike seat does but without the nose is actually 4 inches shorter than most conventional bike seats and so the front end of the frame does not present any hazard.
Health Extracts
Three articles published in the current issue of The Journal of
Sexual
Medicine concluded that the high pressures in the perineum while
straddling
a bike seat compress and temporarily occlude penile blood flow.
The three articles are:
Bike Riding and Erectile Dysfunction: An Increase in Interest.
by Huang
Only the Nose Knows: Penile Hemodynamic Study of the Perineum -
Saddle
Interface in Men with Erectile Dysfunction Utilizing Bike
Saddles and Seats
with and without Nose Extensions. by Munarriz et al
Development of a New Geometric Bike Saddle for the Maintenance
of
Genital-Perineal Vascular Perfusion. by Breda et al
New York Times / October 4, 2005m>
Serious Riders, Your Bicycle Seat May Affect Your Love
Life
By SANDRA BLAKESLEE
A raft of new studies add to earlier evidence that traditional
bicycle
seats, the kind with a narrow rear and pointy nose, play a role
in sexual
impotence.
Dr. Steven Schrader, a reproductive health at the National
Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, said that it was no longer a
question of
"whether or not bicycle riding on a saddle causes erectile
dysfunction. The
question is, What are we going to do about it?"
[READ MORE]
J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2005 Sep;45(3):409-18:
Effect of bike seat design on transcutaneous penile oxygen
pressure.
Cohen JD, Gross MT.
Program in Human Movement Science, Department of Allied Health
Sciences,
School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
NC.
AIM: To determine the reliability of monitoring penile transcutaneous oxygen
(tpO2) during cycling, and to assess the influence of Bike Seat
design and
cycling position on tpO2.
METHODS: Experimental design: repeated measures analysis of the
effects of
bicycle seat design and riding position on tpO2 values.
Participants: 31
male cyclists between the ages of 20 and 50 years. Subject
inclusion
criteria: averaged approx. 80 miles of road bicycling per week
during the 2
months prior to enrollment; no history of vascular disease,
diabetes, or
sexual dysfunction; and had an erection within 15 days prior to
study.
MEASURES: mean tpO2 values were calculated for seated and
standing positions
using 3 current bike seat designs.
RESULTS: Seat design had no significant effect on tpO2 values.
Seated
cycling significantly reduced tpO2 levels compared with standing
cycling.
Mean percent decreases in tpO2 from standing to seated cycling
were; Vetta
76%, Terry 73%, and Specialized 62%.
CONCLUSION: None of the bike seats exhibited any significant
ability to
spare penile tpO2.
Biking may be Hazardous to Your Health - Charles Downey
A 54-year-old Boston attorney figured that as an avid cyclist he
was in
great shape. But during a 200-mile, two-day charity event, he
noticed his
penis was numb, and for the next month, he had trouble getting,
and keeping
an erection.
He saw Dr. Irwin Goldstein, Professor of Urology at Boston U.
School of
Medicine, who suspected the problem was caused by riding a
narrow, hard bike
seat.
The human rear is perfectly designed to support the weight of
the body on
two "sit bones² and as long as you are sitting on a flat
surface, like a
chair or couch, your sit bones easily support your weight.
When a man sits on a narrow bike seat, his body weight can crush
the
pudendal artery and nerves that serve the penis. So bike riding
can result
in temporary and permanent impotence. Extra padding or gel
padding in the
seat does not help because the padding bunches up and also cuts
off
circulation.
Doctors at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina and Case
Western
Reserve University in Cleveland studied 81 avid bike riders who
suffered
from ED. Their findings, published in the December 1999 issue of
the Journal
of Urology showed that nerves, arteries, and veins in the
perineum can
indeed be damaged by bike seats. Similar results were also seen
in a 2001
study published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine.
The research shows that riding with a conventional bike seat
typically
causes the amount of oxygen reaching the penis to fall 70
percent to 80
percent in three minutes. "A guy can sit on a bike seat and have
his penis
oxygen levels drop 100 percent but he doesn't know it. After
half an hour he
goes numb. Numbness is your body telling you something is
wrong."
Cutting Off the Nose to Save the Penis
Steven M. Schrader, PhD, Michael J. Breitenstein, BS, and Brian D. Lowe, PhD
Division of Applied Research and Technology, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Introduction. The average bicycle police officer spends 24 hours a week on his bicycle and previous studies have shown riding a bicycle with a traditional (nosed) bicycle saddle has been associated with urogenital paresthesia and sexual dysfunction. Aim.
The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the no-nose bicycle saddle as an ergonomic intervention and their acceptance among male bicycle police officers.
Methods. Bicycle police officers from five U.S. metropolitan areas were recruited for this study. Officers completed: (i) the International Index of Erectile Function Questionnaire (IIEF); (ii) computerized pressure measurements at the points of contact on the bicycle; the handlebars, the pedals, and the saddle; (iii) one night of nocturnal Rigiscan® assessment;
(iv) penile vibrotactile sensitivity threshold assessed by computerized biothesiometery.
Officers selected a no-nose bicycle saddle and were asked to use the intervention saddle exclusively for 6 months, at which point they were retested. Main Outcome Measures. Perineal pressure, urogenital numbness, penile vibrotactile sensitivity threshold, erectile function as measure by International Index of Erectile Function Questionnaire (IIEF) and Rigiscan.
Results.
After 6 months, 90 men were reassessed. Only three men had returned to a traditional saddle. The results are presented for those who used the no-nose bicycle saddle continuously for 6 months. There was a 66% reduction in saddle contact pressure in the perineal region. There was a significant improvement in penis tactile sensation. There was a significant improvement in erectile function assessed by IIEF. There were no changes noted in the Rigiscan® measures. The number of men indicating they had not experienced urogential paresthesia while cycling for the preceding 6 months, rose from 27% to 82% using no-nose bicycle saddles.
Conclusions. (i) With few exceptions, bicycle police officers were able to effectively use no-nose bicycle saddles in their police work. (ii) Use of no-nose bicycle saddles reduced most perineal pressure. (iii) Penile health improved after 6 month using no-nose bicycle saddles as measured by biothesiometry and IIEF. There was no improvement in Rigiscan® measure after
6 months of using no nose saddles.
Long suspected by the 5 million recreational bike riders and sexual medicine experts, bicycle seat design-shorter noseless seats versus the standard protruding nose extended seat-can directly affect a man's sexual function, based on the nation's first prospective study of healthy policemen riding bikes on the job. The study is published in the current issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Dr. Irwin Goldstein, director, Sexual Medicine Program at the San Diego-based Alvarado Hospital and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, wrote an accompanying editorial entitled "The A, B, C's of The Journal of Sexual Medicine: Awareness, Bicycle Seats, and Choices."
"For the first time, we have a prospective study of healthy policemen riding bikes on the job, using wider, no-nose bike saddles for six months. Not only did their sensation improve, their erectile function also improved. Changing saddles changed physiology. This is a landmark study for our field that that is important for future riders, and modification of lifestyle showing improvement without any active treatment," he said.
Ninety bicycling police officers from five metropolitan regions in the United States (Northwest, Southern, Desert West, Midwest, and Southeast) using traditional saddles were evaluated prior to changing saddles and then again after six months of using the noseless bicycle saddle.
The findings show that use of the noseless saddle resulted in a reduction in saddle contact pressure in the perineal region. There was a significant improvement in penile tactile sensation, and the number of men indicating they had not experienced genital numbness while cycling for the preceding six months rose from 27% to 82% using no-nose saddles.
Use of the noseless saddle also resulted in significant increases in erectile function as assessed by the initial evaluation, but there were no significant changes noted in Rigiscan® measures, a method used to record penile rigidity while the subject sleeps. With few exceptions, bicycle police officers were able to effectively use no-nose saddles in their police work and 97% of officers completing the study continued to use the no-nose saddle afterward.
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No-nose Saddles for Preventing Genital Numbness and Sexual Dysfunction from Occupational Bicycling
- From the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Summary:
Workers who ride a bicycle as part of their job may be at risk for genital numbness or more serious sexual and/or reproductive
health problems from pressure in the groin (perineum) from the traditional bicycle saddle. NIOSH has conducted studies that have demonstrated the effectiveness
of no-nose bicycle saddles in reducing pressure in the groin and improving the sexual health of male bicycle patrol
police officers. While most workers in jobs that involve bicycling are men, recent evidence suggests that no-nose bicycle saddles
may also benefit women.
Description of Exposure
About 40,000 workers in public
safety occupations ride bicycles as
part of their job. They include police
officers, emergency medical service
personnel (EMSs), and security
staff who patrol by bicycle.
 |
| Figure 1 |
A number of these workers have reported
groin/genital numbness and
more severe sexual problems related
to prolonged use of a bicycle saddle
in their work [NIOSH 2000].
In a study conducted by Schrader et
al. [2002], police bicycle patrol officers
reported spending an average of
about 25 hours per week sitting on
a bicycle saddle. Many of them also
ride a bicycle for recreation while off
duty, and therefore may spend more
than 25 hours per week on a bicycle
saddle.
The traditional bicycle saddle has a
narrow nose that protrudes under the
groin as the cyclist straddles the bicycle.
 |
| Figure 2 |
Ideally, the weight of the cyclist
should be supported on the bicycle saddle
under the pelvic sit bones. However,
part of the weight is supported
where the groin contacts the bicycle saddle
nose. Bearing weight on this region
of the bicycle saddle compresses the nerves
and arteries in the groin (see Figures
1 and 2). These nerves and arteries
run through the groin between the
sit bones to the genitals. Pressure on
these nerves and arteries over time
may lead to a loss of sensation and a
decrease in blood supply to the genitals.
This can contribute to the sexual
and reproductive health effects that
have been reported.
NIOSH Studies
NIOSH studies [2000, Schrader et al. 2002] showed
that male bicycle patrol security officers who complained
of groin numbness had night erections that lasted less
time than those of a similar group of non-bicycling men.
Other NIOSH studies [Lowe et al. 2004; Schrader et
al. 2008], showed that pressure on a traditional (nosed)
bicycle saddle in the area under the bicyclist’s groin is
typically 2.90 pounds per square inch during cycling and
may reach as high as 5.37 pounds per square inch. (As a
point of reference, the pressure on an arm blood pressure
cuff needed to restrict blood flow in the arteries is
about 120 mm Hg, which is equal to 2.32 pounds per
square inch). This level of pressure is affected by the
weight and body shape of the cyclist, the shape and cushioning
of the bicycle saddle, and the degree to which the cyclist’s
body is tilted forward.
Fewer studies of the effects of bicycle saddle use on female
cyclists have been conducted. However, recent evidence
suggests that women cyclists may also be at risk
for a decrease in sensation of their genitals from use of a
traditional nosed bicycle saddle [Guess et al. 2006].
Reducing Pressure in the Groin from the Bicycle Saddle
The no-nose bicycle saddle
A number of manufacturers have designed bicycle saddles
 |
| Figure 3 |
to support the weight of the cyclist on their sit
bones without a narrow nose of the bicycle saddle protruding
forward under the groin region. A no-nose bicycle saddle
is designed so that the portion of the nerves and arteries
for the genitals that are forward of the sit bones are not
compressed against any part of the bicycle saddle surface (see
Figure 3). A no-nose bicycle saddle should have no saddle
material protruding between the thighs of the cyclist
to create pressure in the groin.
NIOSH studies of no-nose saddles
A study by NIOSH [Lowe et al. 2004] showed that bicycle saddles
without the protruding nose greatly reduced pressure
in the groin that compresses the nerves and arteries
for the genitals.
 |
| Figure 4 |
In a more recent NIOSH study [Schrader
et al. 2008], the no-nose bicycle saddles were associated with
pressure in the groin region of 1.02 pounds per square
inch. In a typical pressure picture for a no-nose bicycle saddle,
there is very little pressure forward of the sit bones (see
Figure 4). The pressure on the nerves and arteries for
the genitals may be even lower than 1.02 pounds per
square inch because some of the measured pressure was
caused by the back of the thighs making contact with
the rounded-off front of the no-nose bicycle saddle. The study
showed that the no-nose bicycle saddle reduced pressure in the
groin by at least 65% (see Figure 5). In the 2008 NIOSH
study, more than 90% of officers on bicycle patrol who
tried a no-nose bicycle saddle were still using the bicycle saddle after 6
months. These officers believed that no-nose bicycle saddles
could be used safely and effectively in their work.
 |
| Figure 5 |
Several of these officers said that it took some time to
get used to the no-nose bicycle saddle because it has a different
feel than a traditional bicycle saddle.
Recommendations
Contrary to some cyclists’ belief, it is not normal for any
part of your body to go numb or lose feeling. Numbness
in the groin or genitals is a warning sign that should not
be ignored. Workers who ride a bicycle as part of their
job* can take the following steps to help prevent sexual
and reproductive health problems:
- Use a no-nose bicycle saddle for workplace bicycling. Give
yourself time to get used to riding with a no-nose bicycle saddle.
At first, it may seem very different from the bicycle saddle
you have used in the past. No-nose bicycle saddles may not
always be available at retail bicycle shops, but they are
readily available for purchase through the Internet.
- Seek guidance on proper bicycle fit from a trained bicycle
fit specialist. Use of a no-nose bicycle saddle may require
different bicycle saddle height and angle adjustments.
Be sure that the no-nose bicycle saddle is adjusted according
to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Dismount the bicycle when at a standstill. Do not lean
against a post or other object to stay seated on the bicycle
saddle when you are not riding.
- Dismount the bicycle if you begin to have numbness,
tingling, or loss of feeling in any part of your body.
Acknowledgments
The principal contributors to this publication were Steven
M. Schrader, Brian D. Lowe, and Michael J. Breitenstein
of the Division of Applied Research and Technology, National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The International
Police Mountain Bike Association has assisted
NIOSH in much of the research conducted on this topic.
References
Guess MK, Connell KA, Schrader SM, Reutman SR,
Wang A, Lacombe JA, Toennis C, Lowe BD, Melman
A, Mikhail MS [2006]. Genital sensation and sexual
function in female bicyclists and runners: Are your feet
safer than your seat? J Sexual Med 3(6):1018–1027.
International Police Mountain Bike Association [2008].
The complete guide to public safety cycling. 2nd ed.
Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Lowe BD, Schrader SM, Breitenstein MJ [2004]. Effect
of bicycle saddle designs on the pressure to the
perineum of the bicyclist. Med Sci Sports Exerc
36(6):1055–1062.
NIOSH [2000]. Health Hazard Evaluation Report: City
of Long Beach Police Department, Long Beach, CA. By
Schrader SM, Breitenstein MJ, Lowe BD. Cincinnati,
OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA
2000–0305–2848.
Schrader SM, Breitenstein MJ, Clark JC, Lowe BD,
Turner TW [2002]. Nocturnal penile tumescence and
rigidity testing of bicycling patrol officers. J Androl
23(6):927–934.
Schrader SM, Breitenstein MJ, Lowe BD [2008]. Cutting
off the nose to save the penis. J Sexual Med
5:1932–1940.
*NIOSH has not studied competitive cycling and can
not make recommendations for the relatively small
number of workers who ride a bicycle competitively in
their occupation.
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