Why Does My Butt Hurt After Riding A Bike?
Are you concerned about your butt pain after riding a bike? Biking is an excellent activity that the whole family can enjoy. However, one lesser appreciated part of riding a bike is the saddle soreness you feel in your butt the day after. So, why does your butt hurt after riding a bike?
Several factors can cause your butt to hurt after riding a bike. One of the biggest causes is the pressure on your sit bones while riding in a seated position. Chafing also causes pain and discomfort when riding a bike. Furthermore, infected hair follicles can cause discomfort when riding a bike.
Regardless of your fitness level and how many hours you have in the saddle, butt pain after riding a bike is somewhat unavoidable, especially after a marathon ride. However, there are several things you can do to reduce the pain you experience after riding. In addition, you must know when to see a doctor if you have butt pain after biking.
What Causes Butt Pain After Riding A Bike?
Despite the many health advantages of riding a bike, there is one undeniable disadvantage. That is the pain you experience in your butt the day after going for a long bike ride. While there is one leading cause of butt pain from riding a bike, the pain can also be attributed to various other factors, which you may not even think of. So, what causes butt pain after riding a bike?
1. Pressure On The Sitting Bone
The primary culprits for butt pain after riding a bike are the two sitting bones or the ischial tuberosity. These bones are located at the bottom of your pelvis and often cause the pain you feel after a bike ride. The sitting bones carry all your weight when you sit on a bike saddle. They can get inflamed or irritated if you aren’t used to riding a bike or if you’ve been for a longer ride than usual.
This pain commonly feels like a deep bruise and should fade within a day or two. In addition to pain in the sitting bones, your coccyx (tailbone) can also be sore after a long bike ride, especially if your seat isn’t correctly adjusted.
2. The Seat Position
The position on your bike seat is crucial if you want a comfortable ride. If the seat isn’t adjusted correctly, you will slide forward, which may cause your sitting bones or tailbone to hurt after riding for a long time. In addition, if your bike seat isn’t the proper size or form for your body, it will cause you to feel uncomfortable while riding and may cause pain.
Therefore, ensuring that your bike seat is properly adjusted is imperative if you want to avoid having a sore butt after a long day’s ride.
3. Chafing
Another concern when biking is that you may experience chafing from the bike shorts. Chafing can be uncomfortable and may become painful if not taken care of. People usually experience chafing on their thighs. However, it can occur anywhere your pants and bike rub against each other, including the buttocks and genital area.
Chafing can cause itching, swelling, and tenderness. If cycling for multiple days, it can be a serious concern, especially if the chafing is more severe and affects your biking style or technique. Fortunately, you can combat and prevent chafing.
4. Infected Hair Follicles
Infected hair follicles are a common problem for bikers, especially those who don’t shave their legs. As your legs rub against your bike shorts and saddle, the hair follicles can inflame or even become infected. They look like tiny, swollen bumps on your legs, thighs, and buttocks. The pain may vary from slightly irritating to extremely painful.
Therefore, many bikers prefer to shave their legs and other areas where infected hair follicles can occur. However, there are other, more effective ways to treat and prevent infected hair follicles from occurring.
5. Gender And Genetics
Finally, another cause of butt pain when biking is thanks to your gender and genetics. Men and women are built different and, thus, require a different type of bike seat. If your bike seat isn’t appropriate for your body shape, it may put pressure on your butt, peritoneum, and genitals. This may cause pain and lead to more severe problems, such as blood in the urine.
Furthermore, depending on your body shape and size, you may also find that the bike seat puts too much pressure on unwanted areas, which may lead to bigger problems.
How To Prevent Butt Pain When Riding A Bike?
Now that you know the various causes of butt pain after riding a bike, you may wonder what you can do to prevent it. Fortunately, the tips we share below are simple and usually work at preventing and conquering butt pain from riding a bike. You can implement all these tips when riding to help you get the most comfortable ride and prevent your butt from hurting as much.
Remember that even if you follow all these steps, you may still feel discomfort after riding your bike as your body needs some time to adjust to the new activity. However, normal stiffness and soreness will pass the more you ride. Regardless, here are some things to try that help prevent butt pain after riding a bike.
Adjust Your Bike Seat’s Height And Angle
The first step to ensuring your bike doesn’t cause you to experience butt pain is to ensure that your bike’s seat is adjusted to the right height and angle. You will put more force on the saddle if the seat is too high while biking. Ideally, your bike’s seat should align with your hips when standing next to the bike.
Furthermore, if the seat is tilted too forward or backward, you will slip around on the seat more. This may lead to bruising in the genital area and cause your sitting bones to hurt more because of the constant pressure. Therefore, you must ensure that the bike’s seat is titled at the perfect angle, so it’s comfortable for you.
Invest In A Proper Bike Seat Or Seat Cover
Because we are all built differently, a comfortable seat for one person isn’t necessarily comfortable for the next. However, if you intend to go biking often, you should invest in a proper seat that is comfortable for you. There are different bike seats for men and women, so be sure to buy the right kind that has enough padding where you need it.
Wear Bike Shorts When Cycling
Normal shorts or leggings don’t offer the same support as biking shorts. Bike shorts are made specifically for biking and have additional padding in the crotch area to help prevent butt pain after biking. Biking shorts also sit tighter, so they don’t ride up or cause chafing while riding your bike.
Use Chafe Cream
Anti-chafing cream is perfect if you struggle with chafing while riding a bike. In addition, you can buy chamois cream and apply it directly to your perineum (the area between your butthole and genitals) to reduce chafing and cracking. You can apply chamois cream to your biking shorts’ padding to keep your skin hydrated and reduce chafing and friction.
Exfoliate Your Thighs And Legs
In addition to using a good chafe cream, exfoliating your legs, thighs, and buttocks will help prevent chafing and infected hair follicles. Exfoliate your body with a sugar scrub or dry brush twice weekly to help prevent ingrown hairs and remove dead skin cells. This will help reduce chafing and the likelihood of getting infected hair follicles.
Exfoliating is essential if you shave your legs and butt. Shaved hair is more likely to become ingrown or get infected when you go biking.
Don’t Wear Underwear Underneath Bike Shorts
Although you might think that bike shorts require underwear, they don’t. Wearing underwear underneath your bike shorts can cause more chafing. In addition, it will also cause you to sweat more and may even bulge in weird places, making you uncomfortable.
Therefore, don’t wear underwear underneath your bike shorts. Your bike shorts are designed to wear without underwear. If you buy the right size bike shorts, you won’t feel uncomfortable wearing the shorts without underwear.
Wash Your Bike Shorts After Every Cycle
Many people think they shouldn’t wash their bike shorts every time they go biking. However, this is not the case, and your bike shorts require a wash after every cycle. This is because sweat and bacteria build up in the shorts, especially in the padded crotch area. The bacteria can lead to infection, infected hair follicles, chafing, and many other problems.
Therefore, you must wash your bike shorts after every cycle and hang them in the sun to dry so the heat can kill bacteria.
Is Butt Pain From Bike Riding Serious?
Butt pain from bike riding can be severe if it affects your genitals and reproductive organs. For example, if you notice any blood in your urine, develop pain in your inner or outer labia, or experience numbing of the penis that doesn’t stop when you change position, you must see a doctor.
These symptoms can signify that something more serious is happening due to biking that can cause infertility or other health problems. Therefore, if you suspect that your saddle soreness or butt pain after riding a bike is abnormal, you must make a doctor’s appointment as soon as possible and get it treated.
Conclusion
Butt pain after biking is usually caused by pressure on the sitting bones, perineum, or coccyx while riding a bike. In addition, chafing and infected hair follicles may cause butt pain when riding a bike. Fortunately, you can reduce the pain you experience by adjusting your bike seat, wearing proper bike shorts, and exfoliating your legs and thighs to prevent infected hair follicles.
