Stationary bike woes--Pain in the butt...

eating4me
eating4me Posts: 239 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been riding my stationary bike for about 2 weeks now. When I first began, I rode 10 miles a day, and it felt great, so I increased to 20 miles. Besides getting the usual sore ischial tuberosities (sit bones), everything has been feeling great. I probably should have increased my mileage more gradually, but I'm stubborn, and tend to just work through pain. Last night, I did 24.5 miles, because suddenly, I didn't have any pain in my sit bones at all, and I felt great afterwards. However, now, this morning, I'm noticing that my left ischial tuberosity has some swelling under the skin, about the size of an apricot, and it's painful. I'm a retired RN, and it feels to me like it's a bursitis-type inflammation. There is no redness, irritation, or break in the skin, so I'm sure it's not an abscess or anything like that. I've been icing it, and it seems to have gone down a bit, but it's still painful. Any of you bicyclers out there have any experiences with ischial tuberosity bursitis? I'm thinking I need to lay of cycling for at least a few days....I ordered some padded bike shorts, but other than icing and rest, what have you done? I'm not one to run to the doctor for every little thing, and use a lot of alternative methods of healing/medicine. I'm just looking for feedback from experienced bikers. :)

Replies

  • sistrsprkl
    sistrsprkl Posts: 1,010 Member
    I don't know about the specific injury you mentioned but I found that padded bike shorts and a nice, gel seat cover worked for me.
  • eating4me
    eating4me Posts: 239 Member
    Thanks. I'm waiting for my bike shorts to arrive. Did you find a particular brand of gel seat to be helpful?
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Padded bike shorts will help but part of the problem may also stem from a combination of less than ideal fit and the usually crappy saddles that come with stationary bikes.

    There's a reason that road bikes come with what appear to be uncomfortable, usually rock hard, anatomically correct seats. The wider, supposedly more comfortable, seats that come on many stationary and comfort bikes are simply not designed for long rides. Personally i would never even consider putting a gel pad on my bike seat..

    The first thing I would look at is fit, here are some links to articles that may give you some ideas (some bikes lack all of the adjustments necessary for a perfect - seat height, seat fore and aft, handle bar height, handlebar fore and aft - but you can usually improve upon it.

    http://www.bicycling.com/beginners/bike-fit/if-bike-fits-wear-it

    http://www.bicycling.com/maintenance/bike-fit

    http://cyclingtips.com.au/2010/04/science-of-bike-fitting/

    Hope this helps.
  • meritage4
    meritage4 Posts: 1,441 Member
    and check out women specific seats. Our pelvis is narrow than a man's and we need pressure relief in a different spot.

    Plus it's good to do some of your riding in standing-spin classes usually get you up for short burts-the change in position is great for pressure relief-

    and do have someone check your bike fit-Is it set up correctly for you?
  • SnackPak55
    SnackPak55 Posts: 2 Member
    To prevent this type of thing happening, I alternate equipment. I may spend 20 minutes on the stationary bike, and then I switch to the elliptical or the treadmill for more time and distance and then I may return to the bike to finish my workout. If you are working out at home, maybe you can alternate with another form of exercise - a DVD, dance or walk.
  • eating4me
    eating4me Posts: 239 Member
    Thank you for all of your suggestions! BrianSharpe, thanks so much for the links. I will definitely check them out.

    I'm new to biking in general, so I'm just in the learning stages. I followed the suggestions of making sure my bike was adjusted correctly for my height & stride, for example, but there's a lot more I need to learn.

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