Saddle sore

[mellivora]

Here's one of those wild posts that people make from time to time. This is not really  a theory I am taking seriously but thought I'd throw it out there for feedback.

One idea that has come up on these forums is that there is a weakness in the plumbing of our sexual apparatus that means semen or sperm can come into contact with blood, something it wouldn't normally be able to do, and then it causes a reaction. ie. we have a sort of leak in the system.

I know there are millions of cyclists in the world without POIS but I wondered if anyone else here cycles a lot or was doing so in the lead up to POIS manifesting itself. I can say I started cycling more and potentially with a bad saddle in the lead up to my POIS starting. A theory might be that the pressure and movement of cycling in a poor seating position could damage our delicate parts and cause such a "gap" to occur in some individuals.

I'm expecting a lot of messages saying "I don't cycle much or do anything that puts pressure on my bits". So please reply. As I said I'm not expecting this idea to be a good one but thought I'd throw it our there.

[Daveman]

One would have to assume of course that POIS IS a semen allergy problem.

I'm beginning to believe that semen allergy COULD upset some other system, as it has been shown that long term allergies of various types have unbalanced hormonal and neurotransmitter systems.

That said, I think several other things could also upset the same "systems" which ever they may be.

The GAP, if that's it, seems very illusive. There are a number of places it could be and also a number of circumstances that could cause it, from physical to hereditary. Yet there are few, proportionately, who have it.

Even with things like vasectomies, they consider the "encroachment" caused by such surgery as not very likely to infringe upon the famous blood barrier. So it seems very well protected, and that could explain why the numbers are low.

I've probably had more damage done by the famous crossbar and slipping on a pedal, than from the bike seat. But my POIS didn't start till very many years after those incidents, and much closer to the vasectomy reversal several years back now.

(Seems like everything is "several years back" these days, sigh).

So, for what it's worth.