Cycling has long been associated with men’s health, but a new study shows that it may also pose risks to women’s physiological well-being.
Many women who cycle or engage in spin workouts become accustomed to the occasional numbness caused by sitting on a bicycle seat. Bicycle seats are designed so that the rider’s weight often rests on the "nose" of the seat, which compresses nerves and blood vessels in the genital area. For men, this increases the risk of erectile dysfunction, as has been reported in studies on male police officers on bicycle patrol.
But there hasn’t been much research done on women. A 2006 study by Yale University researchers found that female cyclists had lower sexual sensitivity compared to a control group of female runners. As a result, some scientists believe that female cyclists may face similar risks to their male counterparts when it comes to sexual issues.
In the latest study, Yale researchers sought to determine whether specific factors influence pain and numbness in female cyclists. The study involved 48 women, all of whom were regular cyclists who rode at least 10 miles per week, though many rode much more.
These women brought their own bicycles and saddles into the lab. Researchers mounted the bikes on a stationary machine and had the riders adjust the saddle and handlebars to their preferences. They then sat on the saddle while pedaling, reporting any pain, numbness, or tingling, while an instrument measured sensation in the pelvic floor.
Notably, it was the position of the handlebars that seemed to have the greatest effect. Women whose handlebars were positioned lower than their saddles experienced greater pressure on the soft tissue region known as the perineum during cycling, along with reduced pelvic floor sensation.
Researchers found that the lower the handlebars were relative to the saddle, the more the test subjects leaned forward, shifting a greater proportion of their body weight onto the perineum. This issue was especially likely to occur when riders leaned forward in an aerodynamic posture, straightened their backs, and placed their hands on the "dropping-off" handlebars of road or racing bikes.
Dr. Marsha K. Guess, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine, said, "We essentially showed that for female cyclists, one of the risk factors may be modifiable. The better cycling posture we guided the riders to adopt actually helped reduce pressure and loss of pelvic floor sensation."
The findings were published online in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. Dr. Steven Schrader, a scientist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in the United States, said the findings help address the problems faced by female cyclists and that longer-term research is still needed. His previous research helped alert male police officers on bike patrol to the dangers of traditional bicycle saddles.
Dr. Schrader said that for years he had given presentations about his findings to groups of police officers on bicycle patrol. Later, he said, some women in the audience would come up to him and say, "This isn’t just a men’s issue."
"Women have these issues too," Dr. Schrader said.
Dr. Schrader’s research on police officers indicated that one of the best ways to eliminate or reduce perineal pressure is to use a saddle without a "nose." His findings led to the institute recommending that police officers and other workers who use bikes switch to "noseless" saddles, which direct pressure to the sit bones rather than the soft perineal tissue. Though he hasn’t studied the effects of noseless saddles on women, he believes they could benefit women as well.
"If you don’t put weight there, there’s no pressure," he said.
(Source: Bicycle Network)