Saddle sore spread to lymph node?

I'm a guy but I have a butt too. Though it's targeted for children, there's some plane and simple advice here. Yup, quite possible you've got an infection going on there. If it's not getting better in a day or two, antibiotics may be in order.

Be careful of staph infections.....Go to the ed right away....  I had it 3 x...

Yes, saddle sores are different than sit bones soreness. A saddle sore is basically like a zit on your butt that hurts like hell.

And yes, the sit bone soreness will go away with time as your butt toughens up. I got thru that part fine with this new saddle, but the chaffing part (raw irritated skin) never went away, and then that led to the saddle sore (germs entering the raw skin and causing an infected spot). WAAAHHHH!!!

BIG MISTAKE.

Quickdry or not, you have clothes that were probably damp from sweat and other body secretions to start with (hey, we're female, it happens at various times), then they got submersed in pond/lake/salt water, then the entire wet garment was smooshed up next to relatively sensitive skin that is covered in hair follicles and sweat glands for upwards of an hour, then you got even sweatier while running for another half hour in tight fitting damp shorts.

This is a recipe for some kind of infection every time. I am surprised you did not get a yeast infection as well.

One of the things you learn in the sport of cycling early on in the area of saddle sore prevention is TAKE THE DAMN SHORTS OFF AS SOON AS YOU ARE DONE RACING/TRAINING.

In fact, take them off and clean yourself off. Baby wipes will work fine for non-infected skin. To prevent bad sores as well as clean existing ones, try using medicated acne wipes like Stridex or Clearasil. Do this as soon as you get done racing. Use the Baby Wipes on your genitals, and the acne wipes on areas that are prone to sores.

After I cross the finish line and get my chip off and water bottle, I immediately head to the car and change. I typically put a skirt on after because it allows everything to air out, but loose fitting running shorts also work. Wipe everything down.

For me it does not matter if the race is 25minutes from home or 10 hours, I always change as soon as I finish.

It's funny because I come from the sport of cycling and when I started doing tris this year I was amazed at home many people stay in their race clothing after they are done. You know, it's been at least an hour since the last person crossed the finish line, we're wandering around at the expo or refreshments table waiting for them to post results, and here I am in a clean, dry skirt and T shirt and EVERYONE ELSE is still in wet/sweaty/dirty race clothes.

Yuk.

Triathletes everywhere, a PSA - bring a change of clothes and get into it as soon as you can. You're not doing yourself any favors staying in your race kit. Trust me.

I agree that a course on antibiotics might be in order. Dank, sweaty shorts breed bacteria. Your saddle sore is a direct opening to your bloodstream which is a bacterial buffet. I had a similar lymph symptom (along w/ extreme fatigue) eariler this season and a course of doxycycline had me right in a day or 3.

Good luck with it. I'd bet the 4-5 days off of training will do your body more good than harm. Get well.

I agree with the other posters who advise a visit to your Doc. A swollen lymph node is indicative of an infection and a course of Keflex is probably in order. Better safe than sorry, if it is an infection the antibiotics will make a difference pretty quickly.

lymph nodes crain the infection away from teh invovled area so yes it is related.  I'd make a visit to your doc.

Thanks everybody for your advice. I posted this message on Wed morning and was in a bit of a panic because of my lymph nodes being swollen. I called the doctor and made an appointment for today (Thursday morning). Well, by then (25 hours later), it was almost gone. I went to see the doctor anyway. He said lymph nodes in the groin can swell any time there is a skin infection in the lower body because they are helping to carry away the germs. He wasn't concerned about that. He said to put polysporin on the sore spot. He gave me an Rx for antiobiotics and said I could fill it if it gets worse again, or if I feel it's not getting better as fast as I like for my training purposes. I didn't fill it yet.

Today, I got on my bike on the trainer and that darn saddle still hurts like hell, especially at that spot where there is the remnants of a saddle sore. So, I put my old saddle back on my bike. I don't know why I stuck it out trying to adapt to the new saddle. I guess I thought it was normal to experience pain of adaptation when changing things on the bike. Anyhow, my old saddle felt awesome. Trouble is, it's splitting at the seams. I went to the LBS to buy another one of those, but CRAP, they changed the design. Now it's really puffy and full of gel. I don't like too much gel on a saddle, as I feel it causes more wiggling around and thus more chaffing.

I decided to keep the old saddle until my season is over, then worry about it. So, the saddle saga continues.

BTW, the new saddle that I have given up on is a Forte T1 Tri saddle.

My old saddle came with the bike, and is a women's specific butterfly saddle: Specialized Dolce.

Edited by keyone 2008-08-28 9:16 PM

"Butterfly" is not a generic saddle style - its a completely different saddle made by Terry Precision.

http://www.terrybicycles.com/saddles/product.html?idc=db08912e8e&c=...

If you want to replace the old Dolce, consider a Terry Butterfly - similar profiles, similarly placed cut outs, and Terry was the first to design a women specific saddle, so they have many more years of innovation and R&D in their products.

Also, if you buy the Terry saddle and it doesn't work, you can return it to for full refund within 30 days.

you most likely have a boil...........lance it.........