Bum boils….

…..and how to prevent them.

I am meticulously clean down below, and having spent my life doing sport, personal hygiene has been high up on my agenda.
never had a problem with boils, never need to wear padded shorts or undies. good old fashioned m&s cotton undies always worked fine.
but of late, I am getting a lot of bum boils, specifically in the crease just below my left cheek.
clean undies every ride, shower every day, sudocreme for longer rides, now need germoline to ease myself after rides.

help!! any advice.

Bloody hell Tony. Some of us have just eaten y’know?

Don’t post pics please?

That’s your best side as well.

Dunno why, but I get the same thing every few years.

Have you got a slight fungal infection?
Itching much?

Anusol or prep H are good at easing the pain and getting rid of them quickly 😉

never need to wear padded shorts or undies. good old fashioned m&s cotton undies always worked fine.

Maybe time to try some padded shorts?
I take it if you are riding in cotton undies you’ve got at least another layer on top of that. More layers means more rubbing/chaffing in all sorts of odd places IME.

I’m sure it’s nothing a little prick wouldn’t solve, Ton.

sorry for asking and putting you all off your tea’s….. 😆

no itching, just 2 big sore boils that keep coming back.
was gonna try some cortisone based cream maybe?

Cotton undies not good for cycling in. If you haven’t been having trouble before I would say its luck or you haven’t really been doing much saddle time. Good chammy cream and bib shorts should help lots. If I can’t shower immediately, for instance if I have to drive home, I use baby wipes till I can get to the shower. Never keep wet undies or bibs on any longer than necessary

cotton undies have seen me right for 32 years of riding.

Go to the GP and chat with them, particularly about diabetes…

cotton undies have seen me right for 3231 years of riding.

you are now getting boils, try some padded shorts

particularly about diabetes…

seriously?

seriously?

Depends. Are you peeing a lot?

Hairy arse? Could be a follicle (Ingrowing?) or two getting infected and reinfected.

Yup.

not peeing any more than normal.
not overly hairy.
have my bloods done every 6 month cos of my ticker thing, no mention of diabetes.
think I might go see the doctor to sort it tho, just to be safe.

proper big throbber of a boil tho…cant wait till it busts…. 8)

Ton, it’s probably not related to diabetes, but persistent infections can be so get things checked…

May be an infection called follicalitis (I think), mate had it years ago, no sign of in-growing hairs but returning boils were the thing. Antibiotics cleared it up.

will do, cheers mate.

I would have thought he would have been better talking about the boils on his arse.

Old seaside postcard of ” no nurse I said prick his boil ” as nurse heads towards patient carrying a large saucepan just came to mind .

Another vote for the ingrowing hair follicle or a spot/blackhead that’s created a hole under the skin and once it pops it’s not had time to heal properly, then you aggravate it again and the whole thing starts off once more.

Don’t know if this will help but I had a corse of Rackitain (drug for clearing up excess sebum) because I, apparently, was going through puberty again at the age of 39 and producing too much and getting massive spots on my (none hairy) back and nose. I was embarrassing to say the least. I went to the Docs, then referred to the demo logical dept at Portsmouth hospital who recommended a course of these tablets. Let’s not play around here they were vicious, I lost a lot of weight, became terribly dehydrated and my joints started to creak (all symptoms) but they did the trick. The sores and spots cleared up and had chance the heal over and haven’t returned.

HTH 😀

Got to be time for some waxing down there to sort out in growing hair issues.

cortisone based cream maybe?

Why not. Helped Lance : )
Try magnesium sulphate paste – ‘drawing paste’. Dries them out so they can heal, have used it overnight on longer rides to keep sore spots under control. Easy to get in most chemists. Just be prepared for the pain if you put it on broken skin..

In my early twenties I often had styes on my eyes and a few bum boils exactly as you described. I then took up running, became a vegetarian and cut out refined sugar. The sugar thing was the key, I believe, and I have had neither skin problem since.

Edit: Most replies here seem to be helping you treat the condition rather than the cause!

I’d avoid hydrocortisone if infection is suspected…
Pop to the doc, drop trou and show them the money maker, and let them decide on the best treatment.. Especially if it’s a recurrent issue..

I look forward to a bit of Monday morning backside…

DrP

Can be merely an ingrowing / short hair irritating the follicle. Have a shave.

You are now doing the 500 mile per month thing Ton.

Upping your miles has probably pushed you over the threshold. Might be time for some proper shorts and maybe some chammy cream.

Decent cycling shorts are ace.

Reckon if you tried padded shorts you would be surprised at the comfort and benefits. There is a reason the vast majority of serious cyclists use them…..why don’t you try it…

If i do get some rub or itching down there I use bog standard nappy rash cream, works better for me than the specific assos skin repair stuff

+1 for padded shorts next to the skin, the only way to go

thinking of it now, the 500 mile thing might have caused this. I have had the problem since January.
so I am now going to get some padded cycling shorts or undies for the 1st time.

endure undies?
castelli or assos shorts?

I started with budget endura liners, moved on to mid range giordana, then gore now assos. You definitely get what you pay for in terms of comfort. Fit is important despite loving gore stuff I appear to be between medium and large and have both and neither feel quite right.

Oh and definitely get bibs, shorts dig into your waist and I found uncomfortable on long rides.

Have a look on ribble for assos UNOs cheapest I found a month or so ago when I got my next pair. Around £85ish. Millies cost more but I can’t tell the difference on the bike

Definitely worth getting it checked out if it seems to come and go. I had what I believed to be a deeply-buried arse spot that would grow and decrease in size depending on how much riding I was doing.

When it grew, I’d give a squeeze in the hope of a satisfying burst of pus, but it never yielded anything until the day came when jets of watery blood accompanied the squeezing. Cue me hovering over a mirror placed on the floor, feeling rather concerned, with a view of my backeye that I’d prefer not to have ever seen.

At this point I elected to get involved with medical professionals, and ultimately ended up being diagnosed with a sebaceous cyst, which required surgery. Rather painful surgery. I’d let it fester for so long that, rather than stab open the mound and let the goo run out, the surgeon actually had to scrape out the damaged flesh inside and leave me with an auxiliary bumhole.

To be honest, the recovery wasn’t too bad. What wasn’t so good was the embarrassment of having a nurse turn up to my house the day after the operation, draw the curtains, make me drop my kecks and then insert the packing into my second ringpiece, all whilst trying to make polite conversation.

I feel your pain, currently going through something similar, despite the padded shorts and cream.

Will almost totally clear up or be very small and painless. One long ride later big and nasty with pus…..

Going to give it a week then off to the doctor and admit defeat I think…

Embrace lycra and padding next to the skin. It makes a mahoosive difference.

Pix?

Get it checked. Then invest in a well-fitting pair of lycra bibshorts. Aesos are expensive, but there are plenty of good brands. The important bit is that they hold your bits in place and padd your rear.

Similar thing myself recently… Again, meticulous cleaning routine downstairs, and every day if not twice a day.

Two things have helped me. Some nicer padded shorts (I’m now using Morvelo bibs, can’t recommend them highly enough), and some Chapeau chamois cream. The cream only helps for a little while to be fair though, proper fitting shorts makes a big difference.

That said I’ve still had one of the little lighters come back again recently. Not sure but think I may have an in growing hair, also suspect possibility I may need more antibiotics (took a load when it first appeared, they didn’t do that much first time round).

Proper shorts and some cream (epiderm) will help reduce recurrence but get whatever ails you currently checked out first.