What should men pay attention to when cycling?
Men who love cycling need not worry about the number of hours they spend cycling affecting their fertility, according to new research.
UPI cited the largest study involving cyclists, swimmers and runners on concerns that cycling could harm sexual or urinary function due to long-term pressure on the buttocks and perineum (the area between the scrotum and anus).
Study author Dr. Benjamin Breyer, a urological surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco (USA), said the results showed that cycling was no more harmful to the pelvic floor than swimming and jogging.
“I think if you ride safely, the health benefits of cycling are huge,” he explains. “The overall health benefits far outweigh the other concerns.”
Cycling, whether done for recreation or commuting, is becoming increasingly popular, Breyer said. But the activity has received a lot of attention about its potential effects on sexual and urinary health.
“Some people, in order to protect their sexual and urinary health, choose to wear padded shorts and use different types of chairs,” he said.
The new study of men surveyed 2,774 cyclists, 539 swimmers and 789 runners. All completed a series of research-validated questionnaires about sexual health, prostate symptoms, urinary tract infections, numbness and nausea, and other factors.
Cyclists were also asked about their bike type, saddle type and angle, frequency of wearing padded shorts, proportion of time spent in the saddle, handlebar type, and saddle surface type. Cyclists were divided into a high-intensity group (cycling more than two or three times per week and averaging more than 40 km per day) and a low-intensity group.
Notably, high-intensity cyclists reported better erectile function scores than low-intensity cyclists.
It is also worth noting that cyclists are twice as likely to develop scarring or narrowing of the urethra – urethral strictures – than swimmers or runners. This can affect the flow of urine out of the body. However, the sexual and urinary health of cyclists is comparable to that of other athletes.
Among cyclists, those who stood more than 20% of the time while cycling had significantly lower rates of genital numbness. In addition, handlebar height lower than seat height increased the risk of genital numbness and back pain.
He recommends that men adopt more of these practices: staying off the saddle, wearing protective clothing, using a cutout seat (with some details omitted), and a bike that fits their body type.
The study was published in the March 2017 issue of the Journal of Urology.