Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of bicycle saddle shape on penile blood flow during cycling. Penile blood flow was measured using a laser Doppler flowmeter in 20 potent male volunteers. In a counterbalanced, crossover design, measurements were taken in the standing and sitting positions, on either a narrow unpadded or wide unpadded saddle, before and after cycling for 5 min. Before cycling, penile blood flow (ml/min/100 g tissue) was significantly decreased from 1.6±0.7 to 1.5±0.7 (P=0.010) on the wide saddle and from 1.7±0.6 to 1.0±0.5 (P<0.001) on the narrow saddle. After 5 min of cycling, the changes in penile blood flow on the wide and narrow saddles were 0.34±0.49 and −0.38±0.49, respectively (P<0.001). The narrow saddle is associated with more significant reductions in penile blood flow and could be a source of blunt perineal trauma, potentially leading to erectile dysfunction.
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Jeong, SJ., Park, K., Moon, JD. et al. Bicycle saddle shape affects penile blood flow. Int J Impot Res 14, 513–517 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3900929
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3900929
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