FACT VS. FICTION

Bike seats don't seem to cause female sex dysfunction

By Anahad O'Connor
December 19, 2006

THE CLAIM: Bicycle seats can cause sexual dysfunction in women

THE FACTS: For several years, scientists have known that traditional
bicycle seats can cause sexual dysfunction in men. Although female
cyclists had never been studied directly, it was widely assumed that
they, too, could suffer that fate.

But that may not be the case. For the first time, a study this month
looked at avid female cyclists and found that bike seats may affect
them differently. Like male riders, many women in the study experienced
tingling, pain and decreased genital sensation. But they did not show
symptoms of impaired sexual function, possibly reflecting a lower
susceptibility to sexual side effects than men.
The study, published in the journal Sexual Medicine, looked at 48
healthy, premenopausal cyclists who biked about three to four days a
week for two hours at a time, then compared them with 22 runners.

In men, traditional bike seats compress an artery and nerve that supply
the genitals with blood and sensation, increasing the risk of impotence
over time. Because the same artery and nerve are crucial to sexual
function in women, assumptions about female cyclists are often
extrapolated from studies on men.

But Dr. Marsha K. Guess, an assistant professor at Yale medical school
and the lead author of the new study, said female cyclists might
benefit from anatomical differences that produce less compression. She
also stressed the possibility that sexual side effects in female
cyclists might be noticeable only in longer-term studies.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Bicycle seats can cause decreased genital sensation in
avid female cyclists, but the latest study suggests they may not cause
sexual dysfunction.