Testicle Issues with Bike Riding

[fuse929]

Since I know most of you are avid bike riders/racers, I was wondering if any of you could give some insight to things I've been finding online. I have recently come across forums/articles from various websites that mentioned that bike riding causes testicle damage, calcifications in the testicle, and also weaker/damaged sperm. Like most of you, I'm down to only one nut, and I'd like to do all I can to keep it healthy, even if that means staying off bikes. Have any of you ever heard of anything like this? I'm mostly concerned with the whole "bike riding causes calcifications in the testicle" issue due to the fact that there is evidence possibly correlating calcifications and TC.

Thanks
Bobby

[Scott]

Hey, Bobby, what sources are you finding that make those claims? Can you reference a couple?

[fuse929]

Here are two forum threads I found:

http://www.steadyhealth.com/calcium_in_testicles_t61709.html

http://www.steadyhealth.com/calcium_buildup_in_testicles_t57522.html

Let me know what you think.

Bobby

[Karen]

A scientific review on cycling and urorgenital disorders

Bobby,
The internet and forums have a purpose...but be very skeptical of postings by a few guys and linking cycling to calcifications to cancer. Their calcifications can have absolutely no connection with cycling, just like there is no real correlation if they both eat cheerios every morning.

I did a pubmed search of scientific literature and saw no papers linking testicular calcification and cycling. I posted a summary of two below. I would think that with the number of guys that cycle, if there was an increase in calcifications the connection would be frequent and obvious to urologists and radiologists.

Eur Urol. 2005 Mar;47(3):277-86; discussion 286-7. Epub 2004 Dec 30.
The vicious cycling: bicycling related urogenital disorders.Leibovitch I, Mor Y.
Department of Urology, Meir Medical Center, Affiliated to Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, 59 Tchernichovski st., Kfar Saba, Israel. [email protected]

PURPOSE: Bicycle riding is one of the most popular means of transportation, recreation, fitness and sports among millions of people of all ages who ride on road and off road, using a variety of bicycle types. It is also a readily available form of aerobic non-impact exercise with established cardiovascular beneficial effects. Bicycles are also a common source of significant injuries. This review focuses upon the specific bicycling related overuse injuries affecting the genitourinary tract. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MEDLINE search of the literature on bicycling and genitourinary disorders was performed using multiple subject headings and additional keywords. The search yielded overall 62 pertinent articles. We focused primarily on the most prevalent related disorders such as pudendal nerve entrapment, erectile dysfunction and infertility. The potential effect of bicycling on serum PSA level was also discussed in depth in view of its recognized clinical importance. Infrequent disorders, which were reported sporadically, were still addressed, despite their rarity, for the comprehensiveness of this review. RESULTS: The reported incidence of bicycling related urogenital symptoms varies considerably. The most common bicycling associated urogenital problems are nerve entrapment syndromes presenting as genitalia numbness, which is reported in 50-91% of the cyclists, followed by erectile dysfunction reported in 13-24%. Other less common symptoms include priapism, penile thrombosis, infertility, hematuria, torsion of spermatic cord, prostatitis, perineal nodular induration and elevated serum PSA, which are reported only sporadically. CONCLUSIONS: Urologists should be aware that bicycling is a potential and not an infrequent cause of a variety of urological and andrological disorders caused by overuse injuries affecting the genitourinary system.

BJU Int. 2007 Jan;99(1):157-60. Epub 2006 Oct 9. Links
Testicular microlithiasis: what does it mean clinically?Dagash H, Mackinnon EA.
Department of Paediatric Urology, Sheffield Children's Hospital, Sheffield, UK. [email protected]

OBJECTIVE: To review our current practice of follow-up for boys with testicular microlithiasis (TM), an uncommon condition characterized by calcification within the seminiferous tubules, detected by ultrasonography (US); TM has been associated with both benign and malignant conditions of the testes but the natural history of TM in children remains unclear. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All boys diagnosed with TM over a 14-year period were included in this study. A search of the radiology database was carried out using the keywords 'testicular microlithiasis' and 'testicular calcification'. A retrospective case-note review was then used to determine age at diagnosis, presenting symptoms, indication for testicular US, outcome and follow-up. We also searched Medline/PubMed, using the same keywords for published data on TM from 1970 to 2006. RESULTS: Over the study period 711 testicular scans were taken in 623 patients; seven cases (1.1%) of TM were identified. The mean (range) age at presentation was 12 (7-15) years. The presenting symptoms were testicular pain (three), undescended testes (two), hydrocele (one) and asymptomatic scrotal swelling (one). In five cases the TM was bilateral and in two a solitary kidney was identified. Only one patient had tumour markers measured (beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin and alpha-fetoprotein) and these were within normal limits. On yearly US follow-up, the TM was less prominent in one patient, unchanged in four and two were lost to follow-up. Three patients are currently on yearly US follow-up while two are under the care of adult general surgeons. The analysis of reports published to date indicated that malignancy only develops when TM is associated with other predisposing factors. CONCLUSION: There is no convincing evidence that TM alone is premalignant. However, when it accompanies other potentially premalignant features we recommend annual US follow-up.

[fuse929]

Haha don't worry............I'm skeptical about pretty much everything I read online, which is why I wanted to see if anyone here ever heard of the research articles the guys in the other forum were talking about. If you couldn't find them on pubmed, that is a good sign that they were probably bogus articles from some half-ass magazine or something. Thanks a ton for your time karen!

Bobby

[Rover]

We’re not as fragile as we sometimes think.

I’d figured the crazy mountain bike stuff was for the kids. Not so. The age group varies but there are plenty of guys in their 40s 50s and up riding hard and falling hard, then they get right back up to ride some more. Oh, and this isn’t limited to off rode but since I’ve just gotten back from a trip to ride Colorado and Moab I thought I’d share a story about this guy Rolf (don’t know the spelling) think he said he was 56. Ran into him outside a bike shop. He was standing at the back of a pick-up with a homemade rack in the bed holding a decked out downhill rig. We figured he was just keeping an eye on it for his son or grandson. Later that morning we caught a shuttle to a trailhead and he got on, in full body armor! Ride was great, Porcupine Rim, lots of fast down hills, no shortage of rocky tech sections and plenty of cliff top panoramas. We stop to check out some single track spurring off the main trail and find an 8-10 foot rock ledge with a nice steep run out. Must be those crazy kids we thought. Then sure enough along comes Rolf on rig and in armor, no pause, just launches off this rock and pedals on. We’re left, jaws on the ground, cracking up and going on about what we just saw.

Through out the day we met up with him and others on the trail. He explained his real gig is racing cross-country. He was tired of kicking the young guys butts only to have them pass him heavy technical sections or through jumps. He would go up and down while the ‘kids’ would hit the first jump and sail over the rest. His solution wasn’t to say he was too old or too fragile. Instead he decided to vary his training. So now he mixes in some downhill, some hucking off cliffs and spends evening at the jump parks. Crazy if you ask me but he explains it’s not that dangerous. The kids got it down. So he’ll follow them, get the speed right and nail it. This guys my hero.

He was banged up some. He obviously falls but the guy is tough. Not superhero tough, just tough enough to know what he likes to do. Tough enough to not let anyone take that from him by saying it might not be safe or he might get hurt.

There’s danger everywhere. We say we accept the fact we can’t control it all. After all we can’t just live in a bubble. But we do. We all live in bubbles. We all have to draw the line on what we can or will do. Just some people have really big bubbles. Some bubbles encompass more.

Cancer sucks, it reminds us we are not immortal. We are vulnerable. It is a humbling experience. Yet time and again I meet people that thrive faced with this adversity. Then you start to look around and notice the people that are overcoming all sorts of obstacles, not only cancer.

I think, cancer makes our bubbles feel a bit smaller. Now it’s time to stretch em out!

-chris

[Karen]

What a great post, Chris!