I have a sudden onset of groin pain from my unicycle seat. When I say sudden I mean within two or three seconds after mounting the unicycle. The odd thing is that I have been working on one-legged idling almost every day, including last Saturday, without any problem whatsoever. Then the next day I went out to practice my idling as usual and found that the seat was immediately painful upon mounting. This is clearly not an abrasion issue and it doesn’t seem to be a pinching issue since changing to different shorts doesn’t fix the problem. I tried adjusting the seat height and I tried switching to a different unicycle with a different seat and nothing helped. I rested one week and tried again today but I felt the same sudden sharp pain immediately after mounting. So at this point I’m unable to do anything on the unicycle.
Let me try to describe the area where I am feeling the sharp pain. If you run your hand up the inside of your right thigh until you hit a “ceiling”, then that ceiling is the area of the pain. I’ve felt pain before but nothing this sudden or sharp (unless I crushed my “walnuts”).
Has anyone else experienced this type of pain?
This has been frustrating for me because I had to take 4 months off from July through October because I broke my fibula and sprained my ankle on a muni ride. I’ve been getting back slowly by practicing one-legged idling almost daily starting in late October and now I’m sidelined again.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get past this issue?
+1 if you can afford it.
There was a scary post a few weeks ago about pudendal neuralgia, noting that it is an extremely rare condition. Probably not what you have, but as long as you’re surfing for a diagnosis on the web instead of seeing a doctor, you met as well follow all possible leads…
Obviously if you can you should consult a medical professional and nothing of what follows should take the place of professional medical treatment.
Is the side the pain is on the same as the side you’re idling on? I rode unicycle basketball on the KH Slim saddle for a few weeks and found the shape to be incompatible with my body. I would occasionally get a very sharp pain in the area you describe that wasn’t the normal pain I was getting at the time from chafing. Can you try a different saddle or tilting it different, changing your sitting position, and maybe different bike shorts (or bike shorts at all)? Maybe give it some time and hold off on the idling which might put extra pressure on the region. My issue cleared up after a while with a combination of rest, taking it easy, and changing saddles.
I’ll see a doctor at the begining of the new year if it doesn’t resolve itself by then. I was just hoping to save myself a visit. Also, who knows how long it will take the doctor to figure out what is going on. I was hoping someone else might have experienced the same symptoms and had already figured out the cause. I’ll have to research pudendal neuralgia but hopefully that is not what I have.
I alternate between my left and right leg after each attempt in order to keep both sides balanced. I’ve always found that I don’t seem to have a dominant leg for unicycling skills so I might as well learn both sides.
I’ve tried different saddles, different saddle heights and different unicycles. I’ve also tried different shorts. Nothing has helped. However, your suggestion of changing the saddle tilt is an interesting idea and I’ll try that tomorrow. If that doesn’t work hopefully more rest will make a difference.
I just visited the doctor. No hernia or pulled muscle, tendon, etc. He believes the problem is neuromuscular pain which means a nerve in the groin is being aggravated. He put me on prednisone and told me not to unicycle for the next two weeks. Apparently this type of issue can be stubborn. Hopefully in won’t become a persistent issue.
I had something similar happen about 2 years ago. Every time I got on my 36er I would get that groin pain like you spoke of. I changed my seat angle around back then and it for the most part got rid of the issue. I was riding my 36 around yesterday and didn’t have the pains anymore.