Impotence and bicycling. A seldom-reported connection.

A man riding a stationary bicycle experienced transient tight sensations around the head of his penis during the exercise and progressive impairment of sexual potency over a period of more than one year. Lowering the bicycle seat terminated the bouts of impaired penile sensation, and one month after the patient discontinued the bicycle exercises, sexual potency returned. The course supported an ischemic mechanism for the abnormal penile sensation and a neural mechanism for impotence. Impotence has been associated with both vascular and neural lesions, and there is evidence for both vascular and neural compression in the perineal area during bicycle riding. A relationship between sexual dysfunction and bicycling may be more common than formerly suspected.