TheHotYogaDoctor

Posted by dansof

I have rosacea.  I love Bikram, but it leaves my face red for hours and hours.
thoughts?

Hello

I am copying in an email that Elaine sent me here…

  Sometimes I do the Bikram series at home. I have roacea so the heat damages
  my skin.  Any general advice

I don’t know what happened Elaine but my post didn’t show up! I would be interested to hear from you about the actual triggers to your condition. Do you only get it in the hot room? Or does it occur in other situations? How long have you been doing the yoga and how many times per week? Has there been any change in your rosacea since you started? ie has it got worse or stayed the same?

I await your response

Namaste
Gabrielle

Posted by dansof

Thank you Gabrielle.
The hot room gets my face red in a way that other things don’t.  It stays really red for hours.  I’ve not monitored whether specific foods also trigger it.
I started by taking a couple classes a week for a few months.  I struggled though the actual classes and was bright red and my face felt hot for hours, but it’s the only exercise I’ve done as an adult that has had a powerful positive impact on how I feel.

But the redness from the class seemed to get worse as time went on (and as the weather got warmer) and I stopped.  I just seemed like it wasn’t good for my skin to get that ‘overheated’.

Might the poses that put my head below my heart aggravate things?

thanks for your replies!
Elaine

Posted by Ben

Hi Gabrielle,

Looks like I may have the start of some rosacea as well.  My nose is quite red and slightly swollen, and has been for about 2 weeks now.  All the literature indicates that strenuous exercise in hot weather can be a trigger.

As I told you, I’ve been going to class 3x a week for about 6 months.

I think I might have to do the series on my own in a cool room until it passes…although that’s a very disappointing option!

Namaste

Posted by Barb

I also suffer from Rosacea.  My face gets very red (always has) during any type of exercise.  I have been doing Bikram for 4 months now and I find that the redness, post yoga class, is lessening as time goes on.

My flare-ups (tiny white pimples and rudiness on cheeks and nose) seem to occur mostly during the cold weather.  So I’m “lucky” that the heat only causes redness.  Cold weather bothers me more than heat.

Are you on any oral or topical meds?  I currently use Metronidazole (Metrolotion) and Prascion FC (facial cleansing cloth) on a daily basis.  The cleansing cloth really seems to work.  If I forget to use it (or am lazy) for a day or two, I definitely flare.

I hope this info helps.

Barb

Posted by Ben

Thanks for your reply.

I’m not on any meds as this has just started.  My nose is quite red and a little swollen.

For now, I’ve got an over-the-counter rosacea ointment and plan to keep out of the heat for a week or two.  I hope it will clear up!  Then I’ll go back to the heat with my fingers crossed.

I’ll try to do some “cool” yoga for now.  I’m curious how the practice will feel at room temp….

namaste

Ben

I’ve been taking Bikram hot yoga now for 6 weeks and my Rosacea is getting worse each time. Unfortunately, my dermatologist is saying to switch to another yoga discipline practiced in regular tempertures. I was diagnosed a year ago and have been on Finecia at night, and Metro Gel twice a day. This regimen has controlled the symptoms perfectly until I started the Hot Yoga practice. My face now stays red for about 12 hours if I practice in the morning. Usually heals during sleep if I practice after work. I’ve never broken out from it but have gotten several small pimples in the past two weeks. I really don’t want to quit. Anyone have any suggestions?

Hello Martha

I guess you are doing what you can. I would have suggested practicing at night but you are already doing that. I am thinking that you probably need to give it a definite time period to see if there is any normalizing of your systems or flushing and cleansing happening that COULD possibly set up better conditions in your body. In other words perhaps your symptoms may in fact reduce over time. You may need a re-assessment of your medications (because some people find they need less tablets with increased practice). Don’t give up hope. Not just yet. Set a very strong intention without expectation. Then reassess when the time is right.

Namaste
Gabrielle

Hello everyone!  My post is a bit related so I figured I would put it here.  I am sorry that it is a bit long…

I have been practicing Bikram Yoga for about three months.  I started very slow (once a week) because I had to let time pass to get over the fear of the heat.  The poses are not a breeze either, especially since I also weight train and had very tight shoulders and hamstrings. Anyhow, I increased my practice to two times a week, then three and just this last week I completed five days.  I have not stepped on the scale for about two weeks but I have noticed that my arms are thinner.  The rest, especially the mid section, is still somewhat the same :-(.  I don’t have the best diet but, but I don’t have the worse either.  I do have to say that the “cravings” for food (my favorite: wine and salty things) have gone away.  I even find myself asking myself, if I want to eat something only to realize that I don’t!  So all of that was just a little pre information before I go to the “real” issue that I have with Bikram (hot) yoga and the fact that I don’t find related posts.  Although I do agree that this yoga is addictive, I have a love hate relationship with it.  It’s dreadful when I am in that room and heaven once it’s over.  The physical feeling certainly is AMAZING once you are done.  My problem with it is my FACE/skin.  I am one of those unfortunate women who has Malesma (brown spots in the face/pregnancy mask) which is usually common on “pregnant” women due to their hormones.  These spots worsen with sun exposure or heat and here is where this yoga comes in.  So after finally getting a cream called Tri-Luma which worked very well, I started doing this yoga and I am back to square one.  My face looks horrible!.  I am 38 and look 30 but the spots are dreadful and are starting to really age me.  To make things worse, I have recently inherited Seborrheic Dermatitis which is another nasty skin condition, which is also flared up by “heat”.  Any thoughts besides telling me to stay away from the “heat” and this type of class?  I really like it and I am insanely hoping that this is all just a form of detox.

Thank you,

Hi Lissette

May I ask you a question? When you look at yourself in the mirror at yoga, what do you say to yourself? Are you upset and maybe saying “I look horrible” or other such things? I am guessing that with such outbreaks you could be feeling rather upset when you look in the mirror. And because you aim to make your self-connection during class you could be reinforcing any negative feelings or beliefs you have around your conditions. Your beliefs and what you say to yourself and how you talk to yourself are a powerful determinant of your reality. One type of treatment that you may not have considered could be hypnosis. Or you could see a Bodytalk or Psych-k practitioner to help you rewire your mind’s ‘software’. I personally like this last approach.

Now onto your conditions:

I did some poking around and couldn’t actually find that your dermatitis condition is affected by the heat. I did find out that it can be caused by a fungal infection (which you probably already know) and it can be caused by changed hormonal levels. Is the diagnosis of seborrheic dermatitis definitive?

As malesma can also have its roots in changed hormonal levels I was wondering if that avenue had been investigated. Now I realize you are probably under professional care and I am not here to give you medical advice but I just wanted to say that it is possible - being a woman - that hormone levels are worth looking into.

Namaste
Gabrielle

Hi Gabrielle,

Thanks for your feedback! 

It’s funny that say “when I look at myself in the mirror at yoga” because although I try to find a spot where I can see myself, I am never too very close to the mirror. It’s not that “I don’t like to look at myself”, as I have heard others say. I just like to be closer to the door which gets opened once in a while. Coincidently in the last two practices, I have stood very close to the mirror and besides it being hotter since I am not close to the door, I love seeing myself and the way I do the poses.  When I think about your question, I do think of a ton of things I am angry at myself about, but I do not think about them when I am there.  I do see that my belly is bigger than other student’s belly and that it gets in the way of many poses, but I let it go and affirm that one day it will not be there.  I have to admit that I did get imotional writing that so , so I am not sure what is going on, but there is something there. I will keep this in mind and keep affirming positive things because you could be right on target.

Regarding the Seborrehic Dermatitis, yes it was a definite diagnose.  Actually, I just got off the phone with my dermatologist who said that this is a normal yeast growth that gets agrevated with heat and that my hormones do not have to do with it.  I am confused   She says that it’s a pretty stubborn thing to control so I guess it will be there for ever if it means I have to quit hot yoga!

Malesma is hormonal and also runs in my family.  I got my hormones tested about two years ago due to “fertility” treatments I thought I needed but all was well.  I am going to test myself again so we’ll see. 

In the meantime, I will definitely keep doing the mental work and see what happens.  I think hot yoga is magical for my soul so there is no way it can not eventually reflect in my physical body. 

Again - thanks for your much appreciated input!

Namaste,
Lissette

Gabrielle - 03 April 2008 12:36 AM

Hello Martha

I guess you are doing what you can. I would have suggested practicing at night but you are already doing that. I am thinking that you probably need to give it a definite time period to see if there is any normalizing of your systems or flushing and cleansing happening that COULD possibly set up better conditions in your body. In other words perhaps your symptoms may in fact reduce over time. You may need a re-assessment of your medications (because some people find they need less tablets with increased practice). Don’t give up hope. Not just yet. Set a very strong intention without expectation. Then reassess when the time is right.

Namaste
Gabrielle

Gabrielle -

I’m intrigued by your response above: “need to give it a definite time period to see if there is any normalizing of your systems or flushing and cleansing happening that COULD possibly set up better conditions in your body. In other words perhaps your symptoms may in fact reduce over time.”

Would you recommend continue Bikram during this “time period” or taking a break?

Perhaps I should tell you about my current dilemma.

I am 42 and I started my Bikram practice 5 months ago, attending classes 4-5x a wk. Shortly into my experience I felt strongly that this was “my thing” - and my chronic back and knee issues began to improve—and I felt better than I had in 10 yrs. 2 months into my practice I started getting classic rosecea symptoms on my face; bright red nose, raised/inflammed skin, pimple-like sores on cheeks and forehead (wept like a poison oak/ivy reaction rather than a normal pimple white head). I continued with Bikram until until a month ago—when I counld no longer ignore that my face just hurt badly and would not stop itching. So, much to my disappointment, I stopped Bikram with the hope of getting my skin to calm down for a while so I could start Bikram up again later. During my break from Bikram over the past month I’ve been to my primary care dr, a dermatologist and a naturopath. I’m using a topical anti-biotic gel and working on some vitamin deficiencies that may be contributing to the inflammation (low vitamin B and foliate levels, high level of homocysteine). My skin has improved in the last few wks—but it still remains a bit inflamed even w/the gel and without Bikram.

I’m all for walking through pain (as I’m sure anyone who does Bikram regularly must be comfortable with). What I’d appreciate is your opinion and/or observational experience is on whether or not I should continue with Bikram to see if some natural balance will arise—or whether I should wait until my skin is calmed down completely—or whether my Bikram days are over. I can handle a few months of discomfort—but what I don’t want is to make my skin constantly inflamed permanently.

My last question is related to un-heated Bikram. I’m intrigued by your MasterClass program and wonder what the benefits would be for me of using your DVDs if I can’t get back to the heated studio. I’m sure the practice won’t be as cardiovascularly challenging and I would have to be careful about proper form to prevent injury—but are there other things I would be giving up?

Many thanks in advance!

Hi Valorie

Thanks for your in depth post. It must be somewhat distressing to still have the problem even after giving up the yoga temporarily. It has been winter recently for you and so you would not have experienced hot ambient temperatures. So, was it the heat and the yoga? Or was it that that set of conditions aggravated something latent and caused those eruptions?

I wonder about the underlying conditions in your system and would love to know more about what you are eating, how much water you are drinking, whether you add salt to your diet and what kind.

As for practicing without the heat, (well, it doesn’t have to be completely without heat) I think it is a great place to start. It is really an ideal scenario for you because you can self-regulate the heat and your conditions to build in the right amount of challenge and heat for you. [I do want to thank you very much for your order, by the way - and am here to help you in any way I can.]

You could see how you go with a class in a mildly heated room. Check out how you feel and what happens and then work out whether you are fine with the full 90 minute class or if you have to ‘re-acclimatize’ by starting with the shorter classes first. Over time you can also heat the room a little more…

You’ll also be quite surprised at how much heat you do generate in low temperature rooms. So don’t be so concerned. It is possible that you have been going to a room where the heat has been too high for YOUR system. So let’s see what happens.

Namaste
Gabrielle

Thank you so much for your reply, Gabrielle!

Yes, it is winter for me—I live in the USA in New England. The doctors all say I probably always had rosecea and that it was finally triggered by the heat in yoga. I’ve always been prone to get very red during exercise/heat—but it always went away after I cooled down—and never bumpy, inflamed skin before now. I know it is supposed to be genetic and my sister has had it for years.

There was another environmental influence that I believe may have accelerated my sensitive skin. About 15 years ago I was exposed to poison oak and had a systemic reaction to it (had inflamed skin all over my body—even where I didn’t touch the poison oak directly). Ever since then my skin has been pretty reactive—not really that dry—but I get itchy spots—not a rash—but a single inflamed pimple like spot—especially in the winter. So I assume the rosecea is genetic fortune triggered by a combination of environmental sources—starting w/the poison oak and aided recently by the heat from yoga.

I drink a decent amount water 40 oz a day now—but when I was doing yoga I was drinking at least 2x that amount. I seek out low/no salt food—and only add a minimum amt of table salt to my. The salt is generally the regular iodized type. Would sea salt be better?

I am very excited about your MasterClass kit. I can’t tell you how much I miss the routine—and so far, nothing seems a good substitute. I can’t wait until it arrives! I’m grateful I was able to go to a studio for a few months—and feel pretty good about some of my form—but I’m looking forward getting your coaching on the poses. I do feel like I’m going to miss is the heat at the studio—I felt like in every class I climbed a mountain—it was such a mental and physical rush afterwards—and truly no exercise has ever clicked with me the way Bikram has. I know I need to be careful about external heat—but I’d like to experiment with my internal heat. Do you think there will be a difference in how my skin will react between external heat and internal generated heat? I do crave getting my heart rate up so I can get a good cardio workout. I was reading in the forum that I could do some sun salutations before I begin the Bikram to get the heart pumping.

One last note, the heat very rarely bothered me in class—most days I didn’t mind it at all—and I had very few days where I wanted to bolt from the room—usually when it was up a bit higher than normal (my studio keeps it right at 105).

I will take your suggestion and start slow with the shorter work out and no extra heat and see how I do.

Thanks again for your insight!

Hi Valorie

Aha, the story is revealing itself…

That’s very interesting about the poison oak episode. Perhaps there is some relation.

I was talking with a friend yesterday. During our conversation (with regards to some recent issues she’s been having) I discovered she eliminated salt from the diet of her whole family ages ago, believing as we all do that too much salt is bad for you.

That in itself is an interesting statement. And yes too much IODIZED TABLE SALT IS BAD FOR YOU. What is good for you however, is natural unrefined sea salt. In fact it’s essential.

I recommend going out and buying some proper salt! Try Celtic, Himalayan or Hawaiian. I am sure there are plenty of others and by all means go to a store where they sell them bulk and sample some. Then make sure you start to take about a teaspoon of the GOOD salt every day. You can sprinkle it on your salads, your meals, anything. Hey, even add a pinch to your water bottle to make it a great electrolyte drink.

I would also up your water intake. If you are only drinking 40 oz of water per day on non yoga days I do think that is not sufficient. See what you can do to take 60-70 oz per day, maybe even more. But keep up the salt too. Kids should have the good salt too. About 1/2 a teaspoon would be good depending on their age.

So, back to the conversation with my friend yesterday. I ended up bringing her some Himalayan salt later that day. And we both agreed there are 2 good reasons to buy that poisonous table salt: Making Play dough for your children and for adding to cold water when you are wanting to set dyes in clothes where the color runs!

I would love to know if the salt and water make a difference to you. And how you go with your yoga, skin and what effect the heat experimentation has on everything.

Namaste
Gabrielle