Hi all, am new to the forum, am seeking HELP on yoga practice and how it affects skin issues. I have been an eczema baby my whole life. It comes and goes in droves, usually a patch here and there during my adolescent years. Now in my adulthood I have developed a permanent eczema problem in my hands. My naturopath has helped by putting on fish oil supplements, thyroid supplements, probiotics and allergy detox diet (avoid soys, wheats, etc…). while that helped for a short few months, the eczema still lingered! She had suggested Hot Yoga as a way to detoxify my system of the high levels of histamine.
Well, 6mos later of attending Power Vinyasa and Hatha yoga religiously(4x’s/week) not only for my skin issues but for spiritual and health benefits I have now developed eczema ALL over the body. I am concerned I cannot do what I love (which is yoga) due to the heat and sweat possibly irritating the eczema. I have never in my life had it this bad before. Is it quite possible it is fungal related instead of just internally related? Has anyone ever experienced this before? I am now stocked with tea tree oil body wash, Aveeno body wash, Amlactin lotion, and a cortisone lotion my MD gave me last year for my hands. I am tired of itching, tired of cortisone, tired of benedryl, but IN NEED of yoga. How to make this work? anybody out there with these problems?
Have you considered switching to a yoga style that provokes less sweat? E.g. staying away from hot yoga and practicing at normal temperatures? And favoring hatha yoga over the more vigorous power yoga practices?
hmmm…i gots psoriasis…i tried hot yoga…and TONS…of other stuff…not sure what helps…its getting better lately…not much though…i added in praying is probably why…lol
Hi MimiG
First off, I just want to acknowledge that eczema can really be tough to live with.
Second, some advice: stay away from the HOT yoga, in fact, the HOT anything! You know that it irritates your skin, so don’t do it.
Most yogic practices are naturally heating (internally), so you should focus on doing a more cooling kind of practice.
6 years ago I had a student (i’m a yoga teacher) who had quie bad eczema and asthma too. Within a few months of practicing she came off the inhaler for the first time in her life! And the eczema also gradually disappeared.
I feel that it’s nothing to do with detoxifying - i’m also a healer. It’s much more to do with your self-image, and how you relate to the world. Perhaps you pay too much attention to how other people think and feel, and not enough attention to how YOU think and feel. Learn to love yourself more - from the inside out.
With love,
Ben
ps - i felt that the key to my student’s success 6 years ago was pranayama. I recommend you do gentle kaphalabati (3 rounds - in the morning) plus at least 10 minutes of alternate nostril breathing daily (preferably twice, morning and evening). It would also be very good to develop a simple meditation routine.
If you like, I work on skype or over the phone with people, and you can find out more information from the links in my signature.
Good luck!
Hallo MimiG,
As a fellow sufferer of eczema I can only echo what has been said here, stay away from anything hot. The tea trea oil will worsen the eczema as it dries the skin too much and cause the little water bubbles to burst which increases the itching.
About 5 years ago I stopped using the allopathic (western) cortisone based prescribed ointments and lotions and went to a homeopath. She prescribed a Rhus Tox creame and Rhus Tox (200ch) pills as well as Lycopodium (200ch) pills which really controls my eczema very successfully. I now get a bout about once every six months and it is not as severe as it used to be, now only a small patch where it used to be for example all over my legs from top to bottom.
Please note that fungal infections may look and feel like eczema, but they are different and the main difference lies in the little water bubbles that is formed with eczema. The homeopathic treatment is different for both. Best will be to try a homeopath and see where that takes you. For me it was the answer to a huge and sometimes embarassing problem in my life.
Hello Mimi,
I must be brief in my reply as I am in the midst of a 10-Day therapeutic teacher training here at Yoga Centers in Bellevue.
Generally speaking the skin is the termination of the nervous system and therefore it is the bridge between the nervous system and the outside world. I would not, for a student of mine, suggest a frisky anything as that tends to agitate the nervous system rather than soothe it.
For cleansing and flushing toxins I would suggest Calli or Fortune Delight from the SR line (the first is more powerful than the second in terms of removing stuff), and those things that will calm the nervous system, including gentle pranayama in the supine position, Savasana, Viparita Karani, Supta Baddha Konasana, and shifts in the diet and lifestyle.
Those would include but not me limited to organic foods, deep gree leafy vegetables, hydration, oxygenation, and an alkaline diet - perhaps even the avoidance of sugars, wheat and dairy (see the anti candida diet for additional info). In terms of lifestyle I would suggest an attention to that which is over stimulating - news media, some motion pictures, computer usage, and the presence of EMF in the living quarters, just as a beginning.
Thank you for the suggestions, I have generally considered myself a laid back person, nothing riles me up too easily which is why the discovery of yoga has suited my lifestyle and spiritual mentality easily.
I suspected that the heat could be a contributor of the skin issue. Just didnt want it to be because I am naturally a heat seeker. I have noticed that when I am back home in Hawaii or Vietnam, my skin/eczema clears up even with the high humidity and high heat. I think my body craves for the origins of my country? 90% humidity and 90 degrees F? The possiblility could be the salt water in the air and being antiseptic in nature. Dont know…
Sigh…
So when I discovered hot yoga it felt a little bit like home. My body loved it, I loved it, maybe we are on the verge of a divorce now…I am heading to the MD today to rule out any fungal matter and will seek out a local non-heated yoga studio near my house. In the meantime, stay tuned.
If it is not fungal related I will perhaps seek out another naturopath to help my itching journey…
Mimi,
it may also be regional foods or other food borne issues.
Are you eating only organic and washing your produce in a fruit and vegetable rinse before consuming them?
It has been a little over two weeks since I’ve left Hawaii and I’ve been ill 100% of the time. I think there are some places that are easy to transition from, and Hawaii doesn’t seem to be on that list. Of course, it took my body months to transition TO Hawaii, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
Gordon, what is a good fruit and vegetable rinse? Thanks 
I’ve PM’ed you a reply David.
Eczema is a common word used for skin inflammation. The main cause behind this problem is deposition of toxics in body. So to fight eczema detoxification of body should be first step, for this we can take help of yogic cleansing practices like vomiting water (Kunjal), Nasal Cleansing (Neti Kriya), and cleansing of digestive tract (Sankh Prakshalana). But these practices should be done under the supervision of a yoga expert only. After cleansing of the body we can move ahead with yoga poses (Asana) and Yogic Breath (pranayama) to improve digestion, blood circulation, immunity of the body and purification of the blood.
One should avoid heat generating Yoga poses (Asana) and Yogic Breath (pranayama) and prefer the soothing and cooling ones.
Thus a proper approach with yoga can reduce the intensity of the problem.
Hi All,
Can Psoriasis be cured by YOGA?
Please reply asap…
eydiya
Poor diet, poor stimulation of the circulatory and excretory systems and subsequent build up of toxins are the root cause of skin eruptions. According to Yoga, the practice of Asanas, Breathing techniques as well as Internal Cleansing techniques will serve to address skin issues.
Mimi,
Wow! You’ve had a hard time of it. I’ll offer my two cents as I’ve also suffered with eczema and am (at the moment) free of all of it. I sought out a dermatologist who told me to avoid EVERYTHING except vaseline as a moisturizer. Any of the other ointments have other “stuff” in them and without knowing exactly what causes your eczema you may be worsening it. So, you can put vaseline on it but nothing with chemicals. The only other treatment that was at all helpful was Ihle’s paste applied sparingly once per day (usually at bedtime) to help heal the sores.
Water water water…internally. Flush your system as much as possible. Avoid caffeine like the plague.
Follow InnerAthlete’s advice about calming and soothing yoga. No power yoga, hot yoga or other “rev you up” types of yoga. Focus on restorative poses and pranayama. It WORKS.
These few things worked for me, and for my daughter as well. I hope they offer some help to you.
Here is my 2 cents since I suffer a minor form of it.
Listen to my case. While I was back in India, I had cold and sneezes most of the days of the month. Had no clue what it was.
After I moved to US, cold/sneezes stopped instead some rashes started appearing on my body.
At this point I started observing what I was eating. Found out I am allergic(mild) to things like dairy, soy, most preservatives, some nuts like almond, alcohol, citrus fruits etc
It is hard for me watch out all I eat especially during lunch when I eat outside. But I try to control and I do not see much rashes on my palm.
Moral of the story is, your body trying to throw out something that it doesn’t like.
So the first thing is identify what aggravates the situation.
Yoga always helps. Especially inversion poses and poses that rejuvenates liver.
I want to add one more thing. My Dr. found out I have low level of Vitamin D.
So he asked me to take 4000 imu per day. But I am taking only 2000. That also helping a bit(i think)
Being a long time eczema sufferer, none of the prescription medications worked for me and I suffered from side effects of most drugs. Here are a few things have helped me through the years: 1) skin care products that made out of deadsea salt and mud. 2) UV ray – indoor tanning, although we all know it has its own harmful effect as well. 3) Egyptian magic cream. Last but not least, actually the most effective one for me – Hot yoga. Within the first week of daily practice of Bikram yoga, there was noticable improvement on my skin. Within one month, I allergy is gone and I stopped needing liquid foundation to cover the eczema breakouts on my face and neck. I’ve now being practicing daily for over three months (without any diet restrictions), almost free of breakouts. The few that come out here and there are usually small and go away within a few days.