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| Hi-
I am sorry that I do not know mych about acne and Bikram. However, my 12 year old daughter has severe scoliosis and has been doing Iyengar yoga. I am considering her trying Bikram (I do it myself). How much has it helped your scoliosis? Have you reduced your curve? And, was yours severe to begin with? Does anyone else out there have success stories with Bikram and scoliosis?
Thank you,
brooke |
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| Attiepay - 2004-09-30 6:28 PM
I am new to Bikram Yoga (tonight will be my 15th class) and I have been experiencing horrible problems with acne. My acne was bad before but now it's 10 times worse and I have a different type called "comedomes" - which I think are the offical name for whiteheads. I have them all over my cheeks and chin and it's so frustrating. I finally went and saw a dermatologist last week and after paying my insurance co-pay and buying about 7 different products (one to wash face with, medicine to put on, Retin A to add on top of that at night, a special sun screen for the day) and starting on Doxycycline I've realized that it's really expensive to treat acne. I was wondering if anyone else out there has experienced this problem when first starting Bikram Yoga, and if it eventually cleared up. My dermatologist said that humidity makes acne worse, but Bikram Yoga has helped my scoliosis so much I am not ready to give it up.  I welcome any thoughts on this. P.s. I'm 33 so I know it's not just a teenager type of acne that I will just grow out of. 
I have no problem stating I am somewhat of an expert on acne as i too suffered into my thirties. I was on lots of accutane as a teenager and into my twenties. It was very resistant to treatment. I tried EVERYTHING. I know Bikram with its sweating and hot room will definatly make a case of acne worse.
Please try this is worked wonders for me. I stumbled upon taking Colostrum tablets (high quality from new zealand). Nothing worked like Colostrum. i tried all the junk products into my thiries because i no longer had a serious case (cystic) so I didnt want to take accutane anymore. I was shocked at the side effect of taking colostrum-no acne. Its been years now and I have great clear skin. Bikram yoga is no problem. |
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| Scoliosis is obviously to do with Spine and not heat. Therefore, any proper exercises of spine shall help whether they are done in Hot room or not.
bssoll - 2008-01-10 12:52 PM
Hi-
I am sorry that I do not know mych about acne and Bikram. However, my 12 year old daughter has severe scoliosis and has been doing Iyengar yoga. I am considering her trying Bikram (I do it myself). How much has it helped your scoliosis? Have you reduced your curve? And, was yours severe to begin with? Does anyone else out there have success stories with Bikram and scoliosis?
Thank you,
brooke |
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Expert Yogi
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| Brooke - I strongly advise your daughter to stay with Iyengar. While it is possible she'll find a teacher at bikram with enough training to help with scoliosis, the odds are not for it. |
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| TOTALLY off topic but anyway...
Hello Brooke! In answer to your question, I have a good friend at my yoga studio who suffered from scoliosis for a long time. Bikram yoga has helped her a lot and now she has a beautiful (VERY strong and flexible) spine, as well as an amazing practice. You might also take a peek at this youtube video from the Funky Door studio in California: http://youtube.com/watch?v=iT2CbridEqM This girl Sarah Baughn talks a little bit about her experience with Bikram and scoliosis, and her story is pretty amazing. I would say keep up with the Iyengar if it is working for your daughter, but it couldn't hurt to check out Bikram as well! |
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| It's funny that this is one of the first topics I've run into on this board as a new Bikram yogini, because one of the first effects of it I've noticed (after a week) is that the "bacne" I usually have on my upper back, and have had for quite some time, is almost completely gone. I'm not sure what to attribute it to, but my first thought was that maybe somehow the sweating was purging out the bacteria / toxins causing it? It seems too soon to be noticing any major changes caused by doing a Bikram class, but I don't know what else I could possibly attribute this to. |
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| cyndi, so you mix all the sauce materials and don't heat it up at all? no stir frying it either?(i noticed on yahoo search that bitter melons are used as part ingredient on stir frying.) |
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| I've done 6 hot yoga classes now and my skin has never looked better. All the pimples and blackheads have disappeared. I'm quite fanatic about keeping things clean though. I wash my towels and hot yoga workout clothes right away after and my mat is disinfected after every class. I also make sure to shower and rinse off all the sweat. |
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| I signed up for Bikram Yoga during a half price special  I am 59 years old, and used to have acne as a teenager and into my late thirties; Accutane got rid of it. I love yoga, and thought I was too old for the acne to come back. Wrong! It came back, taking Bikram Yoga. I am a scrupulously clean person, and cleaned my face immediately following class, but I believe if someone is acne prone, and has any heat sensitivity, or has a history of cystic acne, they might want to consider other yoga variety. I'm on antibiotics to try to clear it up, but it scarred my face, so back to Hatha!
Roz |
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| I never had acne, not even as a teen. But everytime I do Bikram "BAM" I get acne on my face, but it is short lived. I bath and clean immediately after class but I think I am probably very sensitive and maybe putting my face on a sweaty towel makes me break out. |
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| also, maybe the heat just increases pitta and that leads to the break out. |
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| I'm an esthetician and I know that in the beginning sometimes the practice is bringing out the toxins thru your skin. I recommend that you get a clay masque and do that 2 or three times a week. this will help dry up the acne and control it. give it some time a couple of weeks at least. drink alot of water. Wash your face after class. Also juicing helps clear skin and makes you feel in general Great!!!!!!! let me if this helps or you have any more questions/
Best to you! |
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| dancing j:
sarah baughn may have helped her scoliosis, however she later had to get a knee replacement due to her excursions with bikram yoga.
she certainly learned how to hyperextend in standing bow, as the posture just begs for it. |
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| Hi, Attie.
I only went to Birkham a couple times, but i have to say, the last 1 and a half, I have had tremodous break out. Like you , I have been to the dermo, tried all the topicals, and on an anti-biotic. I haven't had a break out like this in 10 years. All I know is, it must be toxins in your system. Please let me know if you discover any detoxifying diet or program that you have heard helps clear out the system, as I am experiencing what you are.
Cindy |
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| you know I'm 37 and I've had nothing but problems with acne since a kid. for the most part I haven't done much about it, except when I was a kid (peer pressure and all). But over the past year I've seeing if I can't solve this problem.
This is the first I've heard that Bikram Yoga can help, so that would be great since when I quite smoking 5 years ago, I used yoga to help me learn to relax and it helped like you wouldn't believe (yes you would).
I've already made other changes & seen improvements including, keeping my hands as clean as possible (I touch my face alot. I don't know why, habit I guess), stopped using soap on my face, and treatments.
Now I will check into my local yoga & maybe that'll be the finishing touch!!!!
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| I been doing biks since the start of the year nearly everyday. The couple of months I've notice acne and sweat pimples starting to break out on my lower cheeks and forehead.
Over the last week, I started to watch my diet (not eating any spicy foods, fried foods or nuts) and also started to use a cleanser.
The redness of the pimples have gone. I'll be adding the 2 towels, and clean face b4 and after class.
I'll let you know my progress
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| it sounds like your breakouts are due to the combination of your pores being wide open in bikram class, and the germs on your hands and towel/yoga mat. try to not touch your face during class except for a hand towel (that never touches the carpet floor). spend a little extra time in the shower afterwards with the waterspray on your face and dry your face hard with the clean towel afterwards.
-good luck |
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| I've had problems with acne since I was in elementary school, I'm now 27. My skin is relatively clear now but I do still have occasional problems if I'm not careful. I've heard all kinds of advice and have used all kinds of meds, including two rounds of accutane. First of all, when I hear people say "your acne is caused by..." and "you can certainly correct it by..." I'm immediately turned off to whatever comes next unless you have proven to me to be an expert on the subject. EVERYBODY has a solution and oddly enough, they all tend to be quite different (and sometimes even the "experts" give bad advice).
That being said, let me share my experience and maybe some of you will find it helpful.
I've had problems with breakouts that I'm sure are in part due to Bikram class. I think a large cause has been makeup and hair products that may be dripping when I sweat. I also noticed that I broke out on my face on the areas I most often touched to my towel. I now make sure to rinse my face before class and shower right after, paying particular attention to my face, chest and back. I also bring a clean hand towel to class for poses when I'm on my stomach. I rinse my face before class rather than wash because washing too often can be aggravating to the skin which can also cause breakouts!
For those of you that mentioned you break out along one side of your chin, do you happen to rest your chin on your phone? i also have to be diligent about making sure I don't touch my face unless it's necessary.
One place that I've found advice and products that have been helpful to me is Paula Begoun's site. She has great information for skin types of all kinds: http://cosmeticscop.com/learn/art.asp?ID=29
I use many of her products (my skin has never looked better) but she also points to products from other companies that may work just as well for you.
Hope this might help some of you!
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| I'm so glad I found this site. I've been doing Bikram for 7 months now. Have always been an athlete and struggled through the years with Acne. I am 33, and I am experiencing by far the worst acne of my life. I think that some of it must be related to my practice. I live in an apartment, so I don't have access to immediate washing of my towels. I usually hang them to dry outside and wash them at the end of the week. I don't really know of any other solutions, so anyone who has advice on this would be great!!
I never thought about laying my hand towel on the floor. I just throw it there after I wipe my hands. I will change that. I ride my bike to yoga, so it takes me about 10 min to get home before I shower. Maybe rinsing my face before I leave will help.
Diet may also be a factor. I have been eating a lot of dairy lately and I do have an occasional drink. I do Bikram 6 days a week, so I am not willing to cut it out. It has helped a painful knee injury 100% and all the other benefits aren't worth this risk of acne BUT i'm determined to make it work.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I also tried proactive, but to no avail. I'm using a mild soap (Basis) and I wash my face twice a day.
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| If you can't wash them, then maybe buy more towels?
Duffy |
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| Hi Redbull
You mentioned only having access to a washing machine once a week in order to wash your towels. I've found this method works for me when I'm too lazy to do a proper wash of yoga clothes and towels.
While I'm taking a shower, I bring my yoga clothes and hand towels in the shower with me and just keep them on the floor of the shower while cleaning up. At the end of my shower I squish them around a bit with soap and then rinse them out. Then I let them dry on a rack in the tub/shower. I find this keeps the clothes/hand towels from being stinky and then I throw them in the regular wash when I'm ready.
The large towels I hang to dry and try to wash them at least 2 days later.
Definitely keep your hand towel off the floor of the studio and try to use a separate hand towel for under your face during the floor positions.
Barb |
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| I think that the relationship between Bikram yoga and acne is simple. You are exercising in a very hot room so your facial pores are opening. A very hot, humid room full of people is an ideal breeding place for bacteria, yours included. The bacteria enters your open pores and you end up with acne. If you are careful about what you touch to your face during class and take a warm shower, washing your face with gentle soap right after class, your acne should go away (as long as you are not drying out your skin in which case you will need a moisterizer). If you go straight from class to a cold shower or outside, your pores will close and the bacteria in them will cause acne.
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Veteran
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| I carry around a pack of face cleansing towelettes and wipe my face after class- handy if it's really crowded or if I don't have time to take a shower after class. |
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| Redbull-
Your diet could be a facor. Especially the dairy.. I started having really bad breakouts all of a sudden....I went online and read about some different methods of cleaning your face to get rid of acne. (I also tried proactiv)
I found that using baking soda (as crazy as it may sound) mixed with alittle olive oil and water works wonders. After I tone my face with Braggs Apple Cider Vinager and Witch Hazel on the same cotton ball. I put coconut oil on my face as a moisteriser.
NOW my face is really clear and my skin glows. Its cheap and it works.
I had a couple dry patches the first week but as my skin changed it went away. So my face wasnt dry I mixed the coconut oil with HUGO Naturals body lotion.
I hope this helps.
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| As a yoga instructor who studied Bikram's for a year in my mid-twenties, I can say I love it but the only negative is it definitely flares my acne like no other. It took about six months to get back under control after the point at which I quit, too, because I had let things get so far out of hand.
No doubt it was because of the hot, humid, bacteria-laden environment. Think about it: eight classes a day of people dripping their sweat (keeping your sweat confined to a towel is pretty unrealistic) and no ventilation system outside of central heat and air. That's a recipe for some sweet bacteria. As to the toxin cleansing, that's some of it but common sense tells us there is just as much at work with the external environment, especially if the acne is persisting for a year (or that's a ton of toxins, my friends). Now that I'm a little more internally balanced, I'm curious to see if my skin would react differently. Buuuut I love my clear skin now and don't know I'm willing to chance it. ;-)
I wasn't going so far as to disinfect my mat after every class, which would have probably been very helpful. One great solution I came up with was to bring two hand towels, keep them on my clean mat at all times, and every time we switched sides on the postures I would switch sides on the hand towel so my cheek would come to rest on a fresh side every time.
Hope this info helps.
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Bikram Yoga and Acne
