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| Hi there all
It's me again. I'm so glad to have found this forum! Just wondering if any of you have had experience with partial facial swelling during / after practice.
When I started Ashtanga a good year ago, I noticed a slight swelling around my eye lids and towards the nose. This would start in all postures where the head was below the heart so the rush of blood, or so I thought, had something to do with it. I took it easy the first few weeks and found that with becoming physically stronger and more used to the asanas, the swelling disappeared entirely. However, when I started tackling hand- and headstands, I felt like a puppy again with the squishy eyes. My teacher made me aware of an eye condition that a lot of people have which could be aggravated by the swelling so I went to an optician. Nothing! He said I should come back for an eye examination in 25 years, they were so perfect and the pressure bang on. Still worried, I consulted a general practitioner, a neurologist, a brain specialist and nobody could tell me what was wrong / if something was "wrong" at all. Relieved that I wasn't suffering from anything serious, I went back to classes. A few weeks on, all went swimmingly again, until in one technique class my teacher did a few headstand variations found in the Second Series. The swelling was triggered again, this time around I could feel it was Muka Hasta Sirsasana B that brought it on.
Sorry for waffling but I'd really like to know if you have ever encountered anything like this. Oh, and by the way, I never felt any pain in my face and it never stayed red or became rashy. The swollen parts would need about 12 to 24 hours to go back to normal and in the meantime, I would look like a newborn puppy.
Any comments are much appreciated.
Namaste, Yogis of the World
Aotearoa
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| Aotearoa - 2007-03-14 8:10 PM
Hi there all
It's me again. I'm so glad to have found this forum! Just wondering if any of you have had experience with partial facial swelling during / after practice.
When I started Ashtanga a good year ago, I noticed a slight swelling around my eye lids and towards the nose. This would start in all postures where the head was below the heart so the rush of blood, or so I thought, had something to do with it. I took it easy the first few weeks and found that with becoming physically stronger and more used to the asanas, the swelling disappeared entirely. However, when I started tackling hand- and headstands, I felt like a puppy again with the squishy eyes. My teacher made me aware of an eye condition that a lot of people have which could be aggravated by the swelling so I went to an optician. Nothing! He said I should come back for an eye examination in 25 years, they were so perfect and the pressure bang on. Still worried, I consulted a general practitioner, a neurologist, a brain specialist and nobody could tell me what was wrong / if something was "wrong" at all. Relieved that I wasn't suffering from anything serious, I went back to classes. A few weeks on, all went swimmingly again, until in one technique class my teacher did a few headstand variations found in the Second Series. The swelling was triggered again, this time around I could feel it was Muka Hasta Sirsasana B that brought it on.
Sorry for waffling but I'd really like to know if you have ever encountered anything like this. Oh, and by the way, I never felt any pain in my face and it never stayed red or became rashy. The swollen parts would need about 12 to 24 hours to go back to normal and in the meantime, I would look like a newborn puppy.
Any comments are much appreciated.
Namaste, Yogis of the World
Aotearoa
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| Hi Expert Yogi
I must have forgotten to mention that all my five different teachers (I've been travelling a lot) were at a loss when they saw what was going on. They referred me to specialists but, as I mentioned, NOBODY has been able to give me concrete details.
Cheers
Aotearoa |
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Expert Yogi
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| Jessica - I am hoping one of our members who knows about Chinese medicine will chime in here. It is a bit of a mystery! My best guess is that you are holding somewhere in your head/neck/shoulder area and not getting good energy flow (I hate to say energy, but it could be nerve, blood, lymph or whatever) happening. I sometimes get migraines after intense physical activity which I am coming to believe have a similr mechanism going on. Hiking seems to be particularly bad as I have to look down at my feet, essentially holding jalandara bandha, and my face feels puffy (I don't know if it is puffy, but it feels that way). The theory with migraines is that the blood vessels constrict and then dialate, causing the throbbing pain. If I can loosen up my neck and shoulders enough when it starts to happen I can sometimes prevent the migraine. Anyway, just a guess, but it could be something similar - thank your lucky stars you don't get a headache with it! |
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Location: London, England | Hi there,
Do you have high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid conditions, glaucoma? All these can lead to swelling around the eyes, I believe. What you are getting also may be fluid retention-would you say that your diet has excessive sodium/caffiene intake?
I don't believe I've ever come across this before, just taking some inital shots in the dark.
Nick |
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| Nick - 2007-03-15 11:52 AM
Hi there,
Do you have high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid conditions, glaucoma? All these can lead to swelling around the eyes, I believe. What you are getting also may be fluid retention-would you say that your diet has excessive sodium/caffiene intake?
I don't believe I've ever come across this before, just taking some inital shots in the dark.
Nick
Hi Nick and all
I don't suffer from any of the above. My blood pressure has always been quite average, diabetes is not an issue, my thyroid was examined thoroughly only a short while ago and it's just fine and as I said, my optician said not to worry about glaucoma. My eye pressure is grand. What's more, I indulge in 1 cup of green tea every day but don't drink coffee, black tea or coca cola at all. I'd say I might feel bloated around my "ladies' holidays", but that's just part of being a woman and I wouldn't exercise heavily when I'm due anyway.
Thanks so much for all your suggestions. I find it quite disgraceful that some of the so-called experts in their medical fields didn't offer any of these explanations. The caffeine was never mentioned, nor the sodium. Just goes to show that good yogic knowledge seems to make you a good all-rounder!
Namaste and have a great Paddy's Day
Aotearoa |
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Location: London, England | Hi there,
I guess it's because they don't have people deliberately throwing themselves into positions that exacerbate their symptoms-I mean., usually if someting has an effect like that, people will often just stop doing that action and never go to the doctor. But if you teach yoga, you have to be aware of thse problems-it may be that you can change the course of someone's life for the better if you can diagnose something, or offer precautions. So you get multidisplinary, which broadens yor knowledge base. I hope 
Nick |
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Facial swelling
