The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Injuries, Restrictions, Ailments, Pose Modifications › Illnesses/Ailments › VERY icky issue after 30-day challenge – warning: explicit
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Injuries, Restrictions, Ailments, Pose Modifications › Illnesses/Ailments › VERY icky issue after 30-day challenge – warning: explicit
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Hello fellow yogis,
I have a really stupid sounding issue, but it’s driving me nuts! Any advice appreciated…
So I did a 30-day challenge a few months ago and really enjoyed the daily practise, but in the last few days noticed that my butt crack was getting sore. (Told ya – explicit.) It didn’t look like anything to worry about, just a thin red line running from the top (about where the coccyx is) almost all the way down to the – ahem – anus. But whenever the water of the shower hit that area it would cause a very strong burning sensation. By the end of the challenge this thin red line had become so raw that in places the skin had developed tiny bleeding splits. Absolutely awful.
I didn’t go back to Hot Yoga for about two weeks afterwards to give it some time to chill, and put on some calendula oil with a few drops of tea tree. It cleared up completely, but as soon as I went back, after the very first session, it flared up again. Back to the drawing board: I tried nappy rash cream (with dexpanthenol), it went away, I went back to Yoga, it came back. I tried Lamisil, it went away, I went back to Yoga, it came back. Tried combinations of the above for various amounts of time.
I’m at the end of my tether, please help. Or am I the only one this is happening to? It’s been too many times now and though it probably sounds funny, it’s horrible and has started keeping me out of the hot room… a real shame because I loved it!
Thanks
:red:Hi Sarah
I have just had a powwow with Andrea who will get the ball rolling. I just wanted to let you know that this sounds very much yoga related and painful and we’ll do everything to help you!
Happy New Year and hope yoga + comfort are together in your future
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Sarah,
I’m Andrea and I am a graduate from Gabrielle’s teacher training.
I hope you don’t mind if I respond to your forum post.Your story doesn’t sound funny but it does sound very painful and upsetting. As Gabrielle said, we will do everything to help you!
After reading your post I already have some ideas but before I can say or recommend anything, I would like to ask you some questions:
– Do you always practise in the same studio or have you tried going somewhere else?
– Do you know how and how often they clean the studio (e.g. the carpet and mats)?
– Do you practise on your own mat?
– What do you wash your clothes in?That will do as a start =)
In my opinion there could be many things that caused your issue, however it seems to me that it has got to do with hygiene.
Many people (including me) get spots on their faces or bodies for example, due to sweating. So minor skin changes, conditions are normal.
Having the pores of the skin open for 90 minutes or so, provides bacterias and dirt an ample opportunity to cause rushes, spots, lumps.
If you go to the studio straight after work, it may be a good idea for you to have a shower before your class, that way you can minimize the chances of dirt ‘washing’ into the wound with your sweat.
Avoid washing your clothes (especially your yoga clothes) in strong chemicals and try soaking them in a mixture of water, white vinegar and lavender oil (the two latter ones are natural antibacterial cleaners and remove smell immediately).
I do love using tea tree oil for cleansing purposes, however I strongly recommend you avoid using it on raw skin!I am looking forward to hearing from you Sarah, I hope you will get better soon!
Keep me posted!Namaste,
Andrea
Anonymous
GuestJanuary 4, 2012 at 2:56 amPost count: 98Exact same thing happened to me, during my 100 day personal challenge and further on. It got to the point where I had to have a butt cushion from an old age store just to sit down. Savasana was at that point completely agonizing.
What happened to me was that as I got fitter, I had less padding on my butt. I was grinding my coccyx onto the floor with every situp. As there was less padding and due to the shape of my coccyx, the skin over top was becoming irritated. Red. Bleeding even. Painful as all get out. It was made worse by the humidity of the studio and of my damp shorts against my butt. Friction caused by my shorts during the practice also didn’t help. Kind of like trying to run a marathon in wet socks, you know you’ll rub skin off your feet during the process.
I wound up taking 2 weeks off and using of all things, diaper rash cream. Seriously. Applying this liberally several times a day significantly helped. I healed up no problem.
For the future, I use a silicone barrier cream on my butt in that area when I practice more than 4 days in a row. You can find this at the pharmacy. It serves as a protective layer to at least protect your skin from the abrasion of your shorts fabric. Also, you might want to reassess your situps. You may have a spinal configuration where your coccyx sticks out more than usual.
Hopefully Gabrielle or Andrea can address this a bit more…
🙂Thank you for your reply Andrea! I really appreciate your time.
Regarding your questions:
– Do you always practise in the same studio or have you tried going somewhere else?
Went to another studio once, two years ago, but it’s over 20km across town, so not a regular option. And it was pretty smelly there …
– Do you know how and how often they clean the studio (e.g. the carpet and mats)?
No idea, but I’ll ask. It’s a fairly new studio, no major smells *yet*.
– Do you practise on your own mat?
Yes.
– What do you wash your clothes in?
Just normal detergent. I chuck everything in the wash as soon as I get home and do a “quick wash” (40minute cycle at 30 degrees). Do you think that’s not long enough? I occasionally soak everything in Napisan, too, to get rid of smells. But I love your suggestion about the vinegar and essential oils instead! What would the ratio for the mixture be? And how acidic should the vinegar be? (I think it ranges from 2% to 15% or so.)I got quite spotty during my 30-day challenge, too, but never connected one and the other! I think it may have been quite hard on me physically, lost a lot of weight even though I ate like a horse.
I do have a shower before class nearly every time, because I like the fresh start, washing the day away ‘n all.
I feel like we might be on the right track though … I thought it may be hygiene related somehow, but couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong.
Thank you!!
SarahHi freiamaya
Thank you so much for your honesty sharing your story!! For a start, I’m hugely relieved that it’s not just me who has this problem, as dumb as that sounds.
Oh my goodness, a butt cushion! I see I’m not quite as hard done by as I possibly could be, at least I can still sit normally … you must have been in so much pain, argh!
There may be something up with my coccyx too, come to think about it. I used to go to the Chiropractic regularly (before starting yoga, haha), and she always adjusted my coccyx and left hip. So there’s something going on there for sure …
And the first time I noticed the soreness was actually after turning around from facing back to front – one of my butt cheeks seemed to be stuck to the towels a bit so while one turned around, the other stayed (if that makes any sense), creating some pulling in the middle. But I had done this so many times before without a worry! Maybe an accumulation of things.Excellent tip about the silicone barrier cream – will go hunting for some today. And the nappy rash cream I already have, so back onto that. Situps I don’t do because of an old back injury, but another good thought there.
Thank you Freiamaya, that was super helpful!
🙂
Hi sarah29,
Just had a thought: this could be totally unhelpful but wanted to share just in case it was: do you by any chance wear a thong during your practice? (you don’t have to answer on this forum! just something to think about)…I just can imagine a wet string rubbing back and forth on that area would definitely be irritating! I know this from personal experience. Anyway, I’m sorry if that was a personal question – I didn’t mean to intrude; just wanted to put that out there. All the best!
Hi everyone,
It is very lovely to see how we all got together to help out a fellow yogini! =)
I do hope your discomfort has eased somewhat (maybe as a result of combining the suggestions you read here).
Sarah, it is great to hear that Freiamaya’s tip about silicone cream worked for you!
It is definitely worth thinking about what Faizah posted, especially if your coccyx needed adjustment in the past.As to our discussion on hygiene; to me, it doesn’t seem like “you are doing something wrong”.
It certainly looks like it’s a combination of certain conditions, such as long tailbone, perhaps extra sensitive skin or not the most comfortable yoga attire (FYI, I like wearing thongs when practising yoga =P).A quick advice on the “proper” vinegar and lavender oil combining =)
Get the cheapest white vinegar form you local store (it doesn’t matter how acidic it is) and put enough lavender oil into the bottle to eliminate the strong vinegar smell.
Start with adding just a few drops of oil, you know you have added enough when the strong acidic smell doesn’t dominate anymore!
You either add some of that mixture to the water you soak your clothes in or you just pour some undiluted vinegar and oil combination into the washing machine’s drawer for the last rinse cycle!I can’t wait to hear how these things work out for you!
Remember, you always have an option to seek medical help if necessary (a dermatologist, a chiropractor, maybe both)!Namaste,
Andrea
I have experienced the beginnings of that before (never got as bad as what you described but have had the irritation at the top of my ‘crack’ – sounds funny to say that!) and wondered what it was…Never thought it could be related to my workouts. Thanks for having the courage to post…I am finding that a lot of stuff I thought was peculiar to me is experienced by others so I don’t feel so alone. 🙂
Blessings,
Helen
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