Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor nor a healthcare professional. This is a personal account of my experience with Pityriasis rosea and my recovery progress while maintaining my regular activity levels. Please consult your doctor or healthcare provider if you suspect having Pityriasis rosea and follow their advice.
Working out and having a consistent fitness routine has become an important part of my life. Not only I feel physically healthier, but my mental health has improved tremendously after struggling with depression and generalized anxiety for years. Like many people, I started working out to achieve my aesthetic goals, and while I still pursue certain physique goals, now my main reason for moving my body is unwinding and having fun with exercise. I love trying new forms of exercise, practicing new moves and to challenge myself to try new things.
Photo by Romina FarÃas from Unsplash
For the last few years, I haven't dealt with any major health issues. I might have skipped a few workouts due to travel, work and short illnesses, though I've always returned to my routine as soon as I could. Around the beginning of May, I noticed some strange dots around my left thigh and brushed them off as mosquito bites or just irritation, I didn't have any itching or any other bothersome sensations so I didn't think much about it.
The dots started to climb up to my torso and ended up covering my chest, side waist and abdomen, with occasional itching and tingling around the affected areas. Horrified with the appearance of my skin and tormented by the constant itching, I got diagnosed with Pityriasis rosea, a skin condition of unknown causes and with no specific treatment. While knowing it wasn't anything serious was a relief, the rash can last for more than a month and can get very uncomfortable. Heat and sweat can cause flare ups, so getting it right in summer in a hot climate worsened my symptoms.
Aside from antihistamines in case of severe itching and eczema balm to keep the skin hydrated, I didn't get any treatment but trying to keep cool and avoid stress. The rash kept spreading and spreading more in the following days, forcing me to refrain from exercise and leisure walking all together. I craved movement, but I was still too unaccustomed to the rash and felt afraid of sweating. I suffer from mild hyperhydrosis, so even indoors walks with the AC on will get me sweating in no time. And while it might sound exaggerated, the tingling sensation caused by the Pityriasis flare ups caused by the heat can be unbearable.
After the rash reached its peak and stopped spreading, I made up my mind about working out and tried to find ways to make it work. Here are some of the measures I've taken to make myself comfortable:
- Working out strictly indoors and making the room as cool as possible.
- Wearing loose undergarments and baggy shorts. My trunk is the most affected area so I've avoided wearing sports bra. I'm limiting myself to low impact exercise and standing workouts to keep things safe.
- Keeping a towel nearby and preventing sweat from pooling.
- No mat exercises. Lying over the mat can make sweat accumulate faster on the trunk area and is overall uncomfortable while flaring out.
- Showering with lukewarm water immediately after finishing the workout and applying lotion over the affected areas.
As for my choice of workouts, I've been trying to do stuff I truly enjoy and not pushing myself too hard. Stress can trigger more flare ups, which put strenuous workouts such as HIIT and heavy strength training out of the question. Barre, Pilates and dance have been basically everything I've done since getting Pityriasis rosea, with mild strength training sprinkled in between.
As I started to feel more accustomed to my itchy skin, I returned to Pilates with all standing workouts by Posture Tonic. Even grabbing the tiniest weights felt like a challenge, but just like with ballet, Pilates can be easily modifiable to be effective even without much equipment. I did sweat with some of these workouts, however I felt very relaxed and accomplished by the end and those were the positive thoughts I needed at the moment.
After I ran out of standing Pilates workouts, I started doing FitLara Barre workouts. Most of her barre classes are mostly standing, though they can be even more challenging than regular barre workouts. Lara always provides different options to adjust intense exercises, making her workouts some of the most versatile on this list. As of now, I'm still exploring her vast video catalog, with hundreds of full lengths classes and shorter workouts available on her channel, The teaching style might feel a little bit pushy for some people, but I definitely need the extra motivation as I continue to recover.
Lastly, Mike Peele's Hip Hop Fit classes have been a huge boost to my mood and the highlight of my workouts. Though the dances can get intense, I try to keep up as much as possible thanks to the wonderful choreography and easy to follow instructions present in every video. The routines feel more like a fun puzzle rather than a workout and that's exactly the distraction I need these days. I do these as a finisher for my daily workouts and shower immediately after, trying to reduce my actual sweat time to a minimum.
As of right now, my rash is finally reducing and the lesions are getting darker and less prominent. I do get those awful tingles occasionally during the day, but the itching is almost gone. I'll keep up with this routine as I continue to recover, hopefully in a few weeks I'll be back to my regular workout schedule.
Though most people prefer to to refrain from exercise while having Pityriasis rosea, I think it hasn't slowed my recovery process. Stress might've triggered some of my worst flare ups, so unwinding from my worries with fun workouts just felt like the right choice for me. Perhaps my recovery might have been slightly faster if I didn't sweat that much, yet I chose what I think is best for my physical and mental health.
And if you're reading this and diagnosed with Pityriasis rosea, it does get better. Try to listen to your body as much as possible and keep calm, it'll eventually clear out.
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