Let’s all admit that feeling stress can get the best of us sometimes, if not always. You probably have that experience where you noticed new pimple pops up every day when your job responsibilities are spiraling out of control. The unfortunate truth is that stress does affect your whole body, including your hair, nails and skin.
Effects of Stress On Your Skin
Stress causes a chemical response in your body that makes the skin more sensitive and reactive. It can also make it harder for skin problems to heal. It can upset your skin in multiple ways. One way is when stress causes inflammation, which in turn causes your skin to freak out. At its core, inflammation plays a crucial role in keeping you healthy, because it’s basically your body’s defense mechanism to defend itself from true dangers, for example, bacterial infections. But sometimes your body can overreact to substances that are actually harmless - like stress.
The stress response—whether we’re being chased by a saber-toothed tiger, whether we have a deadline, whether we’re having trouble with family or love—is all the same - Richard Fried, M.D. Ph.D., Dermatologist.
So naturally, if you already have or are more predisposed to certain skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema and rosacea, the chance of it flaring-up would be much higher. Same goes to hives and other types of skin rashes.
As if that’s not bad enough, stress causes your body to release more cortisol hormones, which signals the glands in your skin to produce more oil. Oily skin is prone to acne and other skin problems. That’s the reason why you have more break out when you’re stressed.
What Are The Ways To Ease the Effects of Stress on Your Skin
Since stress if part and parcel of life, getting rid of it completely would be near impossible, but of course you can try ways to manage it better. Here are eight simple ways you can practice:
Refrences:
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WebMD (2017). Stress Effects on Skin: Rash, Itching, Bumps, Breakouts, and More. [online] . Available at: https://www.webmd.com/beauty/the-effects-of-stress-on-your-skin.
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Barnes, Z. (2018). Here's How Stress Actually Impacts Your Skin. [online] SELF. Available at: https://www.self.com/story/how-stress-impacts-skin.
Image credit:
3. https://bioplushealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/psoriasis-women.jpg
