How Stress Can Mess with Your Skin

Stress is one of the many things hardly anyone can avoid, but when it gets acute or chronic, it can mess with your skin.

How often have you heard people say you look stressed or tired? Have you noticed your once flawless skin acting up?

There are several ways stress messing with your skin happens. Everyone experiences a different symptom or reaction to it.

When you encounter a stressful situation or you’re going through stressful times, your brain springs into action by telling the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol hormones as a fight-or-flight response. In this instance, the following things begin to happen on the inside and outside of your body –

• Cortisol stops all nonessential activities like digestion, releases sugar into the blood, and regulates blood pressure.
• Adrenaline which is mostly the flight response causes sweaty palms and increases heartbeat.

After the initial release, adrenaline is quick to drop back to its normal levels in the bloodstream, but cortisol often stays elevated for hours and this is where the negative impacts on the skin begin.

When adrenaline is active, it causes you to sweat more, which means you get dehydrated in just a short time. This dryness affects the skin, making those prone to issues like eczema experience a breakout.

Cortisol leads to inflammation in the body because it weakens the immune system. This in turn worsens or flares up hidden and existing skin conditions in people already predisposed to them.

The release of hormones due to stress can also affect the sebaceous glands and cause them to produce a higher level of oil than normal. This creates an environment for bacteria and dirt to thrive and leads to even more breakouts, rashes, and bumps.

Cortisol also influences complexion. Your glowing skin can become dull or darker under stressful conditions.

Frustration, work-life imbalance, anger, and so on can trigger stress. Stress itself can be mental, physical, or emotional. Thankfully, if your skin is acting up due to stress, there several things to do to stop it.

1. Deal with the source of the stress. It can be tough for other remedies in this list to work when you haven’t dealt with the source. Fix your schedule to allow for time to rest. If it’s something you can’t handle alone, then see a healthcare provider.
2. Get products that can help. It’s better to see an expert for recommendations on what to use to revitalize your skin. Dry skin would need effective moisturizing, dull skin may need retinol to restore the shine, and so on.
3. Stay hydrated and adopt a solid skincare routine. Be consistent and in no time your skin will be back to normal.

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