Stress has many physiological effects on our health, and our skin health is no exception.

Can Stress Worsen Inflammatory Skin Conditions?

Eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea can be referred to as inflammatory skin conditions. This means the one known common factor between all of these conditions is inflammation. There are endless triggers that can induce inflammation within the skin including diet, skincare ingredients, sun exposure, genetics, and more.

Stress & Breakouts

Stress can also lead to acne for those who have acne-prone skin or more specifically the genetic condition called retention hyperkeratosis. This is the underlying condition of acne where the cellular turnover rate is sped up 5-20x more than usual and causes the dead skin to build up and clog the pores. Stress can be a trigger for breakouts because it influences our hormone levels by increasing cortisol: the stress hormone.

Excess cortisol is converted into a form of testosterone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT increases the amount of oil or sebum our skin produces which happens to be the food for bacteria within the skin and therefore worsens acne. Stress-induced breakouts are usually in the temple area of the forehead or around the chin and jawline areas.

Stress & Aging

Acute stress is short term stress that does not have a negative impact on our health and can actually be beneficial to our immune system and the overall functioning of our bodies. When we experience stress for a long period of time though, it is referred to as chronic stress. This is where we start to see long term effects of stress like skin aging. The short explanation of what science can tell us is an excess amount of cortisol in our body begins to cause inflammation and breaks down the collagen and elastin within our skin.

Collagen and elastin act as the structural proteins that give our skin its tight and bouncy appearance, as they are broken down the skin starts to lose its structure and we begin to see sagging, wrinkles, and thinning of the skin. Yes, I mean that unmanaged stress can actually cause you to have deeper wrinkles and more saggy skin than you would without it! This is a normal process of aging that will happen to everyone over time, but stress speeds up this process causing premature aging. 

Managing stress requires a holistic approach and ultimately for you to take care of yourself by making health-promoting choices on a daily basis.

Consult with a Pomp Esthetician for free, and get personalized product recommendations to treat your skin concerns, but don’t forget skin concerns oftentimes go beyond just treating the skin topically.