When we’re stressed, we feel a physical reaction in our bodies. For some it might show up as a fast-beating heart, for others it might affect their appetite. But if you’re reading this, it might be that it shows up in your skin.
Those pesky pimples that appear after you’ve had a stressful few days at work, or the eczema itch that gets worse when you’ve had a fight with your partner……. yep, your stress levels may be the common denominator here.
The reality is that if you’re stressed, your body will divert its resources away from skin to essential organs which keep us alive. We live with a primitive, reptilian brain, which thinks of stress as a life-or-death situation. It still reverts to the days of our ancestors, where stress largely occurred when we were running away from a grizzly bear or sabre-toothed tiger. Today, anything from traffic jams to opening an overflowing inbox, is enough to activate our stress response.
These small triggers divert the blood flow and nutrients we need to keep our skin healthy, to elsewhere in our body. Stress effectively sucks the life out of your skin!
One of the primary stress hormones that our body produces in times of need is cortisol. Cortisol does a great job of keeping us alive, but prolonged, imbalanced cortisol levels have a detrimental on our bodies. Our skin becomes inflamed, we develop stretch marks, we crave sugary food, and our beauty sleep is disrupted. It is often these stress-related lifestyle and dietary changes which keeps the stress response active.
We depend on stimulants to wake up (followed by depressants to fall asleep), and this poor sleep-wake cycle inhibits skin healing and cell turnover. This is why our skin looks lacklustre after a rough night. And from an anti-ageing perspective, increased cortisol breaks down elastin and collagen in the dermis, leading to sagging, prematurely aged skin. No amount of expensive skin cream can fix this!
If you suffer from acne or eczema, there’s even more research as to why stress is bad for your skin.
As we’ve mentioned, stress leads to increased cortisol levels in the body. It can also increase two other hormones called substance P and prolactin. All these hormones stimulate androgen receptors in the skin, leading to – you guessed it – acne and eczema issues.
You’ve heard me talk plenty (!) of times about the importance of a healthy skin barrier. A 2018 study in Scientific Reports showed that cortisol reduces cytokine expression. Without the proper amount or type of cytokines, skin barrier function is impaired. The authors concluded that increased cortisol deteriorates the skin barrier function, which is problematic when it comes to acne and eczema.
So, what can we do to manage our stress levels? The first thing is to get professional support. In my 1:1 consultation, I always consider the impact of stress on your skin. We look at this via pathology testing, because as we adapt to stress so well, sometimes our subjective experience of it doesn’t give a good reflection of what the body is doing.
By working with objective markers like stress hormone testing, we ensure we get the full picture, leading to more efficient care.
Some other ways to manage stress (and cortisol) levels include:
Exercise, as this regulates cortisol. Ideally, do a little bit of movement every day. Make it something that you enjoy – swimming, yoga, weights, jogging, walking, boxing, skipping or dancing – and reap the whole-body benefits.
Try deep breathing, to stimulate the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the main component of the parasympathetic nervous system (our ‘anti-stress’ system), and controls communication between the brain and the gut. More things you can do to help tone the vagus nerve include gargling water, singing, humming and pranayama breathwork.
Eat regularly in order to help moderate cortisol production and blood-sugar levels
Avoid excessive stimulants which increase cortisol output – coffee, chocolate, energy drinks
Relaxation techniques such as meditation or yoga, to help calm your body and mind, and bring the parasympathetic nervous system back into balance. My favourite tool is listening to music; I make sure to do it as much as I can not only because it creates a different atmosphere, but choosing different beats can help keep the brain happier.
Do you think stress might be driving your skin? Take my free Naturopathic Skin Appraisal to understand how much it might be adding to the picture of problem skin.
