How Stress Affects your Skin

Everyone gets stressed, it is an unavoidable part of everyday modern living. Whether it’s your job, lack of sleep - or just a busy lifestyle that is making you feel stressed, we accept it as ‘just being one of those things’ and get on with it. 

Stress doesn’t just make us feel anxious, it affects our body in all sorts of ways. You will probably have noticed that when you are feeling stressed, your skin is one of the first things to suffer. 

Stress and hormones

When you get stressed, your body will respond by producing a hormone called cortisol. If cortisol levels are elevated over a long period of time, it can impact the physiology of your body, including thyroid and adrenal glands. 

In addition, cortisol is also known as the ageing hormone, it affects the body in many ways, including raising blood pressure, sugar levels, hardening arteries, increasing fat storage, and lowering growth hormones! 

The stress hormones will also cause your body to increase its production of oil causing outbreaks of spots, acne and other skin problems, as well as disturbing the balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut.

Doctor Richard Fried, M.D PhD, a dermatologist, clinical psychologist and clinical director of Yardley Dermatology, told SELF,

“Even if you don’t have an actual skin condition, dealing with way more stress than usual for a significant amount of time might make your immune system hyperirritable, so something that doesn’t normally bother your skin can make it freak out.”

If we are stressed, we will probably find that we are not eating as well, maybe snacking on junk food to make us feel better or just not having the time to eat properly, we are probably not keeping as hydrated as we should, all of these factors will have a serious knock on effect when it comes to our skin. 

Don’t worry be happy

Although most of us can not avoid stress completely, there are things that we can do so that are skin does not suffer. Simple meditation will help de-stress us, just sitting quietly taking deep breaths will have an instant calming effect, relieving stress and anxiety. 

Eating a well-balanced diet will ensure that we are getting all our vitamins and nutrients which are important for healthy skin. Foods high in antioxidants are important for radiant healthy skin. 

If you feel you need a boost, you could take extra vitamins to top up, there are supplements that are specially formulated for stressed skin. Drink plenty of water to flush out those nasty toxins, it will help detox your body, keeping your complexion clear and your skin supple. 

Drinking water will also prevent dry flaky skin, making it look healthier and feel more comfortable, we all know there is nothing worse than tight, parched skin.

If you have stressed skin, treat it well. Indulgence your skin with the best organic skin care. Organic products are less likely to irritate your skin and cause further irritation or flare-ups, with going organic you know you can trust that everything you are using is natural.