“It’s no secret that adult life comes with stress, and sometimes we see it staring back at us in the mirror. When life gets tough, our skin can end up carrying part of the load, too.”
Acne, which is typically seen as a skin issue among adults, can be influenced by mental health, particularly stress. Whether it’s meeting deadlines, exams, or life’s many curve-balls, stress has a way of showing up on our skin that can trigger or worsen the stress causing breakouts.
However there has been a narrative circulating around the Genz and millennial’s that stress causes acne and that’s not for real.
According to the dermatologists, stress can merely trigger or worsen the existing acne on skin and does not give birth to new ones.
In this blog, we would be shedding light on the following insights:
3.Ways to manage the acne for a clearer skin.
The science behind the outburst of acne
The stress in adults releases a hormone called cortisol. This “fight or flight” hormone is crucial for dealing with high-stress situations, but it has a downside: cortisol also increases the production of oil, or sebum, in your skin.
When combined with dead skin cells, this excess oil can clog pores, trapping acne-causing bacteria inside and leading to inflammation.
How Stress Impacts Acne?
Stress and acne have certain correlation; stress tends to worsen an acne situation. Here’s how stress affects the skin and face.
Stress Triggers Inflammation
Increased Sensitivity
Stress acne is also well known to cause inflammation in the body and this causes skin sensitivity.
Slower Healing
This is because inflammation of skin means that new pimples may readily develop more often while existing pimples may take longer to heal.
Worsened Redness and Swelling
In case, it is inflammatory acne (painful red pimples), stress, it can worsen the severity of the acne.
Arising Poor skin habits
Face Touching
Stress always compels humans to touch the face which transfers grime, sebum, and bacteria on the skin’s surface and into the pores.
Inconsistent Skincare:
Stress acne is known to increase signs of skin inflammation and as such can cause people to either over-wash their faces and cause inflammation or leave the skin untouched and also cause inflammation.
Unhealthy Diet Choices
Sweets and other foods that are high in sugar and fatty acids are foods that can lead to production of more oil leading to stress causing acne breakouts.
Poor Sleep Due to Stress
Interrupted Repair Cycle
Stress interferes with the normal sleep-cycle and skin loses time to rejuvenate which turns out very dull and inflamed.
Increased Breakouts
Due to the arising skin problems, poor sleep results in more acne due to the skin’s ability to fight daily stress without enough sleep.
Top Tips to Cope up with Stress Acne
Practicing yoga ,meditation, workout, morning brisk walks, staying consistent with essential skincare routine, taking care of absolute quality sleep, staying hydrated as well as keeping a watch on diet can all help in relieving the effects of stress on the skin, leading to fewer breakouts and a healthier complexion.
