Stress and Your Skin

STRESS IS THE MOST COMMONLY acknowledged personal health dilemma affecting modern society. The stress of work, home and dealing with unpleasant social situations can have a number of negative physical and psychological repercussions. Stress can lead to sickness, convoluted thoughts and a short temper. To put it simply, stress can make us ill.

Effects on skin

How does this pertain to skin? The skin is a sensory organ and responds to nerve activity, which is affected by touch, pressure pain and temperature. Nerve activity is also affected by mental and emotional stressors.

When a person experiences stress, the hypothalamus secretes a hormone into the bloodstream. This hormone cause blood vessels to dilate and trigger inflammation and heat in the skin.

This could translate into anything from a mild sensitivity to major breakouts to agitation of an inflammatory skin disorder such as psoriasis or eczema. Stress has also been linked to the manifestation of hives, rashes and acne flare-ups.

Reduce the stress

Of course eliminating the stress is the answer! All a person has to do is make sure they never feel anxiety again right?

Instead a person should encourage the reduction of stress, by taking deep breaths, meditating , and stepping away from an environment that is causing stress.

In terms of appropriate products, your esthetician could suggest antioxidants, barrier-restoring ingredients and calming agents to soothe stress sensitized skin.

It is important for a skin treatment to be more than just a set of protocols followed with good home care advice. A skin treatment should provide a client with the therapeutic benefits of stress reduction to encourage better mental health, thereby encouraging better skin health.