​Stress and your skin

I often remind clients how important it is to take time out to care for themselves. The reason? Minimizing stress is a big part of caring for your skin.

Stress has many adverse effects on the body, but do you know it can create skin issues such as accelerated aging, acne and aggravate skin diseases like rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis?

Here are some facts about stress, how it affects the skin, and ways to help you manage it. Because let's be honest. There is no way to avoid it. 

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Physical & emotional effects on the skin

Stress reduces blood flow to the skin. When we are in fight or flight mode, blood flow goes to other organs first, leaving our skin, hair, and nails with less supply, thus reducing the skins' ability to repair effectively, and ultimately causing inflammation. Lack of blood flow gives your skin a dull, tired appearance. 

Stress triggers the pituitary gland. This creates a cascade of hormone production, resulting in increased sebum production in the skin and inflammation throughout the body. Excess sebum production can lead to acne. 

Stress causes the releases cortisol. It can increase your blood sugar levels and result in glycation, which is the destruction of collagen and elastin proteins within the skin. This leads to skin inflammation and the breakdown of healthy collagen and elastin; AKA Aging.

Lack of sleep goes hand in hand with stress. Cellular regeneration takes place while we're in our deepest stages of sleep. There is a reason it is called "beauty sleep"! If we aren't sleeping, our cells can't regenerate.

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Know your Stress Triggers

We all know what tends to stress us out. Sometimes we may even be able to forecast when those stressful moments will hit us (sometimes not so much). If you know ahead of time that a stressful event is coming, you can take steps to proactively deal with that stress.

​I strongly believe in scheduling time for yourself for a stress managing activity. You make commitments to everyone else in your life. Why not commit to yourself? Daily devotions to activities you enjoy help you cope when stressful events and times set in. ​

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Below are just a few suggestions and ways to create habits that you can implement into your day-to-day routine. 

• Morning prayer or meditation
• Get in nature
• Move your body - Exercise is not only great for reducing stress but it also has skin boosting benefits. 30 minutes a day or even 10 minutes 3 times a day is just as effective
• Read a book
• Do something you enjoy - yoga, massages, facials, baking, learning something new
• Disconnect from devices and social media
• Spend time with friends - preferably ones that make you laugh
• Increase stress-reducing foods such as fish, poultry, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats. Eat fewer processed foods and more whole foods.
• Avoid alcohol, caffeine, high-sugar foods, simple carbs such as cakes and pastries, and soda. 
• Wash your face (because sometimes it's the only thing you have time to do)
• Get a good nights sleep
• Talk to a professional for guidance - sometimes we can't do it on our own, nor should we be expected to. 

​What are some of your stress triggers, and how do you manage them? How are you going to commit to yourself? Please send me a message and let me know! 

"It's not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It's necessary." Mandy Hale