Could stress be ruining your skin?

Q. Could stress be ruining your skin?

A.
Fast paced lives, social commitments; carving out a career, having a family, marriage and friends gives us all an element of stress in our lives to one degree or another.

Many clients that I see that have a skin issue can recollect a stressful stage in their lives.

The problem comes when we constantly subject our bodies to stress rather than reserving it for when we need it to help us to run away from a scary situation or get us through a job interview.

Ongoing stress leads to these useful chemicals, at times like these, being released all of the time giving rise to stress hormones that start to manifest themselves on the outside.

Part of my philosophy as a skin therapist is treating the skin from the inside out and this doesn’t just mean looking at your diet, it can be helping with stress management too.

So what can we see occurring on the skin when stress is the underlying cause?

One client came to me after a sudden outbreak of spots along her jaw line and neck.
She couldn’t understand why this problem had started as she had never suffered in the past.

After the initial in depth consultation and analysis it became apparent that a relationship breakdown, new job and house move was enough to send Cortisol (a stress hormone) coursing through her body.
This resulted in a rise in oil production and inflammation hence her ‘Stress acne’.

After a course of treatments, which in them selves helped to de stress, some homecare adjustments and some lifestyle advice we started to win the battle and kept things under control. The problem completely subsided as the stress became more manageable.

It’s also this same stress hormone that can cause premature ageing since the inflammation caused as a result will contribute towards lines and wrinkles coupled with the fact we are more likely to reach for a cigarette or G and T to help us to relax. So in fact we increase the stress levels even more by stimulating the release of these hormones.
It’s a vicious circle.

Stress might be difficult to wipe out of your life but it can be wiped from your face.

To help with your stress related skin issues book in with Louise for her ‘U and your skin’ facial. Call 07810 872 633 or email: enquiries@uandyourskin.co.uk


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