The Impact of Mental Stress and Environmental Stressors on Skin
In this day and age everyone seems to be running at a million miles per hour. We often hear in the clinic ‘I feel stressed’ - or we see changes in our regular client’s skin month to month due to their lifestyle and the impact of environmental stressors on their skin - so how can we take steps to manage these issues?
First of all, let’s discuss how feeling stressed can affect the skin. Feeling stressed affects more than just our minds; have you ever noticed that during a period of feeling more stressed or anxious, you break out more or conditions such as eczema worsen?
Here’s why…
Stress causes a chemical response in your body, increasing the levels of cortisol, adrenaline, dopamine, norepinephrine and other hormones in varying amounts depending on the level of stress. These hormones maintain your body’s normal functions while giving you extra tools to manage or survive when there is a perceived (or real) threat, however, if stress lingers and these hormones lev-els stay raised, some of their protective actions can wreak havoc on your body.
The chemical response that stress induces makes your skin more sensitive and reactive and can also make it harder for skin problems that already exist to heal. For example, increased cortisol levels tell your glands to produce more oil, and oily skin, as we all know, is more prone to acne and other skin problems.
Stress is extremely important in dermatology when looking at how it can trigger or worsen common skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, rosacea and acne. It can also cause hives and some types of skin rashes to flare up and can trigger fever blisters.
If you are prone to a skin condition naturally, stress can bring this out in an aggressive form. It can also make the skin age more rapidly as prolonged activation of some nerve pathways can result in immune dysfunction, in-creased production of reactive oxygen species, and DNA damage, all of which can contribute to skin ageing.
I will outline how there are several ways in which stress can affect the appearance of our skin, which are not hor-monal.
Agitation
If we react to stress by becoming agitated, this can lead us to scratch our skin more, which can lead to areas of thickened or irritated skin. This is particularly common with those who suffer from eczema who say that they feel itchier and scratch more when they feel stressed. If a person has psoriasis, scratching can make the condition worse as it further damages the skin. Scratching can also be a vicious cycle as you feel an itch, so you scratch it, but this then releases inflammatory chemicals which will cause more itching!
Interfering with Skincare Routines
If you are feeling stressed then you may be likely to neglect parts of your skincare routine, or even skip it altogether, which can then aggravate skin issues. I have had many clients who have all the skincare products that they need in their cupboards but tell me that they often just feel like they haven’t got time to properly do their skin-care routine, or that they forget!
I know that it can also be very stressful to some of us to have skin problems, meaning people whose skin is affected by stress will feel particularly badly about how it is looking, which can then add more stress!
Causing Us to Alter Our Diets
Feeling stressed can mean we alter our diets, in a lot of cases reaching for sugary or fatty comfort foods or drinking more alcohol, all of which can exacerbate skin problems.
When life is getting a bit too much, either at work or at home, making sure to eat enough fruit and veg etc. can be the last of anyone’s worries, so I would suggest that if this can sometimes be a problem you face, when you do your shopping try and buy healthy snacks to keep in the house so that these are what you end up reaching for (e.g. popcorn, fruit, nuts etc.).
Not Getting Enough Sleep
Often when stressed, people tend to not prioritize sleep. The stress hormone cortisol naturally decreases when we sleep allowing the skin to refresh, so a lack of sleep will be further worsening any stress-induced skin conditions you may be suffering with. When you are feeling more stressed, I really urge you to try to get the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night to enable your body and skin to rest and recover.
Ways to Try and Ease the Effects of Mental Stress on Your Skin
When you are stressed, the worst (and most annoying) thing that somebody can say is ‘just try to relax”. That isn’t how it works, unfortunately. I know that you most likely can’t avoid stress completely, but you can try ways to handle it better and decrease the chances of stress-induced skin issues:
• Don’t neglect your skincare routine. Try to take care of your skin, even if you’re tired or feeling stressed.
• Try to exercise regularly. It’s good for your skin and the rest of your body as exercise can help relieve anxiety (when endorphins are released) and help you sleep better at night.
• Take time for yourself to do something you enjoy, even if you only have 10 minutes. Take a bath or read a book.
• Go for a walk in the fresh air.
• Try to get enough sleep. Seven to eight hours each night is ideal.
• Say no. It’s okay to set limits and boundaries to lower your stress.
• Talk to someone. Seek support from a friend or a professional therapist.
So now let’s talk about the impact of environmental stressors - we can blame environmental stressors for future lines and wrinkles, sunspots to dry skin, uneven skin tone, irritation and inflammation of existing problems, annoyingly so these factors are an unavoidable part of modern life.
Pollution
Clients who live in busy areas and city often find their skin familiar with the skin-dulling effects of pollution.
Air pollution, in the form of gasses and of particulate matter, also known as particle pollution, is a source of free radical damage and premature aging for many of us. Several studies have linked pollution to premature skin ageing, when that pollution comes into contact with your skin, it doesn’t just sit on the surface leaving you feeling dirty. Some of these particles are as many as 20 times smaller than pores—allowing them to penetrate the deeper layers of the epidermis, causing not only inflammation and dehydration but also a cellular-level reaction that leads to lost elasticity and firmness. Unfortunately, for these clients, there is no way to avoid the pollution in the air altogether unless they pack up and move to the countryside so, therefore, it is important that we put in to place a treatment plan and home care regime that will help protect them against the impact of pollution on the skin.
UV Light
It’s no secret that one of the main causes of premature ageing comes from UV rays. It is responsible for 90% of the visible signs of ageing like wrinkles, dark spots, and uneven skin tone. It generates a ton of free radical damage and depletes our antioxidants reserves which are our first line in defense against free radical damage. Despite all this information we still find ourselves regularly advising clients on the importance of SPF – everyday!
UVB rays which are the rays responsible for tanning play a huge role in skin cancer change with the seasons and are at their greatest during the summer months but the UVA rays which are responsible for premature ageing are present all day long and all year-round, no matter the weather even through windows, if you aren’t using protection you are at risk.
In addition to the damage from the UVA and UVB rays that we are familiar with there have been several studies and evidence that show other parts of light like blue light, may also be bad for our skin.
Blue light is everywhere. In its natural form, your body uses blue light from the sun to regulate your natural sleep and wake cycles (circadian rhythm). It also helps boost alertness, heighten reaction times, elevate moods, and increase the feeling of wellbeing. Artificial sources of blue light include electronic devices such as smartphones and laptop computers, as well as energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs and LED lights.
Dermatologists have good evidence to show that blue light triggers certain skin conditions, such as melasma, where the skin is stimulated to produce more pigment and there is also evidence that suggests as blue light penetrates the skin it causes oxidative stress which leads to DNA damage, causing inflammation and the breakdown of healthy collagen and elastin, as well as hyperpigmentation. (“Blue light-induced oxidative stress in live skin Article”, Free Radical Biology and Medicine 108 · March 2017).
Ways to Try and Ease the Effects of Environmental Stress on Your Skin.
It’s unrealistic to think that we can completely eliminate environmental stress from our lives so instead, we have to think of ways that we can protect our skin both from within and on the surface.
• Eating a diet rich in antioxidants can help increase your blood antioxidant levels to fight oxidative stress and reduce the risk of disease and premature ageing. Some foods that are high in antioxidants include- blueberries, dark chocolate, pecans, red berries and kale.
• Cleanse - use a cleanser that will thoroughly remove dirt and impurities without stripping the skin.
• Serum - applying a serum full of antioxidants will help to protect against free radical damage. A serum will penetrate much deeper than a moisturizer and contains more active ingredients.
• Protect - Broad Spectrum protection every single day to help protect the skin against inflammation and damage caused by UV rays every day – there’s an incredibly wide range of SPFs on the market that may be used.
Antioxidants have the power to fight back, but only if we have enough of them in the first place—So, start with the basics to make sure your skin has everything it needs to thrive, meditate, get enough sleep, eat well and wear SPF!