We all deal with different stresses, whether related to our jobs, our families, the cities we live in or the constant struggle to do it all.
But as Dr. Joshua Zeichner, the director of Cosmetic and Clinical Research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, told HuffPost, “Stress is not our friend, neither for our mind nor for our skin.”
Our skin is the largest organ in our bodies, and it can show signs of stress in a number of different ways, such as psoriasis and eczema flare-ups, seborrheic dermatitis and even acne.
Of course, everyone’s body and skin will react to stress in different ways, as we all have different genetic makeups. However, according to Dr. Whitney Bowe, a New York City-based dermatologist and the author of The Beauty of Dirty Skin, our skin can’t tell the difference between different types of stress — physical, emotional, psychological and environmental.
“To the skin, stress falls into one of two categories: acute or chronic,” she told HuffPost via email. “The more detrimental form of stress for the skin is the chronic kind of stress. The longer you endure stress, the more it takes a toll on your skin.”
Read on to find out the different ways stress can affect your skin and the rest of your body.
1. Stress triggers inflammation
To better understand how stress might affect and inflame the skin, Bowe said she looks at the “deep and powerful connection” of the skin, mind and gut. According to her, when the mind perceives stress, it can slow down digestion in the gut. The longer the stress lasts, the more of an impact it can have on your digestion, and when your digestion is slowed, it can affect the bacteria in your gut. A recent study found that high levels of stress can affect the gut bacteria much like a high-fat diet.
“That slowed motility allows for an overgrowth of unhealthy strains of bacteria, and the natural balance of gut microbes is disrupted, leading to something called dysbiosis,” she said. “This in turn causes the lining of your intestines to become ‘leaky,’ or more permeable, which triggers a bodywide cascade of inflammation.”
As a result of the internal inflammation, she said, the skin may break out in acne or experience flare-ups of psoriasis or eczema.
Dr. Forum Patel of Union Square Laser Dermatology in New York City echoed Bowe’s point, explaining that when you’re under stress, “Your body thinks it’s under attack, and it’s going to form all these inflammatory markers or inflammatory cells to help treat that attack.”
Because these inflammatory cells have increased in number, it can trigger flare-ups of any skin conditions people may be predisposed to.
2. Stress can dry your skin out
Whenever our body feels it’s under stress, our fight-or-flight response kicks in, Patel noted. As a result, we experience a spike in adrenaline and cortisol.
An increase in adrenaline causes us to sweat more, she noted. It activates the eccrine glands, the sweat glands, which “cause you to become dehydrated, because you’re losing a lot more water very quickly,” she said.
“If your body thinks it’s under some sort of stress, it’s trying to cool itself down,” she said. “If you’re not replenishing your body with water, you’re going to dry out.”
Those who have dry skin in general are more prone to eczema, Patel said. Dr. Michael Eidelman, a dermatologist also based in New York City, added that stress is a known trigger for eczema, which brings us to our next point.
3. Stress hormones can trigger existing conditions to worsen or flare up
The theory is that the immune system is directly affected by stress, Eidelman said.
He noted that stress releases hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline into our systems — “chemical messages that trigger certain physiological responses” in our bodies. For instance, adrenaline increases the heart rate and elevates blood pressure, and cortisol increases sugar in the bloodstream, according to the Mayo Clinic.
In terms of the skin, when the body produces too much cortisol, the immune system is weakened, causing an inflammatory response such as an eczema or psoriasis flare-up. This factor is particularly relevant for individuals who are predisposed to these skin conditions, Bowe said, as stress can “exacerbate or unmask those conditions.”
