Chronic stress can have many harmful effects on your body. On top of causing a lot of inside damage, being constantly stressed can also affect your physical appearance.
Below are some of the ways that stress can negatively affect our appearance and how to treat these side effects.
Acne
If you have oily skin that is prone to acne, you could find that stress leads to breakouts. This is because the stress hormone, cortisol, can trigger hormonal imbalances and inflammation. This leads to increased oil production and swelling, which may lead to pimples and redness.
There are over-the-counter products that you can use to treat acne. Make sure to wash your face regularly and avoid greasy junk foods to further help prevent oil build-up in your skin. In some serious cases, there may be procedures and prescribed medications you can consider to treat acne.
Eczema
Meanwhile, people with dry skin may be more prone to breakouts of eczema when stressed. Cortisol can cause our skin to become over-reactive to allergens and irritants. This leads to inflamed, itchy skin.
Regularly applying moisturizer could help to ease eczema. Topical steroid creams can also help. Avoid itchy areas of skin affected by eczema as this can often make this condition worse.
Psoriasis
Psoriasis is another skin disorder that can be triggered by stress. High levels of cortisol can cause an inflammatory response that leads to overproduction of skin cells. This results in the growth of hard and scaly lesions, which may be itchy and painful.
Can you treat psoriasis? Some over-the-counter medicines may help with mild cases, but if your psoriasis has gotten severe you may need to see a doctor. Injectable medication can help some people with psoriasis to see improvements to their skin health.
Rosacea
If you suffer from rosacea, you may also find that stress triggers flare-ups. This is a skin condition that causes red flushed skin. It can be more severe for some people than others.
Doctors often recommend that the best way to treat rosacea is to avoid known triggers. This could include stress, but also common triggers like coffee and alcohol. Certain creams, gels and oral medications are available to help treat this condition, but they may not work for everyone.
Wrinkles
Stress can also prematurely age your skin. Collagen and elastin in our skin can break down as a result of high levels of cortisol in our bloodstream. This can cause permanent wrinkles to form. Stress is particularly known to create frown line wrinkles (wrinkles on the forehead between the eyes) as a result of constant frowning.
It is possible to prevent wrinkles and even reverse them if you catch them early enough. Using retinol-based skin creams, you can help heal fine line wrinkles. Options like Botox and fillers can also be a temporary solution. Surgery is a more drastic option, but may be the only option for fighting deep wrinkles.
Hair greying
You’re more likely to go grey early if you are constantly exposed to stress. This is because cortisol can negatively affect the stem cells that are responsible for regenerating hair pigment. This causes our hair to lose its colour.
There is not much that you can do once your hair starts losing its colour aside from dyeing it. It may be possible to prevent further grey hairs by reducing stress in your life and eating a healthy diet. Eggs, avocados and spinach are all foods that are renowned for being good for our hair.
Hair loss
Stress can also cause you to lose your hair – and not just from physically pulling out your hair. Telogen effluvium is a condition caused by severe stress that can cause hair follicles to go into a resting phase. This disturbing condition can lead to entire clumps of hair falling out at a time, but thankfully it is only temporary.
As with fighting grey hair, a healthy diet may help to promote regrowth. There are even shampoo you can buy to encourage hair to grow back. Permanent hair loss is generally not the result of stress and is more likely linked to genetics or ageing.
Dark circles
Many people experiencing a lot of stress in their life find it difficult to sleep well at night. This is because cortisol keeps us more alert and prevents us from producing sleep hormones. A physical symptom of lack of sleep is dark circles around the eyes – this is caused by the skin becoming pale and the blood vessels becoming more visible.
By getting more sleep, you can get rid of these dark circles. You can also use a cold compress and caffeine eye serums to get rid of puffy dark eyes, while make-up is also an option for concealing dark circles.
Varicose veins
High blood pressure is another common condition caused by stress. Clinics like, Metro Vein Centers provides care and treatment options to help manage and improve vein health. If you’ve been searching for “vein doctor near me” online, they offer convenient locations and specialized treatment.
Clinics like, Metro Vein Centers provides care and treatment options to help manage and improve vein health. If you’ve been searching for “vein doctor near me” online, they offer convenient locations and specialized treatment.
There are certain at-home remedies you can try to reduce varicose veins such as using specialist creams or wearing compression stockings. However, the best form of varicose vein treatment is often a procedure like sclerotherapy or surgery. There are clinics that can carry out these procedures.
Cold sores
Cold sores are caused by a dormant virus known as HSV. Because stress weakens the immune system, it can cause such dormant viruses to reactivate. As a result, you’re more likely to get cold sores when you’re stressed.
You cannot cure HSV once you get it. However, you can treat cold sores using antiviral creams. Cold sore patches are also a home remedy worth exploring.
The key to beauty: beating stress
While there are many treatments you can explore to beat the physical symptoms of stress, the best way to protect your physical appearance is to tackle the root cause. Taking steps to reduce stress in your life will strengthen your immune system, help you sleep more easily, lower your blood pressure, reduce inflammation and make your skin and hair less reactive. This in turn can treat many of the above conditions. This post offers some tips on how to reduce stress in your life.
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