It’s well known that stress impacts your whole body. It’s why you feel that tightness in your chest and why you can acutely start pulling out chunks of your hair. Still, how does this happen? And what are the impacts of stress on your skin? Here’s the good news – we have some answers for you!

Your skin and your brain

When you’re stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, your body releases stress hormones like cortisol. This increase in cortisol encourages your skin to produce more sebum, otherwise called oil. As you produce more oil, your pores become more clogged and inflamed, resulting in acne.

Not only this, but the chemical response released by your body when you’re stressed causes your skin to be both more sensitive and reactive. That means any skin issues you already have are harder to heal and may become more inflamed. Not only this, but any allergies or intolerances you have to products are more severe.

But, how does this happen?

The gut-brain-skin axis refers to the correlation between the microbes in your gut, your emotional state, and skin inflammation. This axis describes how the various components of your body are interconnected. For example, it may be related to the overlap between psoriasis and depression.

Your body translates psychological stress from the brain to the skin. For example, increased stress can stimulate the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, which are components that contribute to your body’s response to stress. When this axis is stimulated, you may experience increased inflammation across your body. This increase in inflammation can result in flare-ups of skin conditions, acne, and itching.

How does stress present in your skin?

Here’s a list of the ways in which your stress can show on your skin:

Bags under your eyes

Bags under your eyes are typically described by puffiness and swelling. These are more common as you age because the muscles that support your eyes and eyelids begin to weaken. However, stress also increases signs of aging, resulting in bags under your eyes. While research is still being released about this, it appears that the cause of this is that the brain causes the release of hormones like corticotropin-releasing hormone, glucocorticoids, and epinephrine. The body subsequently responds in various ways, and one of the largest impacts is on the skin, which is your body’s largest organ and acts as an immediate stress perceiver.

Dry Skin

The outer layer of skin is called the stratum corneum. This layer of the skin includes both proteins and lipids, which are essential components of skin hydration. Stress can negatively impact the stratum corneum by reducing its ability to act as a barrier to the skin underneath. As such, you can experience less water retention and increased itchiness and dryness.

Rashes

Stress can significantly weaken your immune system. When this happens, you can experience imbalances of gut and skin bacteria called dysbiosis. The imbalance subsequently causes skin imbalances, resulting in rashes and redness on the skin.

Conclusion

There’s a strong connection between your brain, gut, and skin. When there’s an imbalance in one area of your body, this typically results in imbalances in other areas of your body. By reducing stress and understanding your body, you can also improve the quality of your skin.