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Stressed? Your Skin Doesn’t Lie
By Richard Eisen, M.D.
With job losses and a bleak economic forecast adding to our daily worries, stress levels are running high. Although you may believe you’ve hidden your stress well, signs of stress can be exhibited in your skin.
Stress affects your hormones, elevating Cortisol levels which increase oil levels in your skin and aggravate skin conditions such as acne, eczema and psoriasis. It can also affect your nails and cause your hair to fall out.
There are two kinds of stress. Emotional stress pertains to the stress that goes along with stock market losses, the loss of a job, or the loss of a loved one. Physical stress pertains to stress on the body due to pregnancy, illness or an operation. Both types can affect your skin, nails and hair.
For those who are prone to acne, elevated levels of Cortisol will lead to an increase in acne outbreaks. With more outbreaks, people are less confident and often have lower self esteem. This creates a negative feedback loop, or a cycle of stress, as they become stressed about their acne as well as everything else.
One of our patients developed cystic acne and Rosacea during pregnancy and the combination of hormones with the physical stress of pregnancy really aggravated these conditions.
Some individuals try to reduce their acne by picking and scratching at it. This is actually a condition called acne excoriée and can lead to infection and scarring. It’s important that the person with acne excoriée see a dermatologist for treatment.
Other skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema and general itching are worsened by stress and breakouts will be more severe and more frequent. When a person is stressed, s/he has less of a threshold of pain for the itching and scratches even more.
Picking at the cuticles is another sign of stress. This damages the nail matrix, resulting in ridges in the nail that may take up to a year to grow out. If a stressed person keeps picking at her/his cuticles, s/he will end up with permanent nail changes, and ridges, that can’t be reversed.
Stress will show on your face; from dark circles under the eyes to frowning and furrowing of the brow. More sleep will help remedy the dark circles, but frowning and brow furrowing can lead to deep lines. Botox can relax the muscles used to frown and furrow the brow and stop the manifestation of stress.
Under severe emotional stress such as the loss of job, the hormonal changes ensued can affect the hair cycle. When the hair cycle is affected, more hair will be in the “resting phase” as opposed to the “growing phase”. Typically 10-15 percent of hair is in the resting phase normally, which means 50-100 hairs per day will be shed without shampooing and 100-150 hairs will be shed with shampooing.
Both types of stress can cause more hair to be in the resting phase, which is a condition called “telogen effluvium”. When there is an excess of resting hairs, the stressed person will lose a noticeable amount of 200 or more hairs per day. Typically, the stress cycle is six months long before the stressed person will begin to see hair growing back.
Those who are experiencing more frequent acne outbreaks, acne excoriée or who have eczema, psoriasis or another skin concern should consult a dermatologist for treatment.
Here are several tips to help combat stress exhibited in the skin:
• Try to eat well. Poor diet will only increase symptoms of stress.
• Try to get enough sleep.
• Try to exercise on a regular basis, at least three times a week.
Richard Eisen, M.D.
Dr. Richard Eisen is the founding physician and Director of South Shore Skin Center. As a well known Dermatologist in the Northeast, Dr. Eisen has held several teaching positions and is a published author for general medicine and dermatology. Dr. Eisen is a Board Certified Dermatologist and Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology. He is a recognized expert in laser therapy and is a fellow of the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery and American Society of Lasers in Medicine and Surgery. Founded in 1984, South Shore Skin Center is one of Massachusetts’ most progressive dermatology practices offering a wide range of medical, surgical and cosmetic services to thousands of clients south of Boston.
South Shore Skin Center offices are located at 223 Chief Justice Cushing Highway, Suite 202 in Cohasset, Mass. (781) 383-3340, and 45 Resnik Road, Suite 102 in Plymouth, Mass., (508) 747-0711. For more information, visit their website at www.southshoreskincenter.com.
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