Could Stress be the Ultimate Skin Predictor?
It’s Monday, and my new job has been ruining my skin. No kidding. Sure, it’s creatively stimulating and all kinds of fun. But as with most startups, it’s been a high-stress scenario, especially during those few months leading up to the launch. And a few weeks ago, the stress was all over my face, pizza styles.
For about a week I had a constellation of no less than 5 cysts—painful, inflamed, and all kinds of impossible-to-cover (because I picked!) ugly. I have not had that kind of breakout since, well, my last fast-paced job.
It’s kind of funny (not haha) to think that during the time when we were writing the book, and I was between jobs, I came to convince myself that I was actually a low-stress individual. Uh, hello delusion. It’s easy to be low stress when the only person you deal with is your bestie, and you get to spend your days pampering with natural products while researching and writing about something you love. (And if we’re really being truly honest, even then my monkey brain often had its way with me.)
We talked a lot about stress in the book, and the fact that it also comes with benefits: It makes people more thoughtful, more productive, and generally more successful.
But when it comes to my skin, stress—above food and alcohol, and even sleep—is the number one indicator of how mine looks. And it doesn’t just manifest as acne. The entire quality of my skin sallows with it too.
I saw this breakout as a warning siren: Something in me was out of whack, big time. And since then I’ve been on a mission to rebalance. With so much stress and stimulation in the world, at the end of the day the only thing we can control is our reactions—so that’s where I’ve been looking. Do I have boundaries? Do I ever turn off? What happens to my body when something stressful happens? (Clenching, neck pain, stomach upset?) I’m paying attention and my skin is on the road to recovery, but it’s a work in progress (a new cream from Tammy Fender is also helping!).
S and I think this is such an important topic: 1) because it impacts our health, 2) because it impacts our looks, and 3) because with the endless distractions of modern life we’re only getting more anxious. As such, we’re planning to tackle it more regularly in a new series around managing stress.
What happens to your body when stress hits?
Your post is very timely. I have intestinal problems when I am stressed out. I may believe that I am clam and relaxed but then my body tells me otherwise. This past month I have been under a lot of stress and I think I am handling it well and outwardly I exude a great calmness but oh boy my bowel movements have been telling a different story.
Bad things. It’s a 50/50 shot whether my face breaks out, but I carry tension in my shoulders, so hot lances of pain crawl up and down my neck, shoulders and upper back. Serious tension headaches that border on migraines. And this is a weird one, but my feet give me trouble. My nails get weird, and I get blisters from the most comfortable shoes, or even barefoot! The worst thing is one I technically do to myself. During periods of stress, I tend to get lazy about my diet and exercise and eat out often, or buy more prepared meals with all their yucky preservatives and fillers and colors. Caffeinated beverages like Cokes end up adding their bits, and I really can’t handle much of that. The end result is that my digestive train derails in a most uncomfortable way. In as little as two days.
Oddly enough, dealing with that is what brings my stress back into line. Something about caring for myself a little bit, and remembering that nothing should stop me from what I usually do, nothing should have that power, re-centers me just a little. It’s enough to get me through, and when I’m on the down slide of the stress, everything falls back into place and I take or make time to do something to help purge the rest of the residual effects.
This is a topic very close to my heart (unfortunately). For me? Sleeplessness; moodiness; impatience; irritability; full-on muscle tension in my lower back and legs–to the point where I’ll be confined to flats until situation improves and my muscles loosen! Oh, and the most pleasant: raging indigestion.
Well… Happy Monday! :)
I’m so sorry to hear your skin is freaking out! I completely and totally think this stress/skin connection is true! I also think that being stressed in front of a computer and rubbing your brow in an anguished way brings on the acne too btw, at least that’s true for me.
When I’m truly stressed I lose my hair, big time. Like, 300 strands a day ( I counted and that was a remarkably disgusting task btw). So it clog my drains, my fancy Dyson vacuum and my dryer and it stresses me out even more because who wants to lose their hair? Besides, there’s something inherently icky about parts of our bodies breaking off (notice our inherent revulsion at loose teeth rolling around in our mouth, clipped fingernails etc.).
Anyways, my skin breaks out too, but that clears out way easier than my hair loss. Does anybody know what might be up with Ctonics Pulse being out of stock for so long btw? It’s the ONE shampoo that helped…
Good luck finding a balance. It’s a worthy goal and always a work in progress. I love putting my smartphone somewhere where I can HEAR it (in case I get an urgent call) but where I can’t easily see it (to, you know, check emails ALL THE FRIGGIN’ TIME). If you live with someone you can dance with, a vigorous dancing session in the living room helps too. Oh, and an hour of bossa nova before bedtime is so soothing. Good luck!
I used to always say it was digestive upset that got me when I was stressed – which was true, but on a much healthier diet that doesn’t really happen anymore. I feel like stress bothers my skin via hormones, so that even when stress is on the high end, the worst skin issues still revolve around my menstrual cycle.
When you are highly stressed and your body is going into fight-or-flight mode, you may decrease blood flow to your skin (explaining it being tough to heal and appearing sallow). Seems like using products that stimulate blood flow (what that would be I don’t know), or doing a face massage, or exercise would get the blood moving and could help the skin. Maybe??
Best of luck with your new endeavors and keeping the stress down, Alexandra!
I’m doubling up on my chamomile tea RIGHT NOW. Figure I better get it in before the holidays begin. I can already feel the tension headaches.
Very timely, I was just reading about this the other day: “Your emotions have a powerful effect on your skin. In fact, a new field of medicine, called psychodermatology, has developed that focuses on the complexities of the mind-skin connection. Experts of psychodermatology treat skin problems that are caused or worsened by stress.”
LIke Steffie, I get beastly tension headaches when I am stressed from grinding my teeth at night and holding my shoulders up by my ears all day. Surprisingly, I have learned to manage stress MUCH better since having kids (not that I recommend getting pregnant to deal with stress). But I think they help put things into perspective. I also end up with a cold or a stomach bug when I get really stressed. I never get sick except when stressed out. I even ended up with shingles once…I’ll never let myself get that stressed again. So my methods of control are 1)make a list and put things in perspective; 2) yoga and exercise; 3) Get a facial – Alexandra, you mentioned Tammy Fender…if you can jump on a plane to Miami and head to the Elle spa, the Tammy Fender facial was the best I’ve ever had! My skin looked better than it has in 15 years afterward!
I totally agree with you Rebecca – when you are tired or stressed your body redirects all its efforts into keeping your vital organs running and your poor skin and hair get neglected. My skin doesn’t really break out when I’m stressed but I get killer tension headaches and I find that a bit of scalp massage does me the world of good (especially if I can sucker someone into doing it for me).
My main problem is my back – I am very slight and an incredible stress head and my back can get so tight I’ve literally pulled the vertebrae between my shoulder blades out of alignment from time to time. I currently have a knot on my right shoulder that’s just under the size of a tennis ball (I measured!) which is red hot and totally surrounded by fluid.
I wish I could be better at recognising when i’m getting stressed and take steps to chill out but emotionally and functionally I thrive on stress and being busy so instead my massage therapist and osteopath are my best friends – I have a back and neck deep tissue massage every 3 weeks or so, a spine adjustment every quarter and try to eat as well as I can.
Eva, my mom’s hair falls out when she is stressed out as well. After having some blood work done, she discovered her vitamin d levels were dangerously low. That deficiency coupled with stress can thin out your hair. Surprisingly, it can be difficult to get enough vitamin d, especially if you avoid the sun and fortified milk like she does. I have no idea if this comment is helpful to you or not, but it may be something interesting to look into.
Complete skin breakout is my clue of immense stress. I am 27 and I still get really bad breakouts. I always thought it was closer to my monthly cycle but as i have become smarter stress really does it for me. I had vaguely observed during my undergrad that closer to exam I always had really bad breakout. Now work, personal problems shows up on my skin.
Hair loss has also been a leading indicator – more hairloss before the breakout = I am stressed. The other indicator is stiff neck and shoulder and surprisinly – laziness. Ironically more stress I am, more lazy I became. I don’t understand why but I am trying to monitor my diet to see if stress = sweets = laziness.
I have figured the best way to fight stress and help my skin is exercise. I started going to gym when I am stressed and it really helped me. 30 mins and I was refreshed. Also, started eating healthy sugar like fruits and nuts. I would still get a nice dessert and coffee but I will go for small portion to keep me happy and my skin in control.
And took advise from ‘Daily Good’ to take 15-20 min walk during work. That is really helping me to organize my thoughts in middle of day and get things done!
For hair loss:
1. start taking Viviscal supplement – amazing!!
2. get tested for iron/ferritin levels (they should be somewhat higher than the highest value of the range provided by the laboratory where you get tested. If not, start taking an iron supplement for at least 3 months. I checked this with Philp Kingsley – hair needs much more iron than your body normally to be healthy, so even if your levels are within range and they tell you you are ok, they should be higher for your hair to prosper.)
3. eat 2 pommegranates/day (or juice them if you don’t like the taste)
a very good post and I can’t wait for your new series on stress!
I react with immense exhaustion: good since I am forced to slow down immediately, bad since I some times can’t even finish more chores.
Wow, I never really thought about all the effects stress has on our bodies. Of course I knew it was bad, but I didn’t really think that my skin problems (dryness ALL over) could be caused by stress, too. I just blamed it on the winter time and the chlorid water I was exposed to during my stay in the US this summer.
Shruti, Good for you! I think we all tend to cocoon when we are stressed, but exercise is the magic elixir. I, too, feel refreshed and revitalized after exercising, but never really feel up to the challenge when stressed. The important thing (and the trick, because it is the last thing we are inclined to do when stressed) is to push yourself to do it and know that it is part of taking care of yourself – it is, essentially, the ultimate stress-buster. I could not agree with your more.
Stress shows up in my GI tract, so like Katherine, I have issues with my BM’s. Especially I eat less healthy and over eat. If I’ve been overly stressed and am maxed out, I’ll get a coldsore :( then I know I’ve over done it, and my body is really pissed and trying to get my attention.
stress shows up with hair loss for me ..it’s been going on for 2 years now !! and i’m really ready for things to go back to normal ..the last few months have started to feel ok stress wise . wow, it’s upsetting ,such an important thing for women ..the hair !!
i am going to try viviscal ..i’ll try anything !
thanks for the tips ..