Are you stressed out? Your skin definitely shows it, if you are.
The brain and skin are interconnected. Both short and long term stress can have negative effects on overall skin health by affecting complexion, hydration and exaggerating the onset of wrinkles and fine lines.
Studies also show that a number of skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis, eczema and rosacea can be affected by stress.
Everyone experiences stress at some point in their lives. While you may think of stress as solely mental and emotional, that’s not true. Research shows that the brain-skin axis is a two-way street that can translate psychological stess and emotional states to the skin, hair and vise versa.
There are many ways stress physically affects your skin:
According to the Harvard Health Blog, the brain and skin are interconnected. “Stress triggers the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis…This can cause production of local pro-inflammatory factors, such as cortisol and key hormones in the fight-or-flight stress response called catecholamines, which can direct immune cells from the bloodstream into the skin or stimulate pro-inflammatory skin cells.”
In short, stress causes your skin to react in numerous ways.
- Stress hormones like cortisol leads to an overproduction of oil in your skin glands, which leads to acne and pimples.
- Stress impacts your immune system, causing inflammation of your skin and leading it to be more reactive and sensitive to the environment, such as skin allergies.
- Stress can make existing inflammatory skin conditions worse, leading to flare ups in eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea.
It is clear that all types of stress accelerate dysfunction and breakdown of collagen, elastin and the results are clear on the skin and face with an increase in fine-lines, wrinkles and early signs of aging.
- Exercise. Regular exercise releases endorphins to improve your energy, mood, and better manage lifes stressors.
- Sleep. Healthy sleep habits gives the body time to rest and heal, and good sleep improves your energy, mood and stress levels.
- Relax. Find time in your daily schedule to engage in relaxing activity, such as meditation, yoga and deep breathing – all shown to reduce stress hormone levels.
- Facial acupuncture. Every facial acupuncture treatment improves natural skin health while also helping correct underlying imbalances, such as chronic stress, that can contribute to signs of aging.
At Modern Acupuncture you can experience the benefits of facial acupuncture in our extremely relaxing Zen Lounge, designed scientifically to help your relax and reduce the effects of stress on your health.
The combination of a healthy lifestyle and natural skin care that includes facial acupuncture can help to restore optimal function of the body, reduce stress, boosts overall health and restore a more radiant, youthful appearance.
Don’t let stress get the best of your skin!
Modern Acupuncture® is a natural skin care solution and the leading provider of acupuncture in the U.S.
Visit the clinic nearest you today.