stress and acne

We have all been going through a stressful time recently, so if your acne has become worse in the past few month, this could be the reason why..


When our body experiences stress, whether that be in the form of worry, work, being too busy, arguments, dehydration, lack of sleep, under / unhealthy eating or trauma, our body produces a stress hormone called cortisol.


The oil glands in our skin have receptors for cortisol, so when it rises in our blood, an increase in the formation of oil on the skin occurs, which can lead to clogged pores and acne.


Stress also has a depressive effect on the body’s immune system, which can effect your body’s ability to fight wounds and inflammation, leading to acne healing slower and it being more inflamed and painful in general.


Stress can also lead us to act differently in the forms of sleeping less, choosing the wrong foods, neglecting our skin care routine and subconsciously picking more at our face or leaning chins on hands.


Meditation, mindfulness, yoga and deep abdominal breathing have all been proven to reduce levels of cortisol in the blood, so they are all good habits to introduce daily to help manage breakouts.

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Herbal medicine is also really effective at helping to reduce cortisol levels, so if you do all of the self-care and still feel really stressed with ongoing breakouts please reach out, as your body may just need an extra helping hand.