The Impact of Stress on Our Skin: How Stress Affects Our Complexion and Advice on how to Manage this.
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- 4 days ago
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The Impact of Stress on Our Skin: How Stress Affects Our Complexion and Advice on how to Manage this - advice from Dr Christine Or.
Stress can affect us all from time to time, especially leading up to big events or if we are going through significant life changes. The effects of stress can manifest itself in several ways, including impacting our mental and emotional wellbeing, struggling with our normal daily activities, but also noticing changes to our skin health.
The look and feel of our skin reflects our inner health and can often show signs that we are feeling the pressures of daily life before we even realise ourselves. In this blog, award-winning aesthetic doctor, Dr Christine Or, explores the impact of stress on our skin, how stress affects our complexion and advice on how to manage this.
How does Stress Affect our Complexion
When we are stressed, our body produces a hormone called cortisol, and too much of this hormone can play havoc with our complexion. We may start to see skin concerns such as:
Breakouts and acne flare-ups: Stress increases oil production which can clog pores and cause spots and breakouts.
Dryness and irritation: Cortisol can weaken our skin's natural barrier causing it to become dry, itchy or more sensitive than usual.
Redness and inflammation: Conditions like eczema, rosacea and psoriasis can worsen due to feeling stressed.
Tired and dull skin: Stress slows down cell turnover and collagen production, leading to dull, tired and older looking skin.
How to Manage the Effects of Stress on our Skin
Dr Christine believes in a holistic approach to tackling skin concerns related to stress. Wellness advice and the correct tailored at-home medical grade skincare routine are essential starting points to help reduce the effects of stress on the skin. Skin health can then be further improved using a combination of in-clinic aesthetic treatments that boost collagen and elastin, to restore beautiful, healthy and radiant skin.
Dr Christine's wellness tips to manage skin concerns as a result of stress:
Prioritise sleep: a consistent sleep routine and quality rest can help restore and heal our skin overnight. Aim for 7-9 hours and implement a calming wind-down routine in the evening.
Stay hydrated: drinking plenty of water hydrates our body and skin from the inside out helping to combat skin concerns such as a dry, dull and dehydrated complexion.
Eat a healthy diet: Optimise gut health by trying to limit processed meals and incorporate skin-loving and nourishing foods such as leafy greens, oily fish, nuts, seeds and berries.
Mindfulness and gentle exercise: moving our body slowly and mindfully through yoga and walking in nature help to lower stress hormones which can combat skin concerns.
Dr Christine recommends the following simplified skincare routine to help skin suffering from the effects of stress:
Cleanse: cleansing our skin in the morning and evening helps to unclog pores caused by an increase in oil production, as it removes microbes, makeup and pollution from the skin, and enables skincare products to penetrate deeper into the dermis.
Tone: toning helps balance our skin's PH level, and hydrates and prepares skin to absorb any products that follow. Toners also refresh the complexion, tighten pores and address specific concerns like oil or redness.
Treat: it is important to choose products that treat skin by addressing your specific concerns, so if your complexion is dull and tired, try a day serum containing Vitamin C as this will be effective for brightening the skin thanks to its antioxidant properties.
Moisturise: stress can often cause our skin to become dry, so choose a moisturising serum or cream that hydrates and nourishes to keep your complexion soft and supple.
Protect: sun protection is one of the most important steps in our skincare routine to shield skin from harmful UV rays. For those people that are prone to oily skin, choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen that has a non-greasy formula.
Dr Christine's hero in-clinic treatments to help combat stressed skin are tailored to each patient after a consultation and include:
Chemical peels: the Obagi Blue Peel Radiance effectively exfoliates the uppermost damaged skin layers, leaving your skin refreshed, renewed and radiant with little to no downtime.
RF Microneedling: radiofrequency microneedling rejuvenates the skin by stimulating the body's natural healing process to encourage collagen production of the dermis resulting in ant-ageing and skin tightening.
Profhilo & other Skin Boosters: Profhilo deeply hydrates the skin and stimulates collagen production, leading to further improvement in skin quality, elasticity and firmness. Skin will feel smoother and regain a natural glow.
Dermalux Flex LED Phototherapy: Dermalux delivers Red, Blue and Infra-red light which energises the skin and revitalises a dull and tired complexion. Following a single treatment, patients can expect immediate improvement in skin tone, hydration and radiance.
Why Choose Dr Christine Medical Aesthetics?
If your skin is showing signs of stress and is in need of a pick-me-up, book your consultation with Dr Christine Or to discuss a tailored treatment plan to optimise your skin health and give you the glowing and radiant complexion that you deserve.
