Acne & Stress
How Does Stress Cause Acne?
Stress-related acne is still a much debatable issue till
today. Whether stress may really cause real acne or not, the
health circles were not certain until some years ago. There
are several medical studies that may provide evidence that
the outbreak of acne to some people may be caused by stress.
There are two ways that stress may cause acne, which are:
one is stress being able to stimulate the adrenal glands to
produce more hormones and the other is by slowing down the
process of healing.
The adrenal glands which are found above the kidneys secrete
hormones known as norepinephrine and epinephrine. Along with
the male hormones secreted by the adrenal cortex that are
released only under stressful conditions, this condition will
then stimulate the release of excess sebum which further regenerates
the acne breakout.
It is also recognized that psychological stress may reduce
the healing capacity of the immune system by 40%. This being
given only increases the probability that several cases of
acne may really be stress-related.
On top of that, stress does not only worsen acne flare-up,
it may affect the over-all health condition of the skin. It
induces the adrenal cortex to generate a steroid called cortisol
that might trigger the production of sebum, which makes the
skin extra oily. This is also why stressed people tend to
have pus-filled papules and inflamed acne rather than the
plain whiteheads and blackheads.
In 2002, the Stanford University School of Medicine carried
out a research on the connection between stress and acne.
Although it only involved 22 acne-inflicted students, the
fact that stress actually causes the generation of acne on
students under stressful condition has been established. The
professors involved in the experiment were able to wrap up
that the exam aggravated the acne of the students under observation.
It was also confirmed that students who were greatly stressed
during the examinations have greater tendency for more severe
acne conditions.
Acne urticata, which is actually not acne but a form of eczema,
are apparent to middle-aged women with depression and stress.
In some circumstances, it is not yet clear whether the stress
resulted to acne or the stress the resultant of this type
of acne.
Dr. Jerome Litt, who is a German dermatologist, concluded
that under stressful situations, the male hormone testosterone
and androgens are will be produced. This belief has led him
to the generalization that these two hormones may be active
to the production of sebum on the skin, which might result
in the outbreak of acne.
To combat this problem, he suggests that it is best for acne
patients to avoid stress, worry, anxiety and tension as these
could be the factors that trigger the production of acne or
worsen the pre-existing condition.
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