Acne Myth No. 3
Stress Is a Cause for Acne – COULD BE
You should know that the debate about whether stress does or does not cause acne still hasn’t ended. But first of all the first tip for a long life is a life without stress. That’s not a very helpful answer to the question whether stress causes acne, but you should avoid stressful situation as much as you can.
Some of the researchers have never said that acne does not cause acne, but that stress is not a major cause for acne. They have emphasized that, on the contrary, the drugs people with deep depressions and stressful lives take will cause acne.
On the other side, other researchers have found stress as a real cause for acne, through the increased output of hormones from the adrenal (stress) glands. They expressed this through the following words: “stress can worsen acne”; this way the gap between the two groups of researchers appears not to be so deep. So, generally speaking, it seems that stress should be taken into account when talking about acne, but not as the major, first cause of this skin disorder.
A 2002 study conducted by the Stanford University School of Medicine, for example, proved that stress caused by exams worsened acne in the case of 22 students. Although the number of students wasn’t big, the researchers noticed that the students who had the greatest increases in stress also had the greatest exacerbation in acne severity.
The ways that stress influences acne are simple: first of all, stress means the stimulation of the adrenal (stress) glands so that they would produce more hormones; secondly, stress slows down the healing process of your entire body and specifically of your skin, which suffers from acne.
The adrenal or stress glands secrete male hormones, which are well known for their stimulating the sebaceous glands to secrete more sebum. And sebum, alongside keratin, is the main element involved in acne. On the other hand, stress decreases the wound healing capacity of immune systems up to 40%.
Stress’ stimulating the adrenal glands induces also the overproduction of cortisol, a steroid that makes the sebaceous glands produce even more oil and make skin extra oily. That is why skin gets very oily and people experience white- and black-heads and more inflamed acne in stressful periods.
According to a German dermatologist called Jerome Litt, people suffering from acne should avoid what he called “SWAT”: Stress, Worry, Anxiety, Tension.
It’s simple to say “From now on I won’t permit myself to worry so much.”, but it’s very difficult for this to work from the first day. You would need to “train” yourself in calmly controlling yourself as much as you can. It will take you hours and maybe years, but the results will mean a far more peaceful life and far more healthy body. Acne won’t, obviously, disappear without being treated, but it won’t either worsen.