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Stress and Acne: Does Stress Cause Acne?

Is there a link between stress and acne?

The debate in the acne stress connection has been a long one that until recently was evenly divided between dermatologists and doctors.

Many sufferers of stress and acne will tell you that they were worried about something before their fresh outbreak of acne.

Was I worrying about my personal life?

Is there something at work that is stressing me out?

Most of the information surrounding stress-related acne is anecdotal, that is until quite recently it was based on people's real life stories.

However, clinicial studies have recently shed light on the acne and stress debate.

When your body is stressed there is an increase in stress hormones.

Adrenaline and cortisol are released into the bloodstream and your body experiences a number of changes.

Some of these changes include stress and high blood pressure, stress weight gain, and also an increase in stress-related acne.

But does stress cause acne?

Or is the acne a result of an increase in the secretion of oil from your skin which clogs your pores and causes a fresh acne breakout?

There have been a number of studies that support the idea that stress and acne are related.

For example, a study done at Stanford University on students who experienced exam stress found that stress worsened acne severity in students.

But what is the connection between stress and acne?

When stressed our adrenal glands go into overdrive and produce stress hormones.

For example, cortisol, one of the stress hormones is overproduced.

Cortisol stimulates the sebaceous gland secrete more sebum.

This makes the skin's pores more oily and increases the chances of a fresh acne breakout.

Since the average person with acne has clogged skin pores, the inflammatory stress response can also break the walls of these pores.

This increases redness around the pore and increases the chances of an influx of pus.

At the same time, stress also reduces the healing process.

This is because of the link between stress and the immune system.

Since the healing process is impaired by stress it can take longer for the walls of the skin pores to heal.

This increases the chances of a fresh breakout of acne.

Stress does much more than inflame your acne breakout. It can impact all the systems of your body and prematurely age you.

For example, see these articles on:

Stress and heart disease. What is the relationship between stress and heart disease?

Stress management techniques can keep your stress and acne in check.

It is also important to keep your face clean to minimize the chances of acne breakout.

Some of the stress management techniques include:

Exercise. Exercise reduces stress and uses up the excess stress by-products. One of the common symptoms of stress is excess muscle tension. A great way to rid you body of excess muscle tension is through moderate exercise.

Relaxation techniques. Take time each day to practice meditation techniques or breathing exercises. These relaxation techniques activate the relaxation response that counters the effects of stress.

Shift your perspective. Research shows that adopting a positive mental attitude increases your skills in coping with stress.

Practice stress management daily. Regardless of the stress management tips that you choose it is important that you make time each day to practice them.