Stressed out? How your skin is paying the price

It's no secret that stress is the leading cause of many health concerns; however, because this is so common, we tend to forget just how much of an impact stress has on our physical bodies and lack understanding of the full-on cascade effect that stress ignites.

To briefly summarize the fight-or-flight response that occurs during stress: stress releases adrenaline into the bloodstream, thus releasing cortisol, which breaks down sugar in the body, thus increasing your blood sugar. This response is a survival response. Every small stressor in modern-day life causes this cascade effect to take place.

 Some examples of modern-day stress:

• Blue light
• Noise pollution
• Rushing to do anything
• Family
• Emotional overwhelm
• Social media
• Notifications on your phone
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Political climate
• ...and the list goes on

It's easy to pick up on all of the little things that stress you out throughout your day because they are plentiful! The domino effect of massive, whether it's conscious or subconscious stress. So how does this relate to your skin exactly? Your skin is a direct reflection of what is going on inside of you.

Every time your stress increases for a prolonged period of time, your body responds by increasing its testosterone production. This is your body's way of reducing internal physiological stress. Let me break that down for you... 

You REACT to stress.

Cortisol increases.

Your BODY reacts to this by increasing testosterone because testosterone inhibits the stress response.

Ideally, you shouldn't need a surplus of testosterone, and frankly, you don't need a surplus of testosterone. If your body is at equilibrium, your hormones are balanced at the levels you need to function at your best. Your body knows what it's doing. But when you are constantly in a state of reactive fight-or-flight, your body does everything it can to return to equilibrium. The issue is the way your body reacts by over-producing hormones, like testosterone, is what causes your skin to break out.

Most gurus would say, reduce your stress, meditate more, do yoga, exercise to compensate - anything that reduces your stress. Well, that all sounds great in theory; however, because of the level of unconscious stress we endure daily due to modern-day life, reducing stress is much easier said than done.

I say, learn how to regulate your nervous system so that you are no longer in a reactive state. Change the way you react to stress, and you've changed the entire game for yourself.

If you need help on this journey, do not wait to grab a space in my NEW Skin Healing Masterclass, in which you will walk away understanding what you need (not some generalized advice) to keep your skin glowing.

In the meantime, you can also check out this podcast episode: 304: My skin journey & how to get clear skin, especially post covid-19