Stress can affect every part of your body, including your skin which known by stress acne. Topical treatments can help a little bit, however they don’t treat the cause of the acne, which is stress. This article will explain how stress causes acne and provide information on treatments for stress acne.
What is the Causes of Stress Acne?
When you’re under stress, your body releases hormones to help combat the stress. These hormones tell your blood vessels to dilate and your blood pressure to rise. These changes tell you to get ready to fight the stress – this response is called the “fight or flight” response. Unfortunately, most modern-day stressors can’t be dealt with by fleeing, so our stress levels remain high for extended periods of time. When stress hormones are released continuously, your immune system never shuts down – it tells all your body systems that you’re fighting infection. When this happens, each system in your body responds appropriately – and in the case of your skin, the response is to produce pimples, as well as other skin conditions like psoriasis and hives.
Diet
One way to treat stress acne is to be sure that you’re eating a healthy diet. Refined sugar and other foods that are high on the glycemic index tend to raise your blood sugar level, which puts your immune system on alert and triggers the inflammation response. Therefore, you need to change your diet – avoid refined sugar as much as possible and eat foods that are rich in complex carbohydrates and omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, herring, trout, nuts and flaxseed. In addition, be sure to eat other sources of lean protein, such as chicken and lean beef. Red meat can also be eaten as long as it isn’t fried in oils that contain unhealthy fats.
Get Plenty of Sleep
It’s important to get a good night’s sleep. A good night’s sleep allows your body to rest and repair itself so you’ll wake up with plenty of energy – on the other hand, if your body is under stress because of lack of sleep, you will be more likely to develop stress acne.
Take Care of Constipation
The toxins created when you’re constipated cause your pores to clog, which causes bad acne breakouts. If you have problems with constipation, eating a diet that consists of more fiber can help. If you’re already doing this and are still becoming constipated, consider using treatments like laxatives, enemas or suppositories to relieve constipation.
Get Some Sun
The keyword here is SOME sun. Medical professionals have recommended sunlight as a method of treating acne for a long time. Sunlight is important because it helps the body create vitamin D, which helps the body absorb calcium and fight infection. According to health professionals, all you need is 15 minutes of exposure to the sun before applying sunscreen – this is a healthy dose of sun that will not cause damage to your skin.
Over the Counter Drugs
There are different types of over the counter acne treatments that can be used when treating all types of acne. These treatments take the form of wipes, creams or soaps. Most treatments clear up acne within a week, and can be used to prevent new breakouts. Over the counter treatments are usually a more economical choice when treating stress acne, since stress acne breakouts usually aren’t a constant problem.
Prescription Medication
If over the counter drugs aren’t effective, the next step is to try prescription medication. Prescription drugs used to treat acne breakouts include tetracycline, which is often prescribed to teenagers going through acne during puberty. It can also be prescribed to adults for stress acne breakouts, however.
Home Remedies
There are also several effective home remedies. Yogurt is an effective remedy for stress acne because it helps open up the pores while at the same time cleaning away dirt and debris. Another effective home remedy is to apply calamine lotion to each pimple, or just put a thin layer over your face before you go to sleep. When you wake up in the morning, remove the calamine lotion with cold water.
Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine also recognizes the link between diet and acne, as well as between emotions and acne. Therefore, Chinese medicine techniques for treating stress acne also include eating what the Chinese call cleansing foods. These foods include fruits like watermelon, pears, and winter melon, as well as vegetables like squash, broccoli, cucumbers, cabbage, celery, and carrot tops. Also included are grains such as buckwheat, brown rice, and millet.