Does Stress Affect Acne?

Does stress affect acne? This question has long been debated by dermatologists, medical scientists and patients. In fact, as a practicing dermatologist, and a person very interested in psychiatric dermatology, I feel this debate is unnecessary. The only thing that needs to be debated is just how far the pressure is on acne and vice versa!

Stress and tension, uncontrollable tension, anger, anxiety are all enemies of good health to the general and healthy skin in particular. If you are stressed, it will reflect your skin first! Changes in blood flow due to emotional and neurological effects, ongoing sweating, neurological damage caused by the release of chemical mediators in the skin all make the skin itchy and irritable. Many stress-related diseases such as psoriasis, pruritus, urticaria, alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis etc. Examine themselves to damage the structure and integrity of the skin.

Does Stress Affect Acne?

The evidence continues to build on the pressure that actually affects acne, much deeper than previously believed.

Many studies show that stress plays a very important role in causing, maintaining, and aggravating acne. The largest study ever done on the severity of adolescent acne and stress levels by researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and reported on Acta Derm Venereol, revealed that teens who are under high pressure are 23 percent more likely to develop acne.

In another study published in the Archives of Dermatology, a research team led by Dr Alexa Kimball from Stanford University, studied 22 university students with varying degrees of acne. They found that students had worse acne during the test period, when they also rated their stress as higher. The link remains even after other factors such as changes in bedtime, quality of sleep, diet, and amount of food per day are taken into account.

A similar study conducted among 19 college students by Chiu A et al., Also published in the Dermatological Archive, confirms that increasing stress levels is strongly associated with increased acne severity.

Another study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, detects the chemical relationship between stress, acne and other skin disorders. Stress causes the hypothalamus, part of the brain, to release the so-called chemicals corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH). This study found that sebaceous glands in the skin respond to CRH through specific CRH receptors found in cells that secrete gland oil. When CRH comes in contact with the CRH receptor, the sebum gland is triggered to produce more sebum, thus causing acne.

In addition, the researchers also stated that in the male hormone, testosterone decreases CRH receptor production, while human growth hormone increases CRH receptor production. This may explain why men and women get new acne scars at different ages.

Yes, the decision is out: stress affects acne.

Does Stress Affect Acne?


==========================