16 Dec Exams, Stress and Acne. Are they Related?
Many people ask me, is my acne stress related?
The truth is that you should probably be asking yourself that question. Are you stressed? No? Really?
I find it difficult in Singapore to not be stressed. From PSLE, to O levels to A levels and University, and then to working life. The stress never stops. We are unfortunately a society with a lot of stresses. If you are a young sufferer of acne, you will no doubt have noticed the relationship between stress, exams and acne. As the exams draw near, the acne just seems to get worse, and more unrelenting, with bigger and badder zits popping up all the time. Why won’t your skin cut you some slack especially during this stressful time, you ask?
Well, you skin unfortunately, is just trying to be HELPFUL.
How can that be? Exams are stressful enough without painful, giant zits popping up on your face right??? What’s actually happening with your skin is that the skin is trying hard to help you. It notices that you are stressed. When you are stressed, you don’t sleep enough, and your body reacts in a primitive way. You see, long ago, before we had exams and jobs, our body already developed defence mechanisms to protect itself during times of danger. One of these mechanisms is the STRESS REACTION.
When the human body is stressed, it starts to undergo chemical changes to protect itself from the environment. One of these changes is to produce a hormone in our bloodstream called Cortisol. Cortisol is a very powerful hormone, which triggers our skin to produce sebum, that oily substance which clogs pores and causes acne! However, the main function of sebum is actually to make the skin oily, and hence more impermeable to water, and other chemical insults. So actually, the skin is only trying to help out!
So what can be done to reduce stress induced acne?
The answer is simple. Just try your best to take a rest, get more sleep, and do relaxation exercises to reduce the stress on the body. This video is useful to follow to help you relax. Try it. You will be surprised how good it feels to relax. The problem with a lot of us is that our body has forgotten the difference between tension and relaxation. Hence, we are over dosed with cortisol and that makes our skin constantly oily.
The other great way of reducing acne is to do something very simple. SLEEP. Just an extra half hour of sleep every night helps to reduce the body’s cortisol levels and hence improves your skin. That’s why it’s called beauty sleep!!!
If these simple methods are not enough to help you treat your acne you can consider medical therapy for acne. Some creams, treatments and other methods might be helpful to reduce your acne and pimples. Call me at 62218221 for more information.
Good luck for your exams!
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