How Stress Affects Your Skin, Hair and Nails

Applying for a new job. Final exam week. An ugly divorce. Sudden illness. What do all these things have in common? In a word – stress.

We all know that stress has significant physical and psychological ramifications. However, lesser known side effects of stress pertain to dermatological problems. Conditions like acne, brittle nails, and hair loss are commonly associated with stress.

How Stress Affects Skin
When experiencing significant amounts of anxiety, our body’s level of cortisol (the stress hormone) rises. Our skin reacts by increasing its oil production. As a result, patients typically experience acne or other skin problems. Even individuals who don’t usually suffer from acne can experience a bout of temporary stress-related acne.

Also, stress has a negative effect on the barrier function of the skin. As a result, the skin suffers from water loss which reduces the tissue’s ability to repair itself after injury.

How Stress Affects Hair
One of the leading causes of temporary hair loss is stress.

The hair growth cycle consists of three phases. During the last phase – telogen – hair naturally falls out. As the old hair is shed, a new hair begins to grow in the vacated follicle. When stress occurs, an unnaturally large amount of hairs prematurely advance to the telogen phase of growth. Excessive hair loss occurs because so many of the scalp’s hairs are in this shedding phase. This condition is called telogen effluvium.
Luckily, normal hair growth usually resumes within about six to nine months.

How Stress Affects Nails
In and of itself, stress causes white horizontal lines to appear across the nails. Also, nails become brittle and begin to peel. Many people who are stressed develop nervous habits or tics they are unaware of. The most common nervous tics are biting and picking at nails. Some people even rub their finger over the thumb nail when upset, causing a ridge to form.

How to Manage Stress
Managing the effects of stress can help alleviate some of the anxiety and side effects.

Learn to recognize the underlying problem that is triggering your stress. Develop skills and practices to minimize the stress.
Incorporate exercise into your daily routine. It doesn’t need to be a strenuous workout, just get your body moving. Exercise releases endorphins in the body which can help reduce stress.
Avoid very hot showers or baths. Use soap that is specific to your current stress-induced skin condition. Apply moisturizer after bathing.
Use sunscreen (with SPF of 15 or higher) to protect your skin from further aggravation.

Look for ways to reduce your stress, which is the root of your skin, hair, and nail issues. And most important of all, don’t stress about your stress-induced condition! In time, it will pass and all will return to normal.

Guest author Laurel Walker recently moved across the country (she used a Jacksonville mover from http://myjacksonvillemovers.com). The process was extremely stressful, and she witnessed first-hand the effect stress can have on a person’s body.

Aspirin for acne-prone skin

Aspirin has been around for a long time and its health benefits are wide and varied. Aspirin , or acetylsalicylic acid is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains , as an antipyretic to reduce fever , and as an anti-inflammatory medication. Aspirin's greatest benefit is reducing cardiovascular events including heart attacks and strokes. According to the American Heart Assoc. virtually all women are at risk of heart disease and doctors should more strongly consider prescribing a daily aspirin for their female patients. There is growing evidence to suggest regular aspirin use may reduce cancer and dementia as well. Investigators from the Women's Health Study have reported important new findings demonstrating that aspirin reduces the risk of a first stroke in women. When given to someone immediately after a heart attack, aspirin decreases death by 25%.

Kapalabhati Pranayam for wrinkle-free, radiant complexion

Did you know that Kapalabhati Pranayam / kriya can also be used to enhance your beauty and ward off skin aging? Done the right way, Kapalabhati Pranayam can be used as a beauty aid - it can give you a wrinkle-free, luminous forehead and radiant complexion. Kapalabhati For Beauty ‘Kapalabhati’ Pranayam breathing exercise is an excellent way of maintaining good health and fighting diseases. ‘Kapala’ means ‘skull’ (and ‘forehead’ also) and ‘bhati’ means ‘shining’. By doing kapalabhati, the ‘nadis’(nerves) of the brain get good exercise. This is achieved by exercising the diaphragm. There will be a glow on the forehead. After the age of 25, the tell-tale signs of ageing start making their appearance in the form of fine lines on the forehead. A regular practice of Kapalabhati for 10-15 minutes everyday will give you a tight forehead sans wrinkles for many years to come. Avoid Botox, try Kapalabhati Why resort to Botox and other expensive chemical or surgica...

Lemon as a beauty aid

The diminutive lemon is a very versatile beauty-aid and this cheap and golden-coloured fruit has excellent properties for enhancing your looks. Simple lemon-based preparations, you can mix in your own kitchen, will surely bring a dramatic transformation in your beauty regimen.

Aloevera, the wonder herb

Of all the herbs available in the kitchen garden, aloe is perhaps the richest in healing properties and has been rightly named the “first-aid” plant. It has moisturizing and emollient properties and is used in cosmetic creams, sun-lotions, shaving creams and face packs. It can easily be cultivated as a house-plant in a sunny warm spot with good drainage. Cosmetologists mix aloe with several other herbs and draft fancy names for it. Then these “herbal” avatars are sold at exorbitant prices. Growing a plant and using fresh gel is much more effective than bottled gel, simply because it is alive and therefore is more potent. It is the only plant whose extract is applied directly from plant to face in its natural and purest form.

I Tried a Headache Balm and Ended Up with Rashes

I do have this habit of slathering pain balms whenever I have a headache. But never did I get a skin reaction or rashes from it. It so happened that I had an extremely severe headache a few months ago. The pain was so unbearable that I gingerly reached out for a pain balm kept on my bedside table and kept on slathering it repeatedly all over the temples of my forehead. Next morning, after I woke up, I found that the skin on my forehead was peeling off and worse there were red rashes! This was the first time in my life that I was getting rashes from applying a pain balm on my forehead ! I have never had any pain balm allergy or as such! Side-effects due to application of a pain balm was something I've never come across all these years! I usually use pain balms of reputed companies – my usual favourites are Tiger balm, Amrutanjan, Zandu balm and Sloan’s balm. This time I had used Tiger balm. But why did it give me rashes now, when I had used it...

Comments

Ann Reid7:52 AM
I truly believe that stress has a great effect on us. So we need to learn how to manage stress in our lives because I know we cannot avoid stress.
Stem cell cure6:27 PM
I also believe that stress damages the skin beauty, it must be avoided,try to avoid it feel live happy always,then watch how your skin glows.
Live In Care Worker Jobs3:38 PM
I agree and I know stressed mind will cause many problems, because I’ve experienced a lot. I’m so sensitive and I usually think so much even for a simple thing. I should concentrate on it.
Nilima3:07 PM
Stress makes your body release more hormones then usual, and it makes you break out!

Sunanda3:08 PM
It could give you a stress rash.
Kusuma3:11 PM
Stress can effect your period no matter what
Health Expert3:12 PM
Stress causes your skin to age and it can even cause acne. It also causes your cheeks to sag down, because your mouth is turned down because there is no smiling. Stress can also cause hair loss and weight loss or gain. Stress will make you ugly then kill you...so try and relax! :-)