Can Stress Cause Skin Diseases?

Are you stressed out? Your skin can show many problems. Research shows any type of stress whether acute or chronic can have a negative impact on the body and mind too. Skin and mental health are interrelated. Any kind of stress and mental health problems will affect the skin and vice- versa. 

Let me give you a good example, when you are happy about something, you will start blushing and this glow will show up on the skin as redness of cheeks.

Or maybe when you're terrified, you might start sweating. This will show up excess perspiration on the skin. This clearly indicates that your stress and mental status affects your skin. 

Brain-Skin Axis 

We have heard about the Brain- Gut Axis. Similarly, there is something called the Brain-Skin Axis which is interrelated to each other and bidirectional in nature. Stress affects the HPA (Hypothalamus- Pituitary - Axis) which causes release of stress hormone- called “cortisol.” This causes hormonal imbalance and has a direct impact on the pro-inflammatory skin cells. This may stimulate the mast cells causing release of histamines which leads to allergic reactions causing redness and itching. This leads to cropping up of skin issues. It all starts with “Stress Rash.” 

Everyone goes through stress. It is a normal reaction of the body. It is important to cope up well with stress. There can be many stress related problems if your body is unable to cope up with stressful conditions. This can affect your internal and external system of the body. It is important to make sure that you take care before stress starts affecting your body and takes a toll on your health. Here, the skin health is not left behind. 

Can Stress Cause Skin Diseases? 

Stress can cause various skin diseases. Right from auto-immune diseases to skin infection, there are many skin problems that can crop up due to stress. Just like glowing and beautiful skin can help boost mental health. It is important to take good care of your skin by reducing the stress levels. This can boost your mental and physical health and keep you in good shape. 

The easy solution to stress is to laugh it out. “Give wings to your stress and let it fly out.” Whatever happens, don't stress out and be calm. Let us tell you about some skin diseases which can be caused by stress. Awareness is important to avoid skin conditions and other diseases. 

Top Skin Diseases Caused by Stress 

The top skin diseases caused by stress are as follows- 

• Eczema 

This is a very common skin condition especially caused in winters due to excessive dryness. It is important to take care of dryness of skin with proper moisturizers and serum along with hydration before it results in eczema. Eczema is a condition characterized by formation of blisters and watery discharge which results due to disruption of skin barrier. 

• Psoriasis 

Psoriasis is an autoimmune disorder where there is an accelerated skin cycle which leads to flaking, scaling, redness, dryness, peeling and excessive itching of the skin. The skin gets damaged due to stress issues which causes excessive itching and redness of the skin. 

• Urticaria or Hives 

Urticaria or hives is a very common allergy which can occur due to stress causing red itching velvety skin. There is oversecretion of histamine from the skin cells which may lead to itching. Here, it is important to reduce stress. 

• Allergy 

Allergy is a very common condition due to stress and this may result in secretion of inflammatory mediators which may affect the skin. 

• Acne 

Acne is a common condition which may result in stress due to hormonal imbalance and over- secretion of the oil glands. This can cause excessive secretion of sebum or oil from the skin. This can result in acne. 

• Dermatitis

Dermatitis may result due to dryness and may cause itching, Stress can cause imbalance of natural oils of the skin which leads to inflammatory mediators. 

• Alopecia 

Alopecia is an autoimmune disorder which results due to hair loss. Hair loss is a common condition due to stress and must be linked to a causative factor like eczema of the scalp or psoriasis of the scalp. 

• Dehydration and dullness 

Stress can take away the natural glow and cause dullness and dehydration of the skin. 

• Itching 

Stress can disrupt the skin barrier which can dryness and itch. This itching can lead to many skin problems which start developing into eczema and psoriasis. 

• Hyperpigmentation 

Stress can cause excessive secretion of melanin pigment from the melanocytes (skin cells) which can cause hyperpigmentation and darkening of the skin. 

Stress is a mess for the skin and mind. Stress may be affecting your skin, if you suffer from above mentioned problems. It is important to take care of your skin before you end up getting any skin problems. Managing stress can be an ongoing process. So, make sure that you try reducing stress and take precautions beforehand as it may affect your skin with higher intensity.