Silent Acne Triggers: Stress & Anxiety

The Silent Acne Trigger: Stress & Anxiety 🤫 The one your esthetician may not know you’re dealing with, because you’re hiding it really well, or you may not even realize how much you’re thinking about your acne on a daily basis. Prioritizing your mental health is key. This means getting enough rest, reducing social media consumption, practicing self care, and even meditation which can reduce cortisol spikes. High levels of cortisol can increase oil production in the skin. This increase of oil will feed active acne bacteria, making it harder to clear, or flaring up new breakouts. 

High anxiety and stress can lead to high levels of cortisol. Your body will be in a constant flight or fight state. Every person who’s dealt with acne has dealt with some level of anxiety or stress over it. But I see many clients who can become overwhelmed by these anxious thoughts. If this is you, first and foremost, I’m sorry. I see you, I know it’s hard. Let’s talk about some ways to help reduce the daily stress of being acne prone.

💤 Rest. This is truly # 1 for a reason. Your circadian rhythm is crucial to this! And when you do wake, don’t reach immediately for coffee. Your cortisol raises slowly and wakes you, and caffeine will spike cortisol very quickly. Wait if you can a couple of hours before your first cup. You’ll notice a difference!

📱 Reduce your social media consumption. Studies are showing increased screen time simply isn’t healthy for our brains. Usually we’re left with feelings of comparison, or seeing the world through a highlight lenses and feeling less than.

🚶‍♀️Practice Self Care: maybe that’s going for a walk, maybe that’s exercising, maybe that’s a relaxing bath! Whatever self care means to you, I want you to make time for it more often.

🧘Practice some for of meditation. Whether that’s prayer, yoga, breath work, a few moments of silence. Whatever that looks like, make time for it. I personally love the Calm App for guided 5-10 minute meditation

And lastly- if your level of stress feels like it’s affecting your every day life and making it hard to focus on the important things in life, please seek professional guidance 🙏🏻

 Thank you for reading!