Can stress cause acne?

We live in a fast pace stressful world. Everything seems to move very quickly at times. We are almost reachable and contactable in every corner of the earth even while we are on the move. Just pick up the phone and dial a few numbers and communication is established between you and your intended recipient via the mobile phone. 24 hours a day seems too short for many.

With airlines around the world schedule to install wireless Internet access onboard planes worldwide, it means you are contactable even if you are in the midst of onboard a flight anywhere in the world. Is that a good or bad thing? Well it’s up to you to figure it out.

People expect things to get done as soon as possible. It’s a mad world out there. Big boss or even your customer expects immediate answer to their problems or requests. Somebody ask you a question today and expect answers or solutions from you since yesterday!

Your boss shouts and curse and swears at you. Your subordinates curse, taunts and swears at you. You got stuck in the middle between higher management and those under you. You sweat like hell and wonder how much stress you can take. Your personal life, and relationship with loved are on the rock due to stress. You feel hopeless and losing control of life momentum and direction.

Life has never been more stressful with economic and global financial meltdown and job cuttings on the rise. If you are the very few who has already achieve financial independence then I congratulate you. If you are among those who still got to work to live, then stress is part of your life. How you deal with stress may even perhaps determine and impact your health and life span!

One of the most common questions asks regarding skin care is whether stress can cause acne? Well the answer is a yes. Students under exam stress are known to have acne and pimple outbreak. So what is it about stress that contributes to acne? Is stress the major contributor to acne?

Stress stimulates the adrenal glands to produce stress hormones. Adrenal glands are located above the kidneys and it produces 'norepinephrine' and 'epinephrine' hormones when the body is subjected to mental and psychological stress. Stress hormones are important as it helps the body to deal with both perceived and real threats.

The adrenal cortex secretes male hormones and it is this intricate hormone balances that allows the human species to survive since the dawn of time. These hormones are secreted to enable the body to respond to danger and to deal with it in the most appropriate manner.

These stress hormones have the effect of stimulating sebaceous gland to secrete more sebum, which eventually cause the blockage of the skin pores and hair follicles. Normal skin bacteria get trapped in the clogged pores due to the excessive sebum and starts to multiply within the hair follicles. White blood cells are triggered to attack the bacteria and this further causes skin inflammation and eventually leads to acne and pimples.

Chronic stress also has the harmful effect of reducing the body healing process. Your sleep may be disrupted by stress and lack of sleep may impact your body immune system. As a result, acne and pimples takes longer time to heal.

Acne is triggered and caused by a variety of different factors. Both internal and external environmental factors contribute to acne. A holistic and integrated treatment approach is needed to deal with acne. Dealing with stress is certainly an important factor to bring you one step closer to keeping acne at bay.

Here are links to previous post pertaining to acne.

http://stargaterich.blogspot.com/2009/03/healing-acne.html
http://stargaterich.blogspot.com/2008/07/skin-with-acne.html
http://stargaterich.blogspot.com/2009/02/does-certain-food-contribute-to.html
http://stargaterich.blogspot.com/2009/02/acne-skin-care.html