Can Stress Cause Eczema? Understanding the Mind-Skin Connection

Ever noticed how your face seems to break out right before that big project deadline at work? Or how those pesky rashes always seem to show up right before you have to speak in front of a crowd?

You’re not alone in this, and it’s not a coincidence that your skin reacts negatively every time you’re stressed. The mind and skin are more interconnected than we think, with stress showing up on your skin in the form of acne, redness, or rashes.

Does this mind-skin connection expand to chronic skin conditions like eczema, too? Can stress cause eczema? Short answer: yes. Let’s explore the science behind this and learn what you can do to manage stress-related flare-ups. 

Understanding the Link Between Stress and Eczema

When you’re stressed, your brain responds to it by producing a hormone called cortisol, more commonly known as the stress hormone. Consistently high levels of cortisol due to chronic stress can trigger inflammation, causing eczema flare-ups. This is known as stress-induced eczema.

A study conducted in 2023 on a group of 28 patients with eczema found that chronic psychological stress worsened eczema symptoms (particularly itching) in all of the patients. While the most commonly reported stressors among these patients were predictable factors like family and financial problems, the study also found that eczema itself can be a cause of psychological stress. This means the stress-eczema connection is actually a closed loop, with both of them feeding off of each other.

Dr. John Papastergiou, Assistant Professor at Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, says that some of the most overlooked stress triggers that worsen skin conditions include chronic overstimulation, like too much screen time, late nights, and even checking emails too often. “People think of stress as one big event, but it’s the small, daily stressors that silently accumulate and dysregulate the nervous system,” he says. Dr. Papastergious explains that this low-grade, persistent stress keeps your body in a reactive state, which often shows up as skin inflammation.

While stress can cause eczema flare-ups, it’s not the only trigger. Here are some other common eczema triggers to watch out for:

• Seasonal changes, such as the dry air during winter, excessive heat and humidity during summer, or an increase in pollens during spring

• Chemicals found in detergents, soaps, cleansers, and skincare products

• Pollution and smoke

• Harmful bacteria

• Scratchy fabrics like polyester, nylon, and wool

• Certain foods, especially if you’re allergic to them

• Mold and dust mites

• Eczema itself, as the scratching during a flare-up can make it worse
  

The Biological Response

Your brain can’t really tell the difference between running for your life and being stressed over a presentation. It perceives stress of any kind as a threat and starts priming you by going into fight-or-flight mode and releasing cortisol.

As the stress hormone zooms through your body, it disrupts your body’s processes, turning off the ones that aren’t needed during a fight. This includes your digestive system, immune system responses, and even growth processes. In turn, it increases your blood sugar levels, increases your heart rate, and keeps you on high alert.

This series of changes triggers inflammation all over your skin, setting off an eczema flare-up. But that’s not all. Cortisol also disrupts the outermost layer of your skin, called the skin barrier, which is what shields your skin from the outside world. The skin barrier prevents moisture loss and stops harmful pathogens and pollutants from entering your skin and causing damage.

People with eczema already have a weakened skin barrier. Add stress into the mix, and it weakens even further, leading to moisture loss, which turns your skin dry, itchy, and flaky. A damaged skin barrier also gives microorganisms and pollutants an opening to get under your skin, exacerbating your eczema. Scratching the affected areas when you’re stressed can worsen your symptoms.

Typically, once the perceived threat passes, the amount of cortisol in your body goes back to normal, and all the other processes start working as intended. But if you’re under constant high stress, your body stays in the reactive state, causing internal and external harm.

So, cortisol connects anxiety and eczema by stimulating inflammation throughout your skin, weakening your skin barrier, and making your skin dry, red, itchy, and scaly, causing a stress-induced eczema flare-up.

Stress-related eczema isn’t all that uncommon. Dr. Papastergiou recalls a client story where he saw a flare-up of eczema from stress. The patient was a university student whose eczema typically remained stable for months. However, whenever exam season rolled around, her skin would flare up almost overnight, with inflamed, itchy patches showing up along her neck and arms.

“Nothing else had changed,” Dr. Papastergiou says. “She was on the same diet and using the same products, but the emotional pressure was enough to trigger a response.”

When asked how they managed to treat it, he mentioned how they adjusted her routine to focus on nervous system support and internal inflammation. “In addition to topical care, she began using Liverty Dynamic Drops daily to support her liver and stress response,” he adds. “Over time, the flare-ups became less intense and easier to manage. It was a powerful reminder that eczema needs to be addressed both topically and systemically."

Learn more about the connection between your skin and stress, and see how else stress affects your skin.

Symptoms of Stress-Induced Eczema

Stress eczema can affect any part of your body, but is most common on your feet, ankles, hands, wrists, the back of your neck, scalp, shoulders, and elbows. You may also see them on your eyelids or genital areas.

Here are the most common symptoms of stress-related eczema:

• Intense itching

• Redness

• Dry, rough, and scaly skin

• Rashes

• Inflammation

Why Conventional Treatments Might Not Be Enough

Often, the first line of treatment suggested for eczema is topical steroid-based creams. However, the problem is that since eczema is a chronic skin condition that can only be managed, not cured, you’ll have to keep using steroids during every flare-up. When it comes to stress-induced eczema in particular, the more stress you’re under, the more frequent your flare-ups, which means the more frequently you’ll use topical steroids.

While steroids do act fast and calm inflammation, using them too much might not always be a good idea. Why? Because long-term usage of topical steroids comes with the risk of many side effects. Among these are thinning of the skin, stretch marks, potential bruising, and shrinkage of the skin’s sebaceous glands, which produce the natural oils needed to keep your skin hydrated.

Over time, topical steroids can also stop working, which means you’ll have to increase the dosage for them to be effective again. The most serious potential side effect, though, is Topical Withdrawal Syndrome (TWS), which can happen if you stop using steroids suddenly. TWS causes a rebound effect where it brings back the symptoms you were trying to treat, worsening your eczema. Think of it as your skin making its displeasure known because you took away the thing it had become dependent on.

It is these side effects that are shifting the tide towards holistic, steroid-free options for managing eczema. Fortunately, there are several plant-based, steroid-free products on the market (such as Phoilex’s Active ReLeaf Spot Gel) that can treat eczema flare-ups gently.

Restore balance to your stressed-out skin with Phoilex’s Active ReLeaf Spot Gel. Plant-powered, steroid-free, and dermatologist-approved.
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Holistic Relief: Managing Eczema From the Inside-Out

When your eczema flare-ups are caused by internal factors such as psychological stress, treating them topically alone isn’t enough. That would be akin to treating the symptoms instead of tackling the root cause. To truly manage your eczema and prevent your skin from flaring up frequently, you need to incorporate a more holistic treatment plan: one that includes inside-out support.

What does this look like? Managing your stress, keeping your gut and liver healthy and balanced (as an imbalanced gut or liver can heighten your stress and anxiety), and following a gentle skincare regimen to provide external support for your skin.

Dr. Papastergiou has also noticed the growing shift towards nervous system regulation for managing stress-induced skin issues. According to him, things like breathwork, somatic therapy, adaptogenic herbs, and gut-brain axis support are becoming part of eczema treatment plans in addition to topical support.

“We’re also seeing more awareness around the link between emotional resilience and barrier repair. Skin is no longer viewed as separate from the nervous system; it’s deeply interconnected," he says.

Phoilex’s Approach: Internal and External Healing

At Phoilex, we believe that the journey towards healthy skin starts from within. Because well-rounded skin support includes tackling the internal root causes. That’s why we formulated the ReLeaf and Recover Set, consisting of Liverty Dynamic Drops and Active ReLeaf Spot Gel, for topical and internal healing. No steroids, no harmful chemicals. Just plant-powered relief.

The Active ReLeaf Spot Gel helps soothe inflammation, redness, and itchiness by deeply moisturizing your skin, while the Liverty Dynamic Drops ease stress, gently detox your liver, and support better sleep.

Calm your stressed-out skin and your restless mind with Phoilex’s Dynamic Duo.
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Lifestyle Tips to Reduce Stress and Prevent Flares

Managing your stress and following healthy skincare habits can go a long way towards preventing eczema flare-ups due to stress. Here are some healthy lifestyle changes that your skin and brain will thank you for.

Managing stress

• Get enough sleep: Sleep, stress, and skin health are all interconnected. Getting at least 8-10 hours of sleep every night is important to regulate the level of cortisol in your blood, give your brain some rest, and give your skin the space it needs to repair itself. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body stays in fight-or-flight mode, producing more cortisol, increasing your stress levels even more, and worsening your eczema. If you’re having trouble sleeping, try deep breathing or taking a warm shower before bed.

• Keep yourself active: Be it a walk, a swim, a game of tennis, or a jog around the block, exercising is a surefire way to relieve stress. When you get moving, your brain releases endorphins, known as the feel-good hormones, which boost your mood. Physical activity also counteracts the negative effects of stress by reducing your resting heart rate and blood pressure and boosting your immune system.

• Use relaxation techniques: Mindfulness practices like meditation, deep breathing techniques, yoga, and creative activities like painting or knitting dial down your body’s response to stress and promote relaxation.

• Find a support group: Living with eczema can be stressful and impact your mood. It may also bring about feelings of inadequacy or stress you out if you’re constantly thinking of ways to hide your flare-up zones. Talking to others living with eczema can help you connect with people who know how you feel. This can reduce your mental load and remind you that you’re more than your skin condition.

• Get professional help: Sometimes, anxiety and stress can become bigger than you can handle on your own and start seeping into your daily life. It becomes a cycle where the effects of your anxiety make you more stressed out, and so on. In such cases, seeking professional help from a mental health practitioner can help you break this cycle and manage your stress.

Supporting your skin

Building a low-stress daily skincare routine can prevent frequent eczema flare-ups. The self-care aspect of your routine can even calm you down, reducing your stress levels. Dr. Papastergiou agrees with this and advises you to think of it less as ‘skincare’ and more like a ritual that tells your body it’s safe.

Here are some skin-friendly steps you can follow:

• Using unscented, fragrance-free, plant-based, and gentle bath care products formulated specifically for sensitive skin: This keeps your skin away from any harmful chemicals that might irritate it or strip it of its natural oils. You can also add homemade remedies like colloidal oatmeal baths to your weekly routine.

• Moisturizing twice a day: In the morning, immediately after you shower, and at night, after cleansing your face. Moisturizing keeps your skin hydrated by locking the moisture inside. During active flare-up times, you can use a spot treatment gel (such as Phoilex’s Active ReLeaf Spot Gel) over your affected areas before moisturizing.

• Wear loose-fitting clothing: Tight-fitting clothes can irritate your skin and also promote bacterial growth, which can cause further infections. We recommend organic cotton clothes as they’re soft, gentle on your skin, and very eczema-friendly.

• Avoid extreme temperatures: Both winter and summer can trigger your eczema as cold air dries out your skin, while excessive sweating can irritate your skin after it evaporates, setting off a flare-up. You can adopt measures such as using a humidifier during winter and applying sunscreen during summer.

• Add anti-inflammatory foods to your diet: Whole grains, green leafy veggies, fruits, lentils, nuts, and seeds fight inflammation from the inside, promoting healthier skin.

Get the scoop on building a daily skincare regimen for eczema.

According to Dr. Papastergiou, simplicity is everything when it comes to building an eczema skincare routine. His advice is to start and end your day with just 2–3 nourishing steps. No harsh exfoliants, no overly stimulating scents: “Make the routine feel grounding: use lukewarm water, apply products with gentle pressure, maybe even take a few deep breaths while you moisturize,” he says. That way, you can tackle your eczema and stress at the same time.

“I often recommend starting with a calming topical like the Active ReLeaf Spot Gel to reduce irritation, followed by a barrier-supportive moisturizer,” Dr. Papastergiou advises. For internal support, he recommends Liverty Dynamic Drops, especially during high-stress periods.

When to See a Professional

Sometimes, a flare-up can be managed at home, while other times you may need some additional help. If you’re experiencing any of the following, consult a doctor immediately for a tailored treatment plan.

• Severe flare-ups that show no signs of slowing down, despite trying various remedies

• Affected areas cover a large part of your body

• Your flare-up zones are oozing pus

• Stress and/or eczema are affecting your day-to-day life so much that you’re finding it hard to function

Stress wreaks havoc on our health, including our skin. If you’re experiencing frequent flare-ups, particularly during high-stress periods, it may be stress-induced eczema. Managing your health holistically with a blend of topical treatments and internal support can help keep your flare-ups at bay.

Listen to your body, manage your stress, and choose steroid-free, gentle skin products that’ll love your skin as much as you do.

Explore Phoilex’s range of skin-loving products.
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FAQs

What does stress eczema look like?

Stress eczema looks like rashes, redness, or dry, flaky skin combined with intense itchiness.

How do you get rid of stress-related eczema?

You can manage stress-related eczema by managing stress, boosting gut and liver health, and using topical steroid-free, plant-based eczema treatments like Phoilex’s Active ReLeaf Spot Gel and Liverty Dynamic Drops.

Can exercise reduce eczema?

While exercising doesn’t have a direct effect on eczema, physical activity reduces stress, which, in turn, can help you keep a lid on frequent eczema flare-ups.