Can Stress Cause Skin Problems? Here's What Science Says

Picture this. You’re doing everything right: eating healthy, using clean skincare products, and getting the recommended steps in, only for your skin to still flare up, leaving you agonizing over why. The missing piece here could be stress.

Wait a minute… Does stress even play a role in skin health? The short answer is yes. Stress and anxiety can wreak havoc on our skin.

Let’s break down the science behind how stress affects skin health and talk about what you can do about it.

How Stress Affects Our Skin

We often think of stress as entirely psychological. But the truth is that it impacts our entire body, leaving its mark everywhere, including on our largest organ, the skin.

Understanding the brain-skin connection

The brain and the skin are interconnected and communicate with each other. If you’ve ever found yourself sweating profusely in high-stress situations or blushing when someone compliments you, you know exactly what we’re talking about. Our brain and skin have similar chemical pathways, meaning the psychological stress you feel targets your skin. In short, your skin reflects what you’re feeling inside.

But, how? Our brains have several glands, such as the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands, that respond to stress by releasing cortisol, the stress hormone, and triggering your body’s fight-or-flight response. Since the brain perceives stress as a threat, cortisol keeps you alert and gives you more energy to fight off the thing causing distress.

What happens next is a cascade of changes that’s meant to prime you up for a fight, since the brain can't distinguish between a deadline and being hunted as prey.

Cortisol floods your bloodstream, increasing your blood sugar to give you energy and suppressing bodily functions that aren’t essential during a fight, such as your digestive system and immune system responses. This means that your skin becomes more inflamed, its allergy response is triggered, its ability to repair damaged cells diminishes, and it ends up producing more oil…all of which make your skin problems worse.

Effects of stress on skin

Acne: Cortisol stimulates the production of oil on the skin, which clogs pores, leading to acne outbreaks. A study conducted among a group of women found that an increase in the severity of stress led to an increase in their acne.
Rashes, hives, and other inflammatory conditions: Cortisol is a pro-inflammatory hormone that releases proteins called cytokines that inflame your skin. This can cause redness, dry skin, itching, stress hives, and set off various skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea.
Dry skin: Cortisol suppresses your body’s ability to repair itself, including the skin barrier. This barrier protects your skin from the troublesome bacteria and other infection-causing factors from the outside world. It also helps your skin retain its moisture. But stress weakens this barrier, leading to water loss. This makes your skin dry, itchy, and flaky, which can make your existing skin problems worse.
Fungal infections: Like the rest of your body, your skin is home to a variety of microorganisms. But when you’re stressed, your skin barrier is affected, throwing these microbes all out of whack. This imbalance can cause fungal infections and lead to delayed wound healing.
Wrinkles and under-eye bags: The stress hormone reduces your skin's elasticity. Combine this with your skin’s inability to repair itself, and you end up with thinner skin, which causes wrinkles and under-eye bags.

Stress-induced nervous behaviors also affect our skin

Have you ever noticed how you tend to chew your nails or pick at your skin when you’re stressed? These are known as stress-induced nervous habits, and they can also worsen skin conditions.

For instance, constantly touching your face can worsen your acne, while picking at your flaky skin can make your eczema worse.

Stress-Related Skin Conditions

We’ve seen how stress affects your skin from within. Now, here’s a look at some of the common skin conditions caused by stress.

Stress and acne: When your body is stressed, it stimulates the production of sebum, the oil that keeps your skin hydrated. An excess of this oil clogs your pores. This, combined with the accumulation of dead skin cells, causes acne and breakouts.
Stress and eczema: Stress impairs your immune system, causes inflammation all over your body, and weakens your skin barrier, which can trigger eczema flare-ups. The itching and flaky skin appearance that comes with a flare-up can cause further stress in people, creating a loop of stress-eczema-stress.
Stress and psoriasis: Cortisol’s part in boosting our body’s inflammation leads to worsening psoriasis.
Stress and rosacea: Stress worsens skin irritation, swelling, and inflammation, which can trigger a rosacea flare-up.
Stress and hives or rashes: Stress releases a chemical associated with allergies known as histamine into our bloodstream. It also impacts the body’s ability to respond properly to allergic reactions. The result? Itchy and irritated skin that can develop into rashes or hives.

Keep in mind that stress weakens the skin’s ability to repair itself. This means slower wound healing and skin regeneration, delaying your recovery from a flare-up.

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Role of the Nervous System and the Liver in Skin Health

When you’re stressed, your nervous system is constantly in fight-or-flight mode, which makes your skin highly sensitive. But what role does the liver play in skin health?

The liver is our body’s detox powerhouse. It filters out toxins from our blood, which our body flushes out through urine. Stress, both psychological and environmental, such as pollution, UV radiation, noise, and extreme temperatures, negatively impacts liver function.

When cortisol races through your body, it inflames and overwhelms the liver, turning it sluggish. The liver now has more toxins than it can effectively handle. This build-up of toxins now comes out through the skin (because someone has to pick up the slack), manifesting into a variety of skin conditions, such as eczema, psoriasis, liver spots, pimples, and skin rashes, and may cause constant itching as well as yellowed and dull skin.

Your skin is telling a deeper story. Support it from the inside. Learn how our Liverty Dynamic Drops help calm inflammation and protect your skin by targeting stress and liver health naturally.

Supporting Your Skin From the Inside Out

Since our nervous system, liver, and skin health are connected, managing your stress levels can do wonders for keeping your liver functioning properly, calming skin inflammation, and reducing flare-ups. Several naturally occurring substances can help with this.

Enter: adaptogens for skin. Adaptogens are plant-based compounds chock-full of antioxidant properties that help your body adapt to stress, fight skin inflammation, and repair your skin barrier without any side effects. They’re also known to have antifungal and antibacterial benefits.

In short, they fight the effects of stress on your skin, improving the symptoms of conditions like eczema, psoriasis, or hives. Some of the most common adaptogens are ashwagandha, ginseng, holy basil, reishi mushrooms, and rhodiola.

Milk thistle and turmeric are known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and are often said to benefit liver health by reducing inflammation and boosting liver detoxification. Cannabidiol (CBD) oil, on the other hand, eases symptoms of anxiety and stress, calming your nervous system down. (And no, unlike cannabis, this is not a psychoactive compound.)

Bottom line: using products that contain these plant-based components can help you manage the effects of stress on your skin.

A New Approach to Calmer, Clearer Skin

At Phoilex, we believe in addressing the root causes of skin conditions and healing our skin from within. Flare-ups often happen because of internal stressors, so it doesn’t make sense to only address the outward symptoms, does it?

This is exactly what our Liverty Dynamic Drops seek to do. Designed for anyone affected by stress-related skin conditions, this science-backed herbal supplement supports healthy liver function and provides internal inflammation relief for your skin.

It’s made with a blend of adaptogens, such as chaga mushroom extract, turmeric root extract, MCT oil, and CBD oil, to promote liver health and protect your skin from stress-related damage.

Ready to calm your skin from the inside out? Try Phoilex’s Liverty Dynamic Drops.

Everyday Habits for Less Stress and Healthier Skin

Here are some everyday habits that you can add to your daily routine to reduce stress and improve your skin’s health:

Mindfulness and sleep: Promotes calmness, recharges your body, and regulates your nervous system.
Hydration and nutrition: Supports brain function (which regulates your neurotransmitters better) and reduces inflammation.
Gentle, consistent skincare routines: Promotes skin health and reduces the effects of stress, such as dryness, itchiness, or redness.
Regular use of calming products such as Phoilex’s ReLeaf and Recover Duo: Helps with stress relief from the inside out.

Ready for calmer, healthier skin? Explore all of our steroid-free, plant-based skincare solutions. Made for sensitive skin, powered by nature, and backed by science.

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FAQs

What does stressed skin look like?

Stressed skin looks dull, dehydrated, and has an uneven texture or rough patches. You may also find an increase in redness or blotchiness, especially around your neck and skin. It also causes a flare-up of chronic skin conditions like acne, eczema, or psoriasis.

What do stress hives look like?

Stress rashes look like raised bumps or patches that itch or burn. You may also find that your skin is dry, flaky, and irritated, resembling an eczema flare-up. They can also appear as red blotches, often on your face, neck, and chest.