All The Ways Stress Can Mess With How You Look

Stress is one of those staples of live we can really do without, but have to cope with. Social and psychological ramifications aside, the ill effects of stress can manifest on our skin as well.

Amidst the deadlines, bills and social commitments, our commitment to personal wellness is fast faltering. It is high time we know our enemy, what to expect, and how to better deal with it before it all gets too late.

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1. REDNESS AND ECZEMA
If you haven’t already heard, stress can affect the efficiency of your digestion. The brain and gut are constantly in communication, and when the body is under mental duress, the brain sends signals to trigger a “fight or flight” response, releasing stress hormones to prepare the body for the threat.  This fight or flight response can result in an imbalance of gut bacteria – too much bad bacteria overwhelming the good ones in proportion. This imbalance not only poses problems for you internally, it shows on your skin as well in the form of rosacea or eczema. Stabilize your skin condition with medical-grade probiotics to restore the balance of good and evil bacteria in your gut. Dial down and completely eviscerate skin redness with with VBeam, a pulsed dye laser which produces bursts of light that selectively destroys blood vessels that cause that harsh, unsightly redness.

2. ACNE
Sebum-producing cells are particularly receptive towards stress hormones. As your stress levels go up, your skin produces more oil, clogging up pores leading that can lead to painful cystic acne. Gut microflora imbalance can also show up as acne on skin. Pull the plug on breakouts with Forever Clear BBL, a 3-step treatment utilizing broadband light with anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-redness functions. Apart from medical-grade probiotics, topical probiotic creams are also thought to be helpful. One such product is Blue Orchid, an oil-free, lightweight moisturizer containing probiotics for acne-riddled skin.

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3. FINE LINES AND WRINKLES
Chronic bouts of stress can diminish skin elasticity and accelerate your aging process. Emotional turmoil also results in frequent facial expressions like the furrowing of brows or pursing your lips, fast-tracking the formation of permanent wrinkles. Blur those lines with anti-wrinkle Botox microinjections. Botox can be used to relax specific muscles from moving too often, causing wrinkles to soften and diminish in appearance. Calculated doses administered by professionals should not give make you look “stiff” as much Botox-related folklore suggests, and the procedure only serves to prevent the skin creases from becoming static, without affecting your staple facial expressions.

4. DULL COMPLEXION
When your body is in fight or flight mode, it directs more bloodflow to vital organs such as the heart, brain, lungs and kidneys to sustain the stress. This results in less blood circulation to the face, resulting in a dull and languid appearance. Chronic stress also reduces skin elasticity, which means more fine lines, and saggy skin. Start by helping your skin renew itself faster, by introducing retinol into your skincare regimen. Vitamin C products like Citrine Pure Vitamin C Elixir and Powder helps to fight destructive free radicals while brightening up your skin tone.

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5. DARK UNDEREYE CIRCLES
A lack of sleep can cause fluids to accumulate at the area around your eyes, creating the puffy mess you see around the eyelids. This accumulation of fluids casts a dark shadows beneath the eyebags, causing dark eye circles and making you look exhausted. Get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. If the dark undereye circles do not show signs of going away, quick fixes such as Quattro Toning Undereye or Revitalift Undereye will help tone down the discolouration.