The scientific link between stress and bad skin is finally discovered
As any good 90's teen movie shows, an outbreak of acne before an important first date or school performance seems to be an unavoidable tragedy. Now, scientists find that the onset of bad skin that precedes stressful situations isn't merely bad luck, but the result of stress-induced chemical reactions in our nervous systems.
Though commonly linked anecdotally, deciphering the physiological relationship between stress and outbreaks of inflammatory skin conditions like acne has proven notoriously difficult.
"Nearly everyone has some form of stress in their life, so it's difficult to determine whether stress can actually make the skin's appearance worse," explains Richard Granstein, a researcher from the American Academy of Dermatology who led the study. "However, it's been known for a long time that the nervous system, which processes our stress, has an impact on conditions such as psoriasis."
So how does stress, which is translated by our nervous systems, cause an inflammatory response in the skin?
Under stress, nerve endings increase their firing rate of chemical signals called neurotransmitters, which regulate the activity of cells lining blood vessels, including immune cells and endothelial cells. Increased secretion of these chemicals can cause both inflammation and vasodilation, which gives skin the appearance of redness.
Scientists found that interrupting the path of nerves that service a patch of inflamed skin can greatly reduce the effect of a skin condition.
"If we could block specific steps in certain pathways between the nervous system and the skin - without impacting the whole body - we would likely have new ways to prevent or treat some skin disorders," says Granstein.
By Daisy Dunne