As blood is directed away from the body’s digestive system, it becomes more acidic, impairing the absorption of important nutrients vital to skin health. Clients may sleep poorly and have bouts of anxiety with shallow breathing. Furthermore, stress can lead to excessive drinking, in hopes of relaxing, which causes dehydration to the body and skin.

The pathogenic link between chronic stress and the exacerbation of disease has been confirmed for many years. Evidence that psychological stress influences the course of skin diseases and conditions is growing, especially in the cases of acne, psoriasis, alopecia areata, dermatitis, rosacea, and signs of aging.
Chronic is a key word when looking at how stress affects our skin. Some research suggests that brief, short-term stress can actually be beneficial as psychological stress triggers the release of cortisone, an anti-inflammatory, and may increase hydration and barrier function. It is chronic stress that is detrimental. When stress hormones remain elevated, a cascade of damaging consequences occur.

Aging
Stress causes the release of stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline. Increased cortisol triggers an elevation in blood sugar through glycation, damaging collagen and elastin. Cortisol is a glucocorticoid, of which an excess causes thinning of the skin, poor wound healing, and increased susceptibility to infection.
An adrenaline rush, which can elicit excitement or euphoria, is usually a reaction to a thrilling or positive event. However, with repeated or prolonged adrenaline production, there is a constriction of blood flow. Healthy skin requires healthy microvasculature and blood flow in order to perform the desired processes.

Water Loss and Prostaglandin
Stress has been shown to have a negative effect on the barrier function of the skin, resulting in transepidermal water loss, and inhibits the skin’s ability to repair itself after an injury. Furthermore, stress cumulatively damages aging tissue.
Chronic, psychological stress accelerates the pituitary and adrenal glands, the nervous system, and the system that regulates blood pressure, renin-angiotensin, causing an increased production of reactive oxygen species and DNA damage. DNA has sections called telomeres, which stop DNA from fraying. When telomeres become short, cells become damaged or die, resulting in aging. People with the most stress have the shortest telomeres.
Prostaglandin controls the body’s nervous system and skin immunity functions. When clients are placed under increased stress, they place a high demand on their prostaglandin system. This demand causes a breakdown and loss of essential fatty acids which, in turn, causes skin dryness, irritation, rosacea, and eczema. By leaving the secondary skin immunity suffering, the skin becomes more sensitive, reacts to products, and may have an acute flair up of eczema, dermatitis, and even hives or fever blisters.

Stress Causes Acne and
Acne Causes Stress
An increase in stress strongly correlates with an increase in acne severity. An example of this is that college students experience an increase in acne lesions during the time of their exams. There are several processes that occur during stress that exacerbate acne vulgaris. As mentioned above, cortisol is a glucocorticoid. The body needs some glucocorticoids for important bodily functions. Stress hormones, such as cortisol, strongly affect the testosterone pathway as it increases sebaceous lipogenesis and upregulates sebocyte conversion of androgen precursors to testosterone. Glucocorticoids and adrenal androgens, which are elevated during stress, are both hormones known to worsen acne and may induce sebaceous hyperplasia. Wound healing is greatly impaired during prolonged psychological stress, which is a significant factor in slowing the repair of acne lesions. The aforementioned loss of essential fatty acids also causes an increase in inflammatory acne.

What Aestheticians Can Do
Having clients use homecare products with active ingredients is especially important. These products should include ingredients that prevent and reduce inflammation, are potent antioxidants, block the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, increase wound healing, and stimulate DNA repair. Some of the ingredients to look for in a product line include vitamins A and C, zinc, epigallocatechin, turmeric, beta glucan, and sunflower and safflower oils.
Encourage clients to engage in physical activity on a regular basis. In addition to reducing stress, physical activity allows stress hormones to be disbanded or expelled so that they are not swimming around in the bloodstream, damaging strands of DNA. Yoga can be especially beneficial.
Create a sanctuary in the spa, a safe and tranquil place where clients can unwind. Offer soothing teas and tune out noise with either a water feature or relaxation music. Also consider integrating treatments such as reiki or aromatherapy, after proper training and certification, into the practice.
During the treatment, keep conversation to a minimum. Stay centered, focused, and intentional. Even in acne treatments, in which extractions take place, a nice shoulder, arm, hand, or scalp massage, while the final mask is on, can
be incorporated.
Remind clients of the importance of a clean and healthy diet with plenty of foods known to offer antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.

Undoubtedly, there are psychological components that cause skin disorders as relaxation and stress-reducing treatments are effective at treating those conditions.