What stress does to your skin and what you can do about it - BBC World Service
May 22, 2026 10:48
· 4:49
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Our brain and our skin develop from the same group of cells
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in the early embryo, and they're intimately linked.
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When the brain is under stress, your skin can feel it, too.
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Here's how humans evolved to feel stress as a natural response to threats.
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In small doses, it can help us be more alert and react appropriately.
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Stress can become harmful when we start to feel like you cannot control it,
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or that it is unpredictable.
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Stress activates the amygdala,
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a part of the brain involved in primitive emotions.
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This signals to a command center called the hypothalamus,
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which triggers glands to make various hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
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These travel in the bloodstream all over the body, including to your skin.
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We are wired from head to toe to feel stress.
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As well as receiving hormones from the brain's stress response.
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The skin releases its own stress chemicals too.
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The skin will talk to your brain and your brain will talk to your skin.
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And then the effects of those combined is what causes the skin changes that we can see.
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The stress chemicals can boost inflammation
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and reduce the fatty lipids that make up the outer skin barrier.
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This can make the skin more porous, leaving it
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feeling drier or more sensitive.
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What we tend to lose from the skin barrier is important things like water.
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We also can become more sensitive to things in the outside environment.
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So for example, allergens like pollen
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or someone else's fragrance get into the skin and cause irritation.
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A number of small studies looked at stress and measured the skin barrier
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by pulling a piece of sticky tape off the skin,
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then seeing how quickly it recovers and stops water escaping in one study,
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volunteers were told to deliver a speech,
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then solve a maths problem in front of a hostile audience.
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Their skin barrier recovered more slowly compared to
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a non-stressed group who were asked to simply read an article on their own.
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Stress also activates cells within the skin
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to release chemicals like histamine that make you feel itchy.
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Supercharging what's called the itch scratch cycle.
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You feel itchy, you scratch, you cause further skin damage,
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and that triggers you to feel even more itchy.
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So you scratch again.
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At the same time, stress reduces antimicrobial peptides in the skin.
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Small molecules that normally kill off germs,
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making infections like cold sores or shingles more likely.
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What's more, the stress chemicals are thought to stimulate glands in the skin
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to make more of an oily substance called sebum, which can contribute to spots.
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This might be one of the reasons why
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people with more stress also tend to have worse acne in various studies.
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For example, one small study looked at medical students early
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in the academic quarter and again just before an exam.
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The more their stress increased, the worse their acne got.
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Stress can trigger flare ups in other skin conditions
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like eczema, psoriasis, and hives, too.
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And while it's less researched, there is some evidence that stress might change
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and reduce the amount of collagen and other building blocks of the skin.
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Then technically, you can experience issues like loss
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of firmness, loss of suppleness, increasing lines and wrinkles.
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So what can you do about it?
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Noticing the stressor is the first thing.
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And and we can notice the stress on our skin.
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You might feel some neck pain or your stomach in a nod.
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Difficulty sleeping. Forgetting things. Irritability.
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Experts say exercise, seeing friends,
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and even meditation can help relieve the stress your brain's feeling.
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But what about the skin?
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Simple things that you can do yourself
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are to think about your skin barrier in your normal skincare.
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Looking for more hydrating products? For example,
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if your skin is feeling dry, I normally recommend diets that are good
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in healthy fats, lean proteins, fresh fruit,
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and vegetables, making sure you're well hydrated.
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Some experts say it can take three months to know if any treatments
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or lifestyle changes are really improving the skin,
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so consistency is important.
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If you have a skin condition that is aggravated by stress,
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it's of course important to address the stress element
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and address the actual skin condition.
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Skin is a manifestation of the health of your body.
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