Wetin stress dey do to your skin and wetin you fit do about am

You dey move house and pimples just appear for your face? Or you dey go through break up and eczema just flare up? E fit no be coincidence.

Stress na sometin wey dey affect our skin, however, decades research don look into mind-skin connection dey work. E look into treatment of skin conditions and skin health in general.

Stress fit get range of effects, from aggravating acne flares to dry, sensitive skin and dey increase di risk of infections, and some dey trigger conditions like eczema, psoriasis and hives.

Dr Alia Ahmed wey be London based specialist in psychodermatology say "physical stress and emotional stress dey impact your skin".

She say she dey examine her patients psychological wellbeing and physical symptoms, dey ask dem about dia mood, anxiety or tearfulness, sleep patterns, diet and exercise.

She say "Dermatologists sometimes dey feel like detectives". She add say skin conditions fit be good indicator of person general health.

How stress dey affect skin?

Di brain and skin dey develop from same group of cells for early embryo and dey linked intimately.

Wen we feel stressed, di brain go kick off series of reactions wey dey release hormones like cortisol and adrenaline into di blood.

However di hormones and oda chemicals wey dem produce fit boost inflammation, worsen inflammatory skin conditions.

Dem fit also weaken di skin barriers - wey be di outer protective layer of skin. E dey make moisture to escape and make irritants and allergies like pollen and fragrance to enter and dis fit lead to dry and sensitive skin, na sometin wey Dr Ahmed tok.

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Same time, stress dey reduce anti microbial peptides - wey be small molecules wey dey normally kill germs for skin and prevent infection.

Some evidence also dey wey show say e fit worsen acne, by stimulating di production of oily substance wey dem dey call sebum, wey fit clog pores and contribute to spots.

And Dr Ahmed Dey point out say stress fit stop our sleep and dis fit stop di skin from ability to repair herself.

Vicious cycles

Stress signals also fit trigger cells within di skin to release chemicals like histamine wey dey make us feel itchy and cause wetin we dey call itch-scratch cycle.

"You go feel itchy, you go cause further skin damage and trigger you to feel more itchy," na sometin Dr Ahmed tok.

"And wen e don start, you go begin dey ask 'why i no fit stop to dey scratch? You go dey increase your stress level and again e go dey drive di itching."

Wen you don pass through Itchy conditions like eczema, "you go dey scratch, e go dey affect your quality of life. You Dey feel sad about am unto say pipo dey comment and you go dey more stressed. Den dis go drive di whole problem and you go enter into vicious cycle".

To reduce stress fit help?

"Stress fit become harmful wen you start to feel say you no fit control am" - na so Rajita Sinha wey be professor of psychiatry neuroscience and child study for Yale University tok.

At dis point we notice physical signs like headaches or stomach problems or symptoms like to forget tins, irritability or difficulty in sleeping.

She recommend make you take steps like to get support or to do more exercise. Some evidence dey say regular exercise fit reduce our baseline cortisol levels and say vigorous exercise fit help dampen any subsequent stress related cortisol spikes.

Prof Sinha also recommend make you do mindfulness meditation.

E say if you practice dis regularly studies don show say e fit enhance di prefrontal cortex - wey be di brain region wey dey responsible for higher level functions like reasoning - e go increase di thickness and improve di connectivity to oda areas for di brain.

Mindfulness therapies don show promises to improve quality of patient life and physical symptoms for some skin conditions.

For example, for one study of patients wit psoriasis, pipo wey receive mindfulness based therapy in addition to dia usual treatment dey show better outcomes dan dose wey no do am.

I dey really deal wit stress?

Dr Ahmed say she dey recommend her patients make dem dey try different options to stop stress, so dem go know which one wey go work best for dem.

Dem include relaxation exercise wey dem dey do for bed before sleeping, walking meditation for pipo wey dey active, or grounding techniques to "bring back present moment" for dose wey dey easily distracted or wey dey ruminate over certain thoughts.

But she add say to relax fit dey harder dan e dey sound.

"I dey see plenty high performing pipo for my clinic," na so she tok. Dem include dose wey get demanding roles for workplace - or for home like to dey look after children or manage elderly parents.

While some of dem say dem dey gym or dey take daily walk for relaxation, she say but wen she kwesion dem further she go find out say dem dey do di exercise while dem still dey think of tins dem need. "Your mind suppose get time to rest during di activities" na so she point out.

Di big picture

She say "as you dey reduce stress, di skin need little bit of everything".

E include di right skincare and any medical treatments wey e require as well as good diet, sleep and lifestyle.

She say you need to maintain dis over time to see consistent improvement for skin health - dis go help di patient to identify oda factors wey dey trigger dia skin problems.

Holistic approach of psychodermatology fit bring wider improvement - na wetin Dr Ahmed tink.

"No be only say I dey see benefits for my patients skin conditions, I also dey hear from dem say dem dey feel better for dia state of mind".