Our mind and body are intimately interwoven, so much that there are commonly coined phrases such as the ‘mind-body connection’.  We’ve all heard that stress causes acne but did we ever stop to analyze the bodily mechanisms responsible for said skin imbalance?  We have been led for generations to believe the answer lies outside of ourselves.  If you experienced acne therapy in the 50’s it most likely consisted of UV radiation therapy as the theory went this type of therapy ‘cleared everything up’ similar to the process of the sun drying out blemishes.  Today, protocols and recommendations haven’t changed much for the typical acne sufferer visiting the dermatology office.  Some docs don’t even hear you out, you are observed and examined and given a prescription sheet with one to four prescriptions on it. Their best guess for the day.  Can you or anyone you know relate to this?  I’ve witnessed hundreds of teens and twenty-somethings  (and older) who are back for their umpteenth visit as the doctor’s response is ‘Well, let’s try this now and if 4-5 prescription acne meds fail then our ultimate option is Accutane”.  Additionally, if the office is a medical spa component you will be recommended for doctor grade products and medical grade acne treatments consisting of light therapy, laser, microdermabrasion, chemical peels and facials.  These treatments can offer much improvement if the proper steps, ingredients, and sequence is applied.  The issue for the average client is that despite what they have been led to believe with fancy brochures and attractive treatment series recommendations, the technician (dr, nurse, medical assistant, esthetician, etc) does not know what the outcome will be for your skin.  Simply painting that picture was stressful to contemplate!

The doctors must recommend prescriptions so the pharmaceutical companies continue to get rich while the unassuming patient comes back for the next attempt to clear the skin, yet a temporary relief or failed attempt is offered again.  Is this an attempt to mask symptoms or reveal the source of the imbalance?  While research studies and scientific journals have been offering conflicting views since the late 1800’s depicting diet,  originally known as medical nutrition therapy when guided by a doctor or registered dietician, as a possible culprit for acne flare-ups, the only solid studies that seem to hold water among top researchers are diets categorized as being high-glycemic.  It seems there has always been a hidden link between what we ingest and the presence of acne although I have numerously witnessed dermatologists in the treatment room stating the exact opposite to young teenagers and baby boomers alike, easily swayed by their doctor’s words.  Not once have a observed what I like to call a ‘real’ conversation getting to the heart of the matter.

Take a step back for me (and for you).  If I described a visual of your prior dermatology visits, then imagine you are an observer looking in this time.  And observe again through a new perspective, a new awareness.  What if the doctor had asked you, “Is there any emotional stress going on in your life currently or from your past”?  What would your answer have been?  I would’ve turned my appointment into a clinical psychological evaluation without trying very hard!  I come from an unhealthy childhood that resulted in much emotional pain in my teenage and early adulthood.  Little did I know that it had been trapped in my body for over two decades!  So what would your answer have been or what would it be?  Do you have to answer your hypothetical doctor?  You can save a copay and perhaps hundreds of dollars in prescriptions!  Can you simply answer to yourself?  None of us will have the same current or past story, but there is a common thread linking all, rather most of us acne (and other common skin condition) sufferers together:

Emotional Stress.

Several negative things occur in the body as a result of our everyday stressors that we simply deal with and manage day to day.  Recall from my previous articles how it is a given that the body is a self-‘detoxing’ machine and how it must maintain a homeostasis, a balance within itself in order to obtain a state of proper health.  When we are ‘stressed’ we instantly feel ‘anxious, annoyed, angry, upset, irritated, etc.  These negative emotions trigger several hormone responses in our body that lead to a myriad of…changes.  After all, emotional stress causes heart attacks.  Think upon the functions and mechanisms of the body that must all occur for a heart attack to be the end result of a little stress.  That little stress isn’t so trivial anymore, is it?

Scientifically speaking – when our body is in stress mode, also called survival mode, the blood and nutrients begin rushing toward the most vital organs to maintain appropriate levels to keep everything pumping and flowing smoothly.  The skin is the last organ to be nourished by nature but now the body neglects it even more so.  That is why if we are sick or tired we actually look haggard.  We all know or know of somebody who is very sick and undergoing treatment.  How does their skin look?  How do they look?  How would you describe it?  The body’s main focus is to keep those organs in proper functioning health (as much as possible).  And it does double duty in survival mode.  On top of the lessened nutrient delivery service to the skin, the hormones testosterone and androgen are released at a higher rate that increase oil production which surges through our pores causing an imbalance

It’s all around us and sometimes it is us, the stressed-out individual.  They are everywhere!  I used to be one of them.  Just being in the presence can dramatically alter your own stress levels instantly.  Until we become fully aware and in control of our emotions (not a simple task but it is worth the undertaking) we and our skin eruptions will be at the mercy of the world’s stressors.   I recently saw a weight-loss commercial with a digital body expanding and widening, getting fatter as Cortisol, a stress hormone is released.  I cannot recall the exact pill, I’m certain there are several that promise something similar to “with this pill, you can ….lose weight, feel and look better, look more attractive to the opposite sex..”  There’s a magic prescription, pill and program for everything.  Weight loss was never my issue, give or take a few pounds, or inch here or there.  However, depression and emotional pain was.  It took several (ten plus) years for me to realize all of that emotional pain was eating me alive.  Its physical manifestation for me presented itself in: cystic acne (what I thought of as incurable as I had tried everything and anything for it) and stomach upset.  The external answers are all around us promising instant results and relief!  But these are deceptive.  They are a lie, a mere distraction that keep us from discovering the truth.  The truth is that we must additionally look inside ourselves in order to be truly and fully healed of our imbalances.  Isn’t that how we are ultimately designed?   It’s not to live and think the way marketing agencies and global sales companies convince us that we are in desperate need of their ‘outside product’ to fix our physical representation (of internal imbalance presenting itself on our skin) for the world to see.  But if the world sees it and we feel uncomfortable with our skin we now begin to take measures to correct it.  Could it be we were we created to learn how to find the deeper meaning of our self that in turn breeds an emotional balance leading to balanced skin?  Do we need to do the work of opening our eyes to new awareness and knowledge surrounding our Inner Self and our Imbalances (sounds like the next new topic of discussion!)  Instead of the latest marketed cure or dermatologist’s recommended prescription to fix our outer self it may be time to look at our inner self.  It’s not such a bad thing.  Knowledge is Power.