A little bit of stress in life is normal. It can even be healthy if it forces you to adjust your habits and choices to live better. But when stress becomes chronic, the results can sneak up on you, changing everything from how you sleep to your physical appearance — yes, even altering your face!
How can chronic stress make your face look different? It comes down to how stress affects your hormones and bodily movements. In this article, we’ll explain why you might feel like your stress life is changing what you see in the mirror.
Got Fine Lines and Wrinkles? Blame Stress
Your body relies on collagen and elastin to keep that youthful elasticity and glow. But when you’re dealing with chronic stress, your cortisol levels (one of the most notorious stress hormones) rise. Cortisol is the enemy of collagen and elastin, breaking them down and leaving you with fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin.
Not to fear, though! Firm skin doesn’t have to be behind you. Targeted topicals with retinoids, Vitamin C, and peptides can recharge your body’s fibroblast cells, restoring firmness. Regular exercise and protecting your skin from free radicals (think: UV rays and pollution) can also slow damage from high cortisol while you work on reducing whatever’s causing your stress.
Chronic Stress and Dry Skin
Those elevated cortisol levels aren’t done doing damage yet, though. When your stress hormones spike, cortisol and adrenaline shift blood away from the skin. This reduces your skin’s ability to heal, leading to dead skin cells and dry skin.
Even if you’re drinking lots of water, stress hormones bring dehydration because they stop your skin from making ceramides, the natural fats that keep moisture in your body. Without this seal, moisture can escape, and the outer layer of your skin becomes weaker. The end result? Tight, flaky, and rough skin, courtesy of chronic stress.
To combat dry skin, use thick moisturizers with glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and ceramides. Avoid anything with fragrance and harsh cleansers. Ideally, add a soothing lotion routine to your day while you practice deep breathing or use a relaxation app to lower stress levels.
Stress, Grinding, and Tension Lines
Teeth grinding and chronic stress often go hand in hand. In fact, stress is the number one cause of bruxism (clenching and grinding), and this sleep disorder is on the rise globally.
While you might not even know you’re grinding, a few telltale signs give it away. Symptoms like frequent morning headaches, neck and jaw pain, and sensitive teeth or gums are easy to ignore, but if you pair them with tension lines popping up around your mouth, you could have bruxism.
“Bruxism face” is a real thing. As explained in this article by JS Dental Lab, chronic teeth grinding and jaw clenching lead to damage to your teeth, gums, and jawbone structure. Clenching for long periods in your sleep overworks the jaw muscles, causing them to hypertrophy (get overly big), usually on one side. Your jaw may look asymmetrical or more square than it once did.
If you think your frown lines are more likely from clenching and grinding than your smile being upside down, talk to your dentist or doctor about a possible bruxism diagnosis. In the meantime, gentle jaw exercises and stretches can help reduce the damage, and wearing a night guard when you sleep minimizes your jaw muscles’ ability to clench or grind.
Stress’s Link to Puffy Eyes and Dark Circles
The skin under your eyes is some of the thinnest in your body. Because of that, what happens underneath is easily visible, tattling on you after a rough night of sleep or a late night out.
It’s also one of the first places you’ll notice chronic stress making an appearance. Stress’s overproduction of cortisol and its role in attacking collagen make the under-eye skin thinner than usual. Similar to a bruise, the blood vessels widen into dark circles beneath the eyes. Stress also shifts your body’s fluid balance, causing morning puffiness and baggy eyes.
Thankfully, this facial alteration can be one of the simplest to fix. Look for eye serums with caffeine, an ingredient that tightens dilated blood vessels. If you’d rather (or need to) go natural, stick a spoon in the freezer for a few minutes, then hold the chilly curved end over your eye for 5-10 minutes. Black tea drinkers can save and chill their used tea bags, pulling them out when needed to let the caffeine and tannins in the sachet reduce the puffiness.
Conclusion
We get it. If it were that easy to get rid of stress, yours wouldn’t be chronic. But while you’re dealing with those other problems, you don’t need to add “face changes” to your list. Now that you know what’s causing the alterations in your appearance, you can make the small changes necessary to address them early.