Stress and Acne: What Can You Do About Them?

What can you do about stress and acne? Well the first thing is that you should realize that acne and stress are related. There is definitely a high correlation between getting pimples and being stressed.

Scientific studies have been done showing this correlation, and there's also good reasoning for the relationship between stress and acne. When you're stressed your body releases various hormones including cortisol, and as I've mentioned elsewhere, hormone imbalance is one of the major root causes of acne.

Cortisol is especially bad for acne because it can amplify blood sugar irregularities, since it has a synergistic affect with glucagon. Blood sugar swings contribute to hormone imbalance which can ultimately lead to acne.

That being said, stress is only one of the factors that contributes to poor health. It's very unlikely that you have acne purely because of stress - if you did maybe we would call it "stress acne". If your overall level of health is good enough, stress is less likely to be a problem for you.

If you can accept the fact that working on reducing the amount of stress in your life can be a form of acne treatment, then you are already taking some good steps towards becoming clear.

How do you reduce stress? Well there are many ways. I will briefly talk about the main options available to you here in a general way, so that you can apply these concepts to your own life. I will also offer you an alternative approach to reducing stress that isn't as well known.

Coping With Stress and Acne

While there may be different levels of stress that you can experience, there is definitely a state of not being stressed. The fact that there is a state of not being stressed out must mean that there is a threshold which exists, and once you have crossed it your level of stress will begin to increase. This threshold is crossed when various external pressures, such as your job, build up to a certain point. But what is that point? Well it varies from person to person.

The pressure may keep increasing past the initial point at which you started to feel stressed, causing even more severe stress. How do you release this pressure?

One way is to adjust your focus. The only reason you're stressed out is because you allow yourself to internalize these external pressures in your daily life, effectively bullying yourself and increasing the pressure exerted on yourself unnecessarily. It's a harsh reality, but it is true. The catch is that adjusting your focus isn't always the easiest thing to do, trust me, I know.

Here are two general ways to adjust your focus:

• Reduce Input Pressure
One word for this is "escapism". You can reduce the pressure by putting your focus on other things, such as a book, the computer, nature, TV, etc. This is the most common way of reducing stress, and it really isn't the best. It's just that it is the easiest.
• Increase Output Pressure
You can "let go of some steam" by chatting with a friend, by exercising, or doing something creative. This is a less common and also healthier way of reducing stress, but it does take more work.

I want to offer you an alternative solution for combating stress and acne. This method doesn't even necessarily take more effort than increasing output pressure.

Another Approach: Raise your Stress Threshold

Why not raise your stress threshold so that the pressure put onto yourself doesn't end up bothering you? I think this is a better approach.

• Awareness
One way to start doing this is simply becoming aware of your threshold. Make a conscious effort to notice when you start to get stressed, and even write down what you were doing at the time.

You may start to notice patterns in your thinking that cause stress, and by simply becoming aware of it, your threshold will increase. You may find yourself just letting the thoughts go, without them bothering you as much - because they're just thoughts!

• Meditation
A real boost to your stress threshold can come from meditation, and yoga by extension. By becoming a more centered and aware person, you will find that outside pressures do not affect you as much. Not only that but you will also gain greater control of your thoughts, to help stop stressful thoughts from surfacing.

Here's my recommended method for meditating stress and acne away:

• Sit down - It doesn't have to be in the lotus position. I'm not all that flexible myself so I actually prefer sitting in a chair.
• Breathe through your nose on the inhale and out the mouth on the exhale. Focus on your breath.
• A train of thought may develop and you can find yourself thinking about something other than your breath. If this happens, just focus on your breath again.
• I listen to various meditation MP3's to help me get into the proper state of mind. I recommend them because they have helped me become better at meditation more quickly than when left to my own devices.

Practice this a little each day, for however long is practical to you. It can be 5 minutes or 1 hour, or even more. Start off with short sessions though because you can get restless at first and the practice won't be as beneficial.

The effects of meditation can be quite profound and I guarantee you will feel more relaxed afterward. I personally love meditation and make an effort to practice every day.

It's weird to think that stress and acne can be solved through meditation, but it's really the truth. This isn't your typical acne treatment web site. Just remember that this isn't easy and is really a lifestyle choice only you can choose to make for yourself. There are many extra benefits that come from meditation, so don't feel like it's just for your acne.

• Conscious Growth
The last method of raising your threshold which I will suggest to you is to focus on personal growth and development. By regularly pushing the boundaries of what you know and who you are, you raise your stress threshold. Stretching yourself can itself be stressful at times, but you are in complete control of stretching yourself, and in doing so you are increasing your personal threshold.

I hope you can now see that stress and acne are related. Stress is just another piece of the holistic acne treatment puzzle, and it is something that deeply affects society today. Take the ideas I've presented and begin working on reducing your stress, you'll be much happier and healthier for it.

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