6 Terrible Ways Your Stress Affects Your Looks

Stress Affects Your Looks

It’s commonly known that stressful life leads to a weakened immune system and risk of illnesses. However, it also affects your looks! Have you noticed that you look quite different when you’re under a lot of stress as opposed to when you are happy and relaxed? That’s because stress has numerous negative effects on our appearance. 

Even though this may seem insignificant, our appearance matters a lot to us. Therefore, knowing what kinds of terrible ways stress affects our body helps us prevent negative changes! 

1. Weight changes

The way our body looks and feels is closely related to stress. To be precise, our figure changes depending on many external and internal factors, such as stress. But how does that happen? Scientifically speaking, when our body is stressed, our adrenal glands produce a hormone called cortisol, which affects insulin levels in our bodies!

Due to the lack of glucose in our system, we crave sugar, which, after an extended period causes weight gain. On top of that, stress also affects our sleep cycle, which can also be a cause of a weight change. Bad night’s sleep is one of the main reasons many people put on weight they can’t easily lose.

2. Chapped lips

Even though the way your lips look may seem insignificant, they are an important part of our entire appearance. Even though they aren’t directly correlated to stress, our lips change when we’re under pressure. How?

Have you noticed that you’re frequently biting your lips when you’re nervous? That may cause the skin on your lips to break and have a chapped look. Let’s face it, no one likes chapped lips! On top of that, stress activates our fight or flight system, which dries out our mouth. This can also lead to chapped lips! So, stay hydrated and restrain yourself from biting your lips.

3. Weakened nails

Is your packed schedule making you miss your regular manicure appointments? Your nails may be suffering because of that, but also tight schedules can be extremely stressful! Weakened nails aren’t the most pleasant to look at nor they feel good on your hands. But why does that happen?

Just like your entire body, nails need a proper diet to grow well. When we’re experiencing a lot of stress, our bodies don’t absorb as many vitamins and minerals from food, which leads to weakened nails that crack! In addition to that, many people are nervous nail-biters, which is honestly horrific for them!

4. Thinning hair

Many people consider their hair to be their best feature! Now, imagine the quality of your hair suddenly going south. Wouldn’t that be dreadful for your self-esteem? Stress causes hair to fall out in clumps, which leads to thinning and, in extreme cases, hair loss! That mostly happens because stress weakens hair follicles, which prevents growth and causes your hair to fall out.

Even though there are many things you can do to prevent hair loss, the most important one is to keep your stress under the control. Even though it wouldn’t be easy, consider working out or doing some breathing exercises to reduce the amount of stress you’re feeling!

5. Acne

No matter how young or old you are, acne can be your worst enemy. Many people suffer from problematic skin, and the stress isn’t making it any better! Having acne all over your face and even body can seriously damage your self-esteem. But what can you do to prevent acne from showing up?

As controlling stress isn’t easy, maybe you should consider visiting professionals such as Green Square Dermatology, who can help you get rid of your number one face problem! No matter how problematic your skin is, professional dermatologists will help your face clear up and provide you with useful advice on how to nurture your face and skin further.

6. Under-eye bags

As previously mentioned, one of the biggest indicators of a stressful life is a bad night’s sleep. Tossing and turning while you’re constantly ruminating about the things you’ve done is completely exhausting. This leads to much-hated under-eye bags and dark circles which let everyone know you didn’t sleep well!

To get rid of the bags under your eyes, you mainly need to rest well. Even though you can’t predict whether you’ll have a good night’s sleep or not, there’s nothing a little concealer can’t cover!

Conclusion

As you can see, stress has terrible effects on your looks. But luckily, if you can’t prevent it, you can always treat the consequences. Try to minimize the stress in your life to gain your confidence back!