If you’ve ever experienced any of these, then you’ll know that the skin and brain talk to each other. I have previously written about the gut-skin connection, similarly, there is a brain-skin axis. You only have to think about when you’ve felt stressed and felt the sweat running down your back, to know the impact our feelings can have on our skin.
All of the above are temporary responses to stress or emotions, but what if feelings like being sad, overwhelmed and being out of control, take over your daily life?
The pituitary gland is about the size of a pea and rests in the anterior chamber of your skull. It acts like a switchboard for your stress hormones, the primary signal coming from the hypothalamus gland, just above it. When it’s activated, like when you’re stressed, it sends a signal to another gland just above your kidney, called the adrenal gland.
When your adrenal gland receives its message, it releases a powerful hormone called Cortisol, and other stress hormones called Catecholamines. Both of these hormone types are beneficial and vital in maintaining a healthy body. However, if you’re high for too long, they can turn against you. High levels of cortisol and catecholamines can weaken our immunity, damage organs (including the skin), and increase blood sugar levels.
This is why chronic stress has been linked to a host of conditions like diabetes, food allergies, weight gain, increased susceptibility to colds and flu-like illnesses, cancer, heart disease and many more…..
As noted previously, high levels of stress hormones weaken your immunity, which means that it can’t keep itself in tip-top condition, which means it’s more susceptible to bacteria, virus’s and fungi; sun damage and pollution.
This can worsen chronic skin conditions like eczema, acne, rosacea and psoriasis. Apart from this, the reduced ability of the skin to repair itself, means that you will experience more lines and wrinkles as elastic tissue depletes, loss of plumpness as collagen levels dive and your skin could become dry as the skin loses its ability to produce the lipid layer that seals moisture in.
While reducing stress levels should theoretically help to alleviate damaging effects on the skin, there’s only limited data regarding the effectiveness of stress-reducing interventions. There is some evidence that meditation may lower stress hormone levels in people who do it regularly. Research shows these techniques to be helpful in controlling psoriasis, however, more proof is needed to show the benefit of these techniques in other skin conditions. Healthy lifestyle habits, including a well-balanced diet and exercise, may also help to regulate stress hormones in the body, which should in turn have positive effects on skin and hair.
If you are experiencing a skin condition related to stress, see a dermatologist for your condition, and try some stress-reducing techniques at home. In addition, No4 can offer advice and treatments aimed at reducing adult acne, rosacea and ageing skin.
For more information contact us here.
The world of medical grade skincare products can be an intimidating place. There are so many brands that claim all kinds of results, with wildly different prices and promises about their efficacy. That’s before even knowing what’s right for your skin, as everyone is so different.
Unfortunately, this confusion can lead you to waste your hard-earned cash on products that do nothing for you or worse, actually have a negative impact on your skin. To cut through some of this confusion, I thought I’d clear up a few myths for you…
I’m going to take you through four common skincare myths to make sure you don’t fall for them!
Myth 1 - ‘Medical grade’, ‘professional’ and ‘clinical’ are regulated terms
Nope! These words are up for grabs, which I think can be a really confusing thing for consumers. They carry the implication that these products are superior and scientifically proven to work, but that’s not necessarily true. Don’t let this kind of wording trick you into thinking you’ve found something that’s guaranteed to work.
Myth 2 - Medical grade skincare ingredients are a higher quality
It’s easy to believe that expensive products, using the aforementioned unregulated words and phrases, must be using fabulous ingredients. Another myth! There’s no guarantee that they contain any higher quality ingredients or more actives than high street brands.
Myth 3 - Medical grade brands are required to test their efficacy
You might think that medical grade skincare products need to be tested to show that they actually work but this isn’t true either. There’s no requirement for regulated ingredients such as salicylic acid to prove their efficacy. The only rule is that the manufacturer details the strength of the active, not whether or not it works!
Myth 4 - Medical grade brands are rigorously lab tested for safety
Ok, for me, this is where things get a bit scary. All of these skincare products do need to go through three rounds of checks; microbiological, stability and challenge testing. The issue is that the last two of these aren’t necessarily done in a lab. They can be done in-house by any suitably qualified employee. This means that the results may not be unbiased!
Sorry if I’ve scared you a bit with all of those myths, but I think that it’s important for you to be well informed. I also want everyone to be comfortable in their own skin, without spending too much or having to try hundreds of products until you find what’s right for you. So, here’s how I choose the products that I use and recommend.
Compare - A lot of medical grade skincare products are very similar to each other, despite what their marketing may have you believe. This means that it is incredibly important to judge each on its own merit, NOT by the brand.
Research - I don’t accept product claims as facts until I’ve got some evidence. I want to know the clinical trials they have been through and then I critically evaluate these before accepting anything.
Check the cost - I’m not going to choose products that I don’t believe are priced reasonably. This is because once you’ve got your routine sorted, you’re likely to keep it pretty much the same. I don’t see the point in finding the ideal fit for someone if it’ll only be affordable for a month.
Get a bit cheeky - Once I’ve gone through the above I like to get a bit cheeky and ask for some freebies. I want to be able to test the product myself before I endorse it!
Doing all the above takes a lot of time and effort, it’s easier if you have experience and are knowledgeable about skincare products in general but I know that isn’t the boat everyone’s in. I appreciate that most people will not be able to do this but don’t worry, that’s why I’m here!
I’ve curated a collection of products that I truly believe in and I have them all in one place for you to browse…
To get your hands on high quality, reasonably priced and effective products just head over to my online store! After any of our treatments, we’ll always give you advice on what skincare products to choose to maintain your results. Of course, if you have any questions, you can always pop back into the clinic or give us a call on 07595221484.
