When we think of the physical effects of stress, we often complain of tension headaches or stomach upset. But did you know that even moderate stress can negatively affect your skin?

Even though we look at our face several times a day (at least!), we don’t often associate stress levels with our appearance, but in fact, our face is one the first places signs of stress will show. One of the most common physical signs of stress on our face are breakouts or acne. Under chronic stress, adrenal glands stimulate our sebaceous glands, causing them to secrete more oil. This overstimulation of oil glands is a perfect environment for the development of acne.

Another way stress can affect your skin is from elevated cortisol levels. Known as the “stress hormone,” cortisol regulates many of the fluctuations that occur in our bodies from stress, such as blood flow. The increased blood flow causes the expansion of capillaries, which can cause a red or inflamed appearance, and in some cases, rosacea, or chronic redness and inflammation of the face.

Increased cortisol can also lead to dryness, as the skin in unable to hold water. In addition, high levels of cortisol can also lead to poor absorption of nutrients from the diet, which can cause our immune system to suffer, leading to slower healing. Cortisol also regulates blood sugar, and chronic stress can elevate blood sugar, damaging the collagen and elastin in the skin.

Getting at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep is one of the first steps in lowering stress levels. Lack of sleep can cause our bodies to release cortisol, leading to increased dryness and inflammation. Lack of sleep can also cause eye bags and puffiness as fluid pools under our eyes.

When it comes to our appearance, we definitely are what we eat, and eating a balanced, healthy diet can help to reduce stress by keeping our blood sugar in check. Avoid high saturated fat comfort foods like ice cream or macaroni and cheese. Olive oil is a super food for our face, as the antioxidants in olive oil work to shut down damaging free radicals. Sardines, green tea, kale, tomatoes, and walnuts are other superfoods that “feed” our face with essential nutrients and help fight aging.

Drink at least 7-8 glasses of filtered water daily. Water is essential for keeping skin hydrated, as dehydrated skin leads to fine lines and wrinkles. Try drinking at least 1 or 2 glasses first thing in the morning. This will not only wake up your digestive system but also keep you from over-indulging in skin-dehydrating coffee or soda.

Most importantly, get moving! Regular exercise has not only been proven to reduce stress levels, but sweating helps to eliminate toxins in the body and improves blood flow, which helps transport oxygen and nutrients to your skin. It’s impossible to avoid stress, but re-evaluating how we manage stress is vital to not only improving our skin, but our overall health.

Micro-needling is the hottest new trend in skincare, and for good reason. The micro-trauma stimulates your own ability to produce collagen. We do not make collagen past the age of 25 unless there is an injury. A treatment that increases collagen addresses many skin concerns, namely aging. Hollywood A-listers are using this treatment to look younger and more natural.

There are ways to maximize the amount of collagen you make and how much you retain. At Rejuvenate Austin, we have clients who apply a very specific skincare regimen following micro-needling. This regimen nourishes the skin for maximum collagen production. It is very important that irritants are avoided. Most skincare regimens are created for intact skin and have ingredients that could be inflammatory if introduced to compromised skin. Micro-needling creates micro-channels in the skin and care must be taken to avoid unwanted inflammation check here.

Bellus Medical, the creators of SkinPen, addressed both the nutritional needs of the skin and the need for decreased inflammation when they created Skinfuse. Skinfuse is a post-micro-needling skincare protocol that is meant to give you maximum collagen and less downtime. We really have come a long way with micro-needling in the last 2 years. Clients can expect to get better results with these improvements.

Early studies suggest that we can get a greater than 600% increase in collagen by using an appropriate skincare protocol like Skinfuse. I use the term protocol because I still feel very passionate about more aggressive pharmaceutical skincare that would be inappropriate after micro-needling. I like to put my clients on Skinfuse after their treatment, but I encourage them to resume their normal regimen when they aren’t getting a treatment. The skin has very specific needs when creating collagen. Vitamin C is absolutely essential and is the co-factor that is used to make collagen from procollagen. Other important nutrients are manganese, copper, zinc, and Vitamin A. Vitamin A can be inflammatory in larger doses, so a little dab will do you in this case.

Skinfuse has addressed all these nutritional needs and has formulated a rescue gel that calms the skin. Remember, inflammation is very bad for collagen in that it breaks down existing collagen and can inhibit the production of new collagen. The rescue has colloidal oatmeal, aloe, and Borrago Officinalis Seed Oil. These all help calm the skin and avoid inflammation. I am currently writing a blog on skincare and the ingredients you must use and must avoid. It will go into greater detail about specific ingredients and what they do.

SkinPen is the most advanced micro-needling device on the market. They are launching a new American-made device very soon. I think it makes sense to use a device from a company that has put so much time and money into researching the very best practices in this field. They have researched not only nutritional needs but also technique. SkinPen micro-needling is also amazing at treating scars and stretch marks. Acne scars respond very well, making SkinPen a great alternative or adjunct to Laser Resurfacing. I am also able to treat darker skin tones with SkinPen, which is great!! Laser resurfacing can be very risky in darker skin tones. I always provide complimentary consultations to answer question because, let’s face it, this stuff is complicated! Stay tuned for more blogs to answer all your beauty and anti aging questions.