Stress Free Mama

  • Home
  • Stress Relief Tips
  • Stress Articles
  • Blog
  • About SFM

By Julia Rymut;

Does Stress Cause Acne?

Woman with stress acne

Western and Eastern Medicine agree that stress does cause acne. The imbalances that result from stress contribute to stress acne.

Woman with stress acneDoes stress cause acne?

The harried mom struggling to get her kids to half-a-dozen activities in different locations, who experiences acne for the first time in her life, would certainly agree that stress plays a role in acne.  So would the teen whose face breaks out in horrible zits the day before her school play.

Practitioners of traditional Eastern medicine have long connected emotional imbalance with acne and Western researchers now have strong evidence that stress plays a major role in triggering the hormones implicated in acne.

The Western Perspective

For decades, the Western perspective focused on acne’s physical causes. Despite the observations of many patients, the idea that stress played a role in acne and other skin disorders was mostly ignored.

Fortunately, Western healers are now increasingly realizing that there is a mind-skin connection and that stress can cause acne.

This new perspective has been coupled with research into the physical aspects of stress.  Recent studies have shown that teens experience more acne when under stress than at other times

Your body reacts to stress by releasing stress hormones, including cortisol.   Cortisol triggers inflammation in your entire system, including your skin and it also can trigger the production of more skin oil.

Inflammation is a far greater factor in acne than skin oil is.  An improper diet, too rich in refined sugars and processed foods, contributes to inflammation and makes it more difficult for your body to cope with stress.  Acne is not prevalent in countries where the average diet is low in refined sugars and processed food.

Does Stress Cause Acne?  The Eastern Perspective

Ayurvedic Medicine:

Traditional Eastern perspectives also see diet as a factor in overall health, but they focus on the whole person, concentrating on emotional imbalances as well as physical ones.  According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, which has been practiced in India for 5,000 years, each person has three basic energies or doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha.  Each person is a unique combination of these doshas and imbalance in the doshas leads to illness.

Stress, relationship problems, diet and environmental factors unbalance the doshas and lead to health problems, including acne. Ayurvedic practitioners treat acne and other health problems by attempting to restore balance to the doshas.  Yoga, meditation, dietary changes, and herbal supplements are part of the Ayurvedic treatment of acne.

Traditional Chinese Medicine:

A similar approach is used in traditional Chinese medicine.  In Chinese medicine, acne is considered to be caused by disturbances to the body’s meridians by heat or damp heat. These imbalances can be produced by diet, overwork, and stress.

In addition, stress and emotional upsets cause stagnation of the the basic energy of the body or qi.  Acne is treated with herbal medicines and acupuncture to produce release of the qi and a return of the body’s natural balance.

Health = Balance

In the eastern perspective, health is balance in the whole person.  Stress, poor diet, emotional upset, unhealthy environments, and overwork all upset our internal balance, and acne is just one symptom of that upset.

If you suffer from stress acne, you are not alone.  Stress acne is one of the most common skin disorders; it is more common in women, than in men.  Even people in their sixties can suffer from acne when they are under stress.  Fortunately, alternative treatments offer hope that stress acne can be controlled and possibly cleared.

Filed Under: Causes of Stress, Stress & Health, Stress Articles Tagged With: acne, stress and health

By Julia Rymut;

Coloring your Gray Hair from Stress — Natural Ways to Restore your Normal Hair

When you hair turns gray from stress, your first step is to reduce the stress. After that, coloring your gray hair naturally may be your next solution.

Stress-Related Gray Hair Solutions

Woman Taking Walk on Beach Stress contributes to gray hair by causing the pigment cells in your scalp to wear out more quickly than normal. You may notice that you have grayed quickly during a stressful year.

There is no perfect solution to prevent stress-related gray hair, but of course, general stress reduction can help. If you smoke, try to quit or at least cut back. Get plenty of exercise and eat a well-balanced diet with plenty of anti-oxidant loaded vegetables and fruits. Anti-oxidants are nutrients which fight damage to our cells by chemicals known as free radicals; several studies indicate they may prevent cancer and they may also help prevent premature aging.

Along with exercise and diet, be sure to get adequate sleep. Take time during the day to simply unwind and get your mind off your problems. Make time for activities you enjoy. Above all cultivate a youthful, positive attitude. A positive attitude is a great buffer against life’s stresses, including stress-related gray hair.

Covering Gray Hair: Natural Methods to Cover the Gray

Aromatherapy

The simplest method for coloring your gray hair is to massage essential oils into your scalp every night. For dark hair, try rosemary, thyme or sage. For lighter hair, try german chamomile or lavender. Put 2-3 drops of the oil on your palms and rub into your scalp every night. This will help condition the skin of the scalp.

Herbal Rinse

Herbal rinses are another way to reverse gray hair.

For dark hair, choose one or more:

  • Rosemary
  • Sage
  • Raspberry leaves
  • Parsley
  • Ivy Berries
  • Catnip
  • Black Tea
  • Black coffee (just make strong black coffee and use this as a rinse)

For blond or light hair:

  • rosehips
  • red hibiscus
  • calendula
  • saffron
  • marigold
  • tumeric
  • mullein
  • privet
  • yellow broom

Choose some herbs from the lists above and put about 1/2 cup of dried herbs/flower/berries in 2 cups of water. Simmer for 30 minutes and then let it sit for another 2-3 hours. You will have a very strong “tea” for your hair. Strain out the vegetable matter and pour it on your hair after shampooing. Let it sit for several minutes and rinse out. Gradually you will notice your hair color changing.

Gray Hair Treatment: Potato

For dark hair, boil 1 unpeeled potato. Cool the water and massage the potato-water onto your scalp and into your hair with a cotton ball. Leave it for 20 minutes and then rinse out.

Gray Hair Treatment: Rum

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons of dried sage
  • 1 water
  • 4 teaspoons of rum
  • 1 ounce glycerin
  • A few drops of vitamin E

Boil the sage in the water and let it sit for 2 hours. Strain it and add the rest of the ingredients. Use some cotton and rub this darkening concoction on your scalp everyday. Gradually your hair will get darker.

Henna

If your gray hair is really bothering you, choose a henna instead of chemical dyes for covering your gray hair. There is some inconclusive evidence that hair dyes can cause cancer, but why take a chance? When you are under stress, your body is especially susceptible to toxins. Henna is a great alternative.

Henna is a plant which is used for natural red/brown dyes. It will not dye your hair completely, but it changes the gray to colors which blend in with your natural hair color. It will also condition your hair.

HennaForHair is an interesting site which explains exactly how henna works to cover your gray. Catherine Cartwright-Jones, the site owner, loves henna in a big way and has great information including an incredible e-book called “How to Henna Hair”. Everything you have ever wanted to know about henna is in this book, including many pictures of henna-ed hair so you can picture exactly how it will turn out.

If you want to go to a real bricks and mortar store, visit you natural food store and look for Light Mountain Natural Hair Color (affiliate link). They have a line of pre-mixed hennas for every hair color, designed specifically to cover gray hair.

When stress causes your hair to turn gray, you first concern should be to reduce your stress. After that, coloring your gray hair may be a nice solution to feel more like yourself again.

Filed Under: Stress & Health, Stress Relief Tips Tagged With: stress management

By Julia Rymut;

Relieving Asthma and Stress Naturally

When asthma and stress come together, they can compound the symptoms of both. Fortunately, there are some natural ways to relieve both and get you breathing again.

Stress induced asthma can plague both children and adults. Stress is never the sole cause of asthma; stress, however, can trigger an attack. To understand stress induced asthma it is helpful to understand the physical factors involved in the asthma and stress.

Asthma

Asthma symptoms include wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. During an attack, you may feel like you are being suffocated, because the muscles around your bronchial passages tighten, blocking the passage of air. Air moving through these constricted airways produces the wheezing sound so characteristic of asthma.

If you have asthma, you will also experience inflammation of the bronchial tubes; your airways swell, making breathing even more difficult. Your asthma attacks may be triggered by even small amounts dust, pollen, fumes, or animal dander. You will find you are much more sensitive to these environmental factors than people who do not have asthma. Stress induced asthma can also be triggered by an emotional upset.

The Relationship between Asthma and Stress

Western medicine has been puzzled over the mechanisms involved in stress induced asthma.

It is normal for stress to produce increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system; your blood pressure rises and your air passages dilate (open wider) in preparation to deal with the stress; after the stress, your parasympathetic nervous system kicks in to return your body to a normal, calm state.

If you have asthma your body may respond to stress with more activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, than of the sympathetic nerve system. This constricts the airways and can lead to an asthma attack.

The reasons for this are not clear and so treatment in the West has centered on reducing asthma symptoms, rather than treating the underlying causes of the problem.

Alternative healing systems, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine approach asthma and stress with a holistic focus instead of a symptom-based approach.

Traditional Chinese Medicine: Build your Defenses

Yin Yang SymbolAccording to traditional Chinese Medicine, the three pathogenic factors of Wind, Cold or Heat are responsible for causing the muscle spasms which tighten the bronchial passages during an asthma attack. These factors are forms of energy. Wind causes imbalance in the bronchi and together with Cold or Heat causes the tightening of the breathing passages.

If you are having an asthma attack, you are in an acute Excess condition. During an attack, the aim of traditional Chinese medicine is to stop the Excess Wind and thus relief the attack. Once you are over the attack, you are considered to be in a Deficient condition.

In a Deficient condition, your body will produce Defensive Chi in the kidneys and your lungs will spread it throughout your body. Defensive Chi is energy produced by the body to ward off disease. The concept is similar to the Western concept of the immune system. Weak lungs or kidneys can cause a lack of Defensive Chi.

Long-term treatment of asthma involves efforts to stimulate Defensive Chi and build up your body’s resistance to the pathogenic factors of Wind, Cold, and Heat. Herbs and acupuncture are used to stimulate Defensive Chi and build up resistance. Acupuncture can also be used to relieve a patient in the midst of an asthma attack.

Acupuncture for Asthma and Stress

Chinese medicine recognizes that emotional turmoil and stress play a role in asthma.

Points for “calming the spirit” are used during acupuncture treatment for asthma. Acupuncture stimulates your body’s natural neuro-regulation of the bronchial airways. Acupuncture treatment to strengthen the kidneys and build up Defensive Chi has been shown to increase red blood cell count and produce other beneficial measurable changes in body chemistry

People undergoing regular acupuncture treatment report experiencing decreased tension and an improved sense of well-being. Asthma and stress both are relieved.

The Buteyko Breathing Method: Natural Relief for Asthma

Woman Taking Deep BreathSome people have found asthma relief with an alternative treatment developed in Russia. The Buteyko Breathing Method operates on the theory that people with asthma hyperventilate and this greatly contributes to their breathing problems

If you have asthma you unconsciously develop the pattern of rapid, shallow breathing known as hyperventilation. If you suffer from stress-induced asthma this can be a critical factor, since stress itself frequently causes hyperventilation. During hyperventilation your body is not receiving enough oxygen, but this is not the only problem.

Hyperventilation also deprives the body of carbon dioxide; while you probably think of carbon dioxide as simply a waste product of the breathing process, this gas is important in regulating your body’s use of oxygen. Without sufficient carbon dioxide in the blood, your body does not receive the chemical signals it needs to utilize oxygen effectively.

The aim of the Buteyko Breathing Method is to retrain asthma patients to breathe slowly and allow the body’s natural breathing regulation to ease their disease.

Break the Cycle

Asthma and Stress can become a vicious cycle. You are stressed by other factors and now the additional stress of asthma is added to the mix. Your fear of having an asthma attack may actually lead to a stress induced attack. Don’t despair. Explore your options. An alternative treatment may be your ticket to better breathing.

Filed Under: Stress & Health, Stress Articles Tagged With: stress and health

By Julia Rymut;

Acne Alternative Treatments: Your Best Choice for Stress Acne

When your acne flares from stress, use acne alternative treatments instead of harsh chemicals. You can improve your skin without adding toxins to your system.

Woman with stress acneWhen you are under stress, your body’s chemical balance is disrupted.  Among many imbalances, your body increases inflammation (an overactive immune response). Toxins of all kinds create the same response and so adding toxins to an already overloaded immune system just makes your body’s health worse.

Acne is caused when the follicles, or pores, of the skin get blocked and the sebum, or oil, inside the follicle is blocked from draining.  Once this happens, bacteria begin to grow in the blocked follicle.  This blockage can remain un-inflammatory (a whitehead or blackhead) or it can become inflammatory acne (papule or pustule).  In either case, the acne is the result of the follicle being blocked from properly draining the sebum.

There are several factors which some believe contribute to acne.  Poor diet may exacerbate it, as can stress.

Some people believe that heavy or greasy makeup can make it worse.  Some people mistakenly believe that acne is caused by not washing the skin frequently enough.  In fact, washing the skin may increase the acne.  While all of these causes are sometime disputed, the one cause I found most frequently agreed upon is that acne can be caused by hormone imbalances.

Natural Acne Cures

Organic essential oils can be a boon to people with acne.  Alternative treatments using essential oils can help dissolve sebum, and can help kill the bacteria that start to grow.  And because our bodies have a natural symbiosis with plants, the organic essential oils are more supportive to our bodies than artificial chemicals.

  • Tea Tree oil is one of the first oils to think of for natural acne cures.  In fact in a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia, tea tree oil was found to be as effective as benzoyl peroxide in the treatment of mild to moderate acne, and although it took longer to work, it also had fewer side affects.  You can dilute tea tree oil 50-50 with an organic vegetable oil and apply it over the oily areas, or you can take a drop on a cotton swab and put it directly on an inflamed pore.
  • Other essential oils which have anti-bacterial affects are clove, and the blends Thieves, Melrose, and Purification.
  • Oils which have the effect of reducing sebum production (drying skin) are bergamot (remember that this oil is photosensitive and should not be applied before going out in the sun), geranium, vetiver, and lemongrass.
  • Oils which soothing to the skin are lavender, rosewood, and patchouli.

All of these essential oils can help acne problems, but they can also be drying.  If you notice that your skin is getting too dry, just combine them 50-50 with and organic vegetable oil. When you apply the oils, rub them in very gently; do not irritate the skin.  And for maximum effectiveness, alternate your oils every day.

Hormone Balancing

The other way to use essential oils in your acne alternative treatment is to use oils which help balance your hormones.  Essential oils have homeostatic intelligence–they work to balance natural functions.  This means that the same oil may stimulate in one circumstance and calm in another.  Using oils which have hormone regulating effects will support your body finding its normal hormonal balance.

To use the oils, rub a few drops on the soles of the feet or crown of the head 1-3 time/day.

Oils which balance female hormones include fennel, anise, clary sage, sage, geranium and the blends Dragon Time, SclarEssence and Lady Sclareol.

Detoxing and Cleansing

  • Eat a healthy diet for both your stress levels and for your skin.  Avoid dairy products, fried food, chemical additives and sugar.
  • Avoid chemical make-up.  Try some pure mineral make-up to reduce the toxins on your skin.
  • Avoid plastics.  Some plastics exude estrogenic chemicals and may cause more hormonal imbalance.  Drink water from glass or ceramic containers.  Do not eat food that has been heated in a plastic container.
  • Begin a cleanse.  Increase your fiber to cleanse your colon and consider a short fast.  Like your colon, your skin is an organ of elimination.  If your colon can’t do its work, your skin works overtime.

When stress increases your acne, alternative treatments are the best way to clear your skin and support your overall health at the same time.

Filed Under: Stress & Health, Stress Articles Tagged With: acne, essential oils, stress and health

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Connect with Me

Follow me on Pinterest

More About Stress

  • Aromatherapy
  • Causes of Stress
  • Favorite Things
  • Massage
  • Questions and Answers
  • Stress & Health
  • Stress Articles
  • Stress Relief Tips
  • Stress Resources

Recent Posts

  • How to Get Out of a Studio and Enjoy Outdoor Yoga
  • A New Tool to Change Your Life: My meQuilibrium Review
  • What are your Tips to Kick Start a Business?
  • 9 Ways to Make Your Home Tranquil and Beautiful with Bamboo
  • 10 Minute Morning Stress Relief Activites to Start Your Day Relaxed

Be sure to check out my sister-site on happiness and well-being at TaraTrue.com

Affiliate Policy | Privacy Policy | Site Map | About Me | Copyright © 2023 Stress Free Mama