Stress Can Prematurely Age Your Skin

Make no mistake about it, if you want a younger skin, you really have to work on managing your stress. While it’s very easy to define stress as the kind of stress that you experience at work or in your relationships or at home, the reality is that stress can be everywhere. We’re not just talking about emotional stress. We’re not just talking about mental stress. We’re talking about physical stress from the environment.

In fact, since your skin is the largest organ in your body, it is the body system that is most susceptible to a wide range of stressors. What you think about, what you focus on, how other people treat you, what you eat, the air around you, the water that you drink; all these factors can put a large amount of stress on your skin. As a result, it’s very easy to develop prematurely aging skin. The key is to manage all these different stress types as well as be aware of the different sources of these stressors.

Work stress

One of the easiest types of stress to manage is actually work stress. You can work around your schedule to minimize stress. You can change your work style to manage stress better. There are just so many things that you can do to actively and consciously work at this stress level that you are experiencing. It doesn’t have to be outside of your control. It doesn’t have to be unnecessarily stressful at work.

Environmental stress

This type of stress is harder to control because you’re not in a controlled environment. When you go outside and the air is polluted, or you spend a lot of time in the sun, all these environmental stresses can really prematurely age your skin.

The good news is that by being conscious about the different environmental stressors, you can take proactive action. For example, if you are spending a lot of time in the sun, you can use sunscreen regularly. You can make it a habit to rub lotion on your skin to make sure that the dry air doesn’t suck out the moisture from your skin. By simply being aware and being proactive of the environmental stresses that you will probably encounter, you go a long way in preventing the stressors that can prematurely age your skin.

Lifestyle stress

This is actually the hardest type of stress to manage because your overall lifestyle impacts many different factors. You really have to catalog all these different sources of stress. You have to really be aware of the different avenues that stress takes to enter your life. This takes a little bit of doing because like a balloon, when you try to push on one part, other parts swell up.

The best approach of course is to take a holistic approach. It’s not just your lifestyle. It’s not just your diet. It’s also how you go about things. There are just so many things going on. But the key is to properly catalog it so you can achieve some higher level of control.

Personal stress

Personal stress comes from your relationships. Personal stress comes from your mindset.

The good news is that by practicing mindfulness and possibly focused thinking as well as being aware of your attitudes and your expectations, you can go a long way in managing personal stress. Remember, your mindset plays a big role in how much stress enters your life. At the end of the day, it’s a choice.