Can Stress Cause My Skin To Be Dry And Flakey?

Dr. Maryrose Gerardi answers the question: 'Dry, Flakey Skin Due To Stress?'

ByABC News
April 16, 2008, 5:52 PM

— -- Question: Can stress cause my skin to be dry and flakey?

Answer: Well when a person becomes stressed, the level of the stress hormone cortisol rises. This actually can cause oily skin. So people will often report problems with acne in relation to stress. And in fact there have been studies with teenagers showing that when they're under stress, they do have more acne breakouts.

But other dermatological conditions such as psoriasis, and eczema, and just other rashes are often reported by patients to be linked with their stress level. And for instance if they go on vacation or the situation changes they'll notice an improvement. So while there aren't a lot of studies in this area, there does seem to be a lot of report of the connection between the two. And again lifestyle changes are probably the way to go in terms of seeing if the symptoms might improve.href="http://abcnews.go.com/Health/StressReacting/story?id=4668147">Can Stress Be Causing My Bad Breath?

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