Blog #8: Psychodermatology

With this picture, you may see a real story of how our psychology has an impact on our skin.

Psychodermatology is a relatively new discipline in psychosomatic medicine. It is the interaction between mind and skin. The two disciplines are interconnected at the embryonal level through ectoderm. There is a complex interplay between the skin and the neuroendocrine and immune systems.

It is nowadays experimentally proven that “emotions get into the skin”. Recent research shows close anatomical, physiological and functional connections between skin and nervous system, already known to be ontogenetically related. These connections are reflected in many skin diseases where psychological and somatic etiological factors are closely intertwined.

Thus, in common parlance, a ‘psychosomatic disease’ is at best a disease aggravated by psychosocial factors, but usually, simply a disease caused purely by stress and completely reversible by removing the roots of this stress. The common dermatological issues that have been documented to be made worse by stress include acne, rosacea, psoriasis, itching, eczema.

Cortisol is a natural hormone that helps the body deal with stress. In small amounts, cortisol is a normal and healthy adaptation reflex. However, cortisol can turn into an enemy of the skin if it remains in excess over a long period of time. High cortisol levels prompt the skin’s sebaceous glands to produce more sebum (oil). The additional oil clogs the pores leading to the development of inflammation and bacteria– resulting in acne.

We tried to treat acne for quite some time. In the beginning, the homecare routine was fixed and emphasis was placed on sebum regulating products. It helped, but at a certain moment, we just stuck, and there was no more progress.

Stress

Hormones were checked, the diet was good, even teeth information was checked. 

At some point, stress was the main concentration in treatment. I am very proud of her, that she started to read a lot about skincare how stress impacts our skin and begin to love and listen to her skin.

So skincare routine was changed into mild products, we continue to do treatments (boosters, RF and Micropuncture) and she worked on her stress level...and this is the result that we got. It is very important to find the trigger of your problem, then to treat symptoms. Yes, it is a long way, but health is more important.