Have Teenage-Level Acne Again? Blame the Pandemic.
How to take care of your skin during Covid-19
Experiencing your worst wave of breakouts since junior high? It’s not you — it’s Covid-19. The combination of skyrocketing levels of stress, occlusive protective masks, and upended routines can have negative consequences for skin, dermatologists say.
What’s Causing Acne Right Now
Pandemic-related or not, stress is a major contributor to acne. It creates a domino effect: Our bodies respond to stress by producing more cortisol, aka the stress hormone, which in turn increases the levels of androgen, which ramps up oil production in skin. “Bacteria on the skin feeds on this oil,” explains Sonia Batra, MD, a dermatologist in Santa Monica, CA. Not only that, but the excess oil itself contributes to clogged pores, too.
On top of that, stress causes an uptick in skin inflammation. “Your skin cells are a local nervous system,” explains Melissa Levin, MD, a dermatologist in New York City and clinical instructor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. When you’re under stress, they release a deluge of inflammatory proteins. That can trigger a number of skin conditions, such as acne, rosacea, and eczema.
