What Causes Acne During High Cortisol Periods
High cortisol levels from stress directly trigger acne by ramping up oil production in your skin and sparking inflammation. When life gets overwhelming, your body pumps out this hormone to help you cope, but it ends up messing with your skin in ways that lead to pimples and breakouts.
Cortisol comes from your adrenal glands as part of the body’s stress response, kicked off by the HPA axis, which involves your brain and hormones like CRH. These chemicals bind to receptors in the sebaceous glands, the ones that make oil to keep skin soft. Normally, this oil, called sebum, protects your skin. But high cortisol tells those glands to overproduce sebum, creating way too much oil.
That extra oil mixes with dead skin cells and bacteria, clogging pores and setting the stage for acne. On top of that, cortisol weakens your skin’s natural barrier, making it harder to hold in moisture. Your skin might look shiny and oily on top but feel dry underneath, which irritates it more and boosts inflammation. This turns into a cycle: more oil leads to breakouts, breakouts cause more stress, and stress pumps out even more cortisol.
Studies back this up. One review from 2022 showed cortisol increases activity in sebaceous glands and ramps up inflammatory responses in the skin. Research on medical students found that those with higher stress had worse acne. Experts like dermatologists note that cortisol stimulates sebum glands, clogging pores just like that.
High cortisol periods often hit during tough times like work pressure, poor sleep, or big life changes. These lifestyle factors keep cortisol elevated, worsening the oil imbalance and making skin more reactive. It’s not just teens; adults get stress acne too, especially with hormonal shifts or bad habits piling on.
Sources
https://consciouschemist.com/blogs/good-skin-blog/stress-acne-is-real-here-s-how-to-treat-and-calm-it-fast
https://www.longevita.co.uk/blog/can-stress-cause-skin-problems/
https://www.westchestercosmeticdermatology.com/blog/adult-acne-why-it-happens-and-how-to-treat-it/
https://onekind.us/en-ca/blogs/skin-school/stressed-out-skin-how-stress-impacts-your-skin-health-and-what-you-can-do-about-it
https://hoanphomd.com/f/stress-and-skin-how-managing-health-improves-aesthetic-results
