Can stress really age your face?

Can stress really age you?

Life is a roller coaster indeed, with a never ending stream of highs and lows.

Along the journey of life, you can be sure that we are sure to earn a wrinkle or two, we may attribute this to the passing of time but on closer analysis our face may actually reveal how much stress we have endured through the course of our lives.

Before you lose your temper with the kids for not having completed those house chores, or the boss is simply making ridiculous unrealistic demands of you at work, take a deep breath, count to three and don’t stress, one extra day of anxiety in your life might just add another wrinkle to your face!, and yes it’s true, studies have proven that trauma, stress, strain and pressure brought on by the events of everyday life really CAN age you.

A fascinating study by one’s of London’s leading plastic surgeons Rajiv Grover revealed that stress such as divorce, moving home, bereavement, bouts of yo-yo dieting and job loss can cause bursts of sudden ageing to the face.

Grover’s investigation which was presented at an International Conference in Paris revealed how just as children can grow in spurts, sudden ageing can occur in spurts too. Grover analysed 118 women with ages ranging from 40 to 45 for a period of up to nine years (average 7.2 years) during the course of the past decade, during the process of examination he took annual measurements in different areas of the face using specialist instruments known as vernier callipers.

Grover studied the face in terms of brow height (it is said that the drooping of the forehead and brow is the main sign of facial ageing), fat volume in the cheeks area and the depth of the nasolabial (nose to mouth) fold, he also explored jowl thickness took into consideration measurement of ageing in the lower third of the face.

In a London newspaper where the results of the investigation were published for first time exclusively Grover concluded that ageing in the middle of the face seemed to happen in dramatic-emissions with up to 35 per cent of volume in a woman’s cheek volume being lost rapidly within in just one if a dramatic or stressful event occurred such as divorce or bereavement.

From reading Grover’s study it is clear that lifestyle has a huge part in the process of how we age, one of the biggest factors of sudden ageing which he seemed to attribute to dramatic ageing was yo-yo dieting causing sunken cheeks (because of sudden facial fat loss), as well as heavy wrinkles and jowls if abrupt weight loss exceeded 6 to 7 kilograms in one year.

Other factors influencing the ageing spurts were stress at work, including redundancy, relationship traumas such as divorce, serious illness such as cancer, and bereavement.

Grover’s fascinating study makes it clear what factors accelerate ageing, now that we know, what can be done to slow down the ageing process?

Here is a checklist of some tips to slow down sudden ageing:

1. Avoid crash diets: rapid weight loss regimes, or “yo-yo” dieting, have a long term effect on the appearance of your face. Weight loss programmes and diets should be realistic in terms of the goals set, weight should ideally be shed gradually over a set period of time and not rapidly.
2. Keep calm and carry on!: When the body is stressed it is out of balance, and damage is caused internally as well as externally, so as yourself: is it really worth getting stressed about? Count to 10 before you blow your fuse, sometimes just breathing deeply for a few seconds take the edge of the initial need to over react and stress yourself, easier said than done, but think of the consequences of too much stress.
3. Exercise, some health experts recommend walking three times a week for as little as 20 minutes asides from reducing the risk of heart disease, walking is a low impact way for those reluctant gym haters. A good walk can clear your mind and calm you down and allow you to gather your thoughts and inner calm.
4. Polyunsaturated fats: Don’t underestimate the powerful properties polyunsaturated fats, many nutritionists strongly recommend a healthy diet which includes fish should be eaten at least three times a week.
5. Water the elixir of life: experts recommend that drinking a lot of fluids will maintain good health as well as eliminate toxins from the body and skin.

Finally PLEASE remember to relax! Easier said than done given the hectic pace of modern life, ideally you should take time out and practice the wonderful art of relaxation this will unwind your mind and automatically lower the stress level in your body. Watch a movie, go have drink and meal with friends, listening to some good music or just take a walk; every moment you take in your life to relax is one less wrinkle you’ll have to worry about.

Credit: information and research Rajiv Grover study

Photograph: Copyright and Courtesy of The Guardian