Skin Secrets: What Your Skin Might Be Telling You About Your Body

Skin, hair, and nail health can offer a surprisingly deep insight into what is happening within your body. 

The easiest example? Determining how much sun exposure someone has had based on the appearance of their skin compared to their age. Wrinkles, spots, uneven pigmentation, and a loss of elasticity are all dead giveaways of prolonged sun exposure. 

Skin can also giveaway if a person is sleep-deprived with droopy, dark circles under the eyes often relating to fatigue, and it can provide insights as to whether a person is drinking enough fluids, given away by sunken-looking skin around the eyes. Smokers’ skin is also often obvious as it is more pale or sallow in color, with the added bonus of wrinkling around the lips.

Skin can tell us more than just these tell-tale signs of particular lifestyle habits though. From general fatigue to more serious conditions like kidney disease, these external indicators are often actually symptoms for a range of ailments and can be used to help doctors and other health professionals diagnose and treat other illnesses or diseases. 

As mental health professionals and students enrolled in BSN to PMHNP programs online would know, there are also many ways that our skin health can be a reflection of the state of our mental health. Whether it be physical or mental, in this guide we cover some of the key things your skin might be telling you about your body and mind. 

Acne

Acne is one of the most common skin conditions in the world, and while it is considered quite normal during adolescence, there are plenty of adults who still experience breakouts. 

Fluctuating levels of androgen hormones significant body-changing moments such as puberty, menstruation, pregnancy or menopause, increased facial oil production, inflammation, and an imbalance of microbes on your skin are all causes or can make people more susceptible to acne. Taking certain medications such as birth control pills, lithium or corticosteroids can all increase the presence of acne too. 

However, if you are not on any of the above medications, and you are suddenly experiencing more severe acne that you didn’t have before, it may indicate another underlying issue. 

Hormonal abnormality

Hormone abnormalities such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are a common problem many women face. Symptoms include a lack of ovulation, high levels of androgens, small cysts on the ovaries, missed or irregular periods, excess hair growth, infertility, weight gain, and acne. 

Stress

Stress will not give you acne unless you are predisposed to it – but it can worsen existing acne issues. Stress can cause levels of certain hormones to rise (albeit temporarily), including cortisol and androgens. These hormones increase your skin’s oil production, which can exacerbate acne. As well as cortisol and androgens, stress, anxiety, and fear can trigger the production of cytokines, tiny proteins that can cause inflammation around the sebaceous glands – the glands that produce oil.

Stress can also impact healthy habits that, when interrupted, can be seen on the skin. If you are anxious and not sleeping or eating as well as you normally do, this can worsen acne. 

Acne is a common skin condition, but it can indicate other underlying health issues.

Persistent scabbing or scarring

Consistent scabbing or scarring of the skin, particularly around the face, scalp, neck, fingers, hands, forearms, calves, feet, and toes can indicate a person is suffering from dermatillomania. Dermatillomania, also known as pathological skin picking, neurotic excoriation or psychogenic excoriation, is a mental health condition where a person compulsively picks or scratches their skin, causing injury or scarring. 

Dermatilliomania has no single cause, but experts believe several factors may play a role, including differences in brain structure that control how habits are learned, if a person is anxious or stressed and picking acts as a soother, and genetics whereby you are more likely to have dermatillomania if a close relation also has it. 

The main symptom of dermatillomania is the the impulse or urge to pick, scratch, dig, squeeze, or rub at your skin.

Discolored skin

Discoloration of the skin can sometimes indicate an underlying illness. This can vary greatly from person to person, and while it can provide important insights for dermatological diagnoses, it is important to remember these clues may appear differently in someone who has skin of color. 

• Gray, sallow skin: May be related to an underlying chronic disease such as chronic kidney disease, renal failure, terminal cancer, congestive heart failure, hemochromatosis, or iron storage disease. 
• Yellow or orange-tinged skin: Often is an indicator of kidney or liver disease.
• Brown or tan spots on shins: This can be a sign blood is not circulating as it should, which may progress to ulcers. 

Small bumps in the eye region

Small yellow bumps that show up around the eyes or nose are called xanthelasma. Xanthelasma are a type of cholesterol deposit, which can range from soft, chalky to semi-solid. 

Although harmless in themselves, xanthelasma can be a sign of another condition. This includes hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), thyroid problems, and diabetes. Research has also found that if you have xanthelasmas, it is very likely you may also experience heart disease, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), high cholesterol, and a higher risk of having a heart attack in the future.

Rashes

Rashes are very common and can be difficult to diagnose. While a rash can be contact dermatitis – a reaction to something your skin touches which can be treated with topical ointments or creams – if a rash is not responding to treatment, and it is affecting more than your skin (for instance, you are also experiencing joint pains or fever) it may indicate something more serious is occurring. 

‘Bullseye’ rash

When rashes begin as a reddened area that grows and clears in the middle, then develops a red ring around the outside creating a ‘target’, it is a likely indicator of Lyme disease.

Itchy, scaly patches on knees, elbows, and scalp

If the lifecycle of your skin cells greatly accelerates you are often left with a buildup of dead cells across your skin – this is most likely psoriasis. 

Butterfly rash

The most distinctive sign of lupus is a facial rash that resembles the wings of a butterfly unfolding across both cheeks.