Stress management is harder to do in recent times because most of the world has been closed off to the outdoors by preferring the safety of being indoors. The global pandemic is a healthcare issue that affects our ability to release stress by doing activities like eating in a restaurant or simply taking a walk in the park.
Being stressed during the pandemic is a common phenomenon for many individuals. Besides preventing people from remaining focused, it can also cause physical complications that can manifest in the form of stress rashes.
“What do stress rashes look like?”
Stress doesn’t just hurt you mentally, but it can also manifest physically throughout your body. This rash is a skin condition that’s rooted in mental tensions that result in one’s skin to flare up areas on your skin, mainly spots that are already irritated. These itchy welts, known as hives, or urticaria, vary in size and present itself anywhere in a person’s body.
At first glance, hives can appear like small mosquito bites but are more prone to be irritable when agitated. Besides manifesting as hives, your skin condition can also appear as eczema, rosacea, or other skin-related condition.
“Where do stress rashes come from?”
Our body’s cortisol levels increase due to being triggered by stress. This leads to increased oil production that typically causes acne breakouts and enables our body’s histamine response. It releases inflammatory chemicals that make our skin swell and flare up, resulting in different skin conditions.
Depending on the gravity of your stress and your skin’s sensitivity, related stress rashes can appear in the same manner either through exposure to allergens or if your body’s experiencing moisture or pressure.
Stress rashes and hive outbreaks are more common for women, but the physical symptoms almost always manifest in the early 30s to the late 50s. The more exposed a person is to mental tension, the higher chances that physical manifestations can occur around their body.
“How do I treat stress rashes?”
Although the presence of these skin conditions is mildly uncomfortable, the good news is that it’s a transient condition. This essentially means that they can go away just as fast as they appeared, typically within 24 hours. However, if your stress rashes continue to cause you inconvenience, you can purchase over-the-counter medication, such as Zyrtec, Benadryl, or topical cortisone cream to reduce the inflammation.
One way to avoid being affected by stress rashes is to make your body comfortable in the environment that it’s in. Heat and pressure are known to be irritants for stress rashes. Keeping your body cool and wearing loose clothing will prevent the potential build-up of this condition.
Conclusion
Being informed about illnesses is the first step in making the right judgment in diagnosing and treating your ailment. If your rashes are still present for longer than a day, then you may be misdiagnosing your skin condition, meaning that they may be a symptom of another illness that you’ve mistaken as a stress rash. In such cases, it would be best if you visited a dermatologist to make sure that you receive the right treatment.
Staying up to date in the latest medical news in the healthcare industry is an essential part of making sure that you’re safe from other diseases and illnesses besides the COVID-19 virus.
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