With the rising stress conditions and erratic lifestyle today, there has been an epidemic in skin conditions involving more visits to the dermatologist. Especially inflammatory skin disorders like Psoriasis and Excema are on the rise. While conventional medicine treats such conditions by managing the symptoms, in the long run it’s not really effective.
There is more to the skin than you can imagine. Skin is more than a colorful sheath covering your body. According to neuroscientists Claudia Aguirre, there’s a hidden brain in the skin. In this article, let’s explore the connection between skin and brain and know how listening to your skin can often help you decipher your emotional problems.
The Interdependence Between the Body and Emotional State
A blush inadvertently reveals your mind’s secrets, goosebumps warn us when something is wrong, you can feel your skin crawling when you are paralyzed with fear – Your mind has its own way of communicating its signals through the body.
Research has shown that the skin has the most intricate and sophisticated systems that was once under the domain of the brain. For instance, the stress axis or the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis found in the central nervous system is also found in the skin. It has been theorized that this stress pathway has actually evolved from the skin to avoid pathogens from entering the skin.
So, whether it’s war, ending of a relationship, losing your job or any stressful situation, this often shows up on your skin first. However, we tend to overlook such skin problems as unimportant or superficial. We miss these cues that your body is trying to convey. Eventually, we ignore these signs so much so that it’s like repressing an emotion.
What Is Your Skin Trying To Tell You?
One can live without the sense of seeing or smelling, but not without the sense of feeling or the sense of touch. It’s nearly impossible to not feel even when you try, isn’t it? This is because your sense of touch begins to develop in the womb and it is the very first sensory system to develop.
The very first time a mother caresses her baby, it has the ability to change the child’s epigenetic programming and help the child understand the touch of the mother or relate to this world.
This particular gentle touch goes a long way to help you understand yourself and your relationship with the world. Recently Swedish neuroscientists discovered a new set of nerve fibers in the skin that respond to only the most gentle of touches. These touch fibers in the skin take a long time to reach the brain.
Also, these slow signals travel to a different part of the brain that processes emotions and tells us what we feel when we touch. This part of the brain is called the posterior insular cortex. This gentle touch gives you a sense of who you are and what you are in the greater world.
Therefore, this gentle touch fiber in the skin is reflected in your personal sense of self, sense of culture and who you are in the community.
Amazing Things Your Skin Can Do
Not too long ago, there was a common misconception that the brain was hard-wired and damage to the brain was permanent. But with the recent discovery of neuroplasticity in the brain, this is no longer true.
The skin which is very thin and seemingly disposable tissue has also got the same plasticity as the brain. It has a clock of its own keeping its time. During the day time, it is in a defensive mode trying to protect from harmful pathogens, the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and more. During the night time, it goes into an offensive mode, regenerating and repairing itself.
Your skin is like a wearable sensor. It is a shield as well as a communicator that we are not even aware of. Skin conditions like acne and more are your skin’s way of demanding attention. But you are so busy battling the skin, ignoring what it is trying to tell you about your emotional state.
If you have unresolved anger, faced a trauma, living out of alignment, don’t recognize your worth and have lost sight of who you truly are, your skin will be the very first organ to tell you that. The connection of the body and mind is through the medium of skin.
Listen to Your Skin
Indeed, the skin has got an untapped potential and it is only recently that the research has unfolded on how it can be used to solve deeper emotional issues. Skin problems can be a manifestation of your emotional state. Now, therapists and physicians are also taking this into account and so can you, by listening to your skin.
So, if you find yourself facing another breakout, take the time to question what your skin is trying to tell you before you pop a pill or apply cosmetic solutions. When the mind is clear, the skin is also clear!