The other day, I was waiting on my husband for an impromptu lunch date when I spotted an acquaintance whom I hadn’t seen in a while. We exchanged the traditional “hi, how are you’s,” but then the gentleman remarked, “Honey — something’s wrong. You look worn down. I can see it in your face.”
After I brushed off the comment and replied that I had I stayed up watching too much Martha Stewart on PBS at 3 a.m., I pulled a mirror out of my purse and studied my face, assuming I’d find a lazy eye, shingles or a missing tooth.
Maybe I needed brighter lipstick. Oh, but wait…I was already wearing British Red Coat.
Mike appeared and didn’t seem to notice anything strange. I waited a beat. Silence. He sat in the car. Sigh.
“Does my face look different to you?” I asked.
He scanned my hairline, looked around my ear and under my chin. He shrugged his shoulders.
“Nah, just like it always does.”
Such a romantic.
Later that afternoon, I visited with my aunt, who spares no one when it comes to “constructive” criticism.
I walked into her hospital room and sat down in the motorized lift chair.
“Scoot closer,” she motioned. “I want to get a better look at you.”
I obeyed, rolling the chair next to her bedrail. She got a better look at me.
“You’ve got bags down to your chin.”
So that’s it.
Exactly what does stress do to our bodies? We know it can create cardiovascular issues and stomach ulcers, and we know it can lead to hair loss and insomnia. But what does stress do to our face?
As it turns out, cigarettes and sunshine are not the two primary culprits of aging or exhaustion. If you’ve got a frowner’s forehead or a pursed pucker, chances are you’re not inhaling Lucky Strikes. You’re internalizing anxiety.
The great and powerful Oz (Dr. Mehmet Oz) says to blame saggy cheeks and a pasty complexion (and a stroke) on a surge of adrenaline.
If a person feels threatened in any way – physically, mentally or emotionally – the body is going to react. It’s going to take up for us. Defend our honor! According to my research, the brain responds to stress by shooting hormones into the bloodstream. If we need to move a car off our spouses while they attempt to change a tire, then the blast of the superhuman hormone is put to good use. But if we’re out of sorts over an upcoming PTA meeting, then we’re wasting good drugs on a bad cause. And it will end up all over our face.
Dr. Oz explains in his many talk shows, books, magazine articles and blog entries that stress of any kind, if ignored, accelerates the aging process. The stress response hormone causes damage that inhibits cell repair and collagen production. And one of these days, someone like my dear auntie will inform you that “your face fell.”
If you seem to have aged 10 years overnight (watching Martha shuck oysters), Dr. Oz believes you can turn back the clock with a few simple tricks. You can try antihistamines to eliminate dark circles and bags, drink extra glasses of water, increase your time on the treadmill, allow yourself more caffeine for the time being, and when the effect of the espresso shot wears off – you should sleep, sleep, sleep.
Of course, then you’ll wake up with pillow face.