Dermatologists offer acne treatment for New Jersey college students plagued by stress

We all want to believe that once our awkward teenage years are behind us, any unpleasant skin conditions will magically disappear and we will enter our college years as beautiful swans with perfect skin. Typically, college is a fresh start, an opportunity to be whatever and whoever you want. But a recent Lewis Katz School of Medicine Temple University study indicates that stress can cause skin conditions at any age. And because college students are disproportionately exposed to stress, they’re susceptible to many unpleasant skin conditions. Fortunately, acne treatment in New Jersey and beyond, as well as dermatological care for other skin conditions, has come a long way in recent  decades. Dermatologists like Dr. Rachael Hartman and Dr. Kimberly Ruhlof Advanced Dermatology and Skin Care in New Jersey are eager to help these college students get the treatment they need to allow them to focus on other goals and priorities.

Medical News Today wrote an article titled “Stress worsens skin woes for students” discussing the results of the Temple University study. While people have long believed that stress could be linked to unpleasant skin conditions, prior to the Temple University study this concept was mostly linked to incidental claims from people who experienced unpleasant skin conditions and believed they were related to stress but had no information to support this belief. And while it’s entirely possible for patients to seek acne treatment in New Jersey and beyond without knowing the exact cause of these conditions, knowing more about the cause helps dermatologists create a successful treatment plan. Armed with this information, patients who are anticipating stressful circumstances such as exams or major projects, might seek acne treatment prior to a major flare-up, thus preventing the additional stress and unpleasantness that comes with acne  outbreaks.

The study started with a web-based questionnaire that 5,000 undergraduate college students were invited to take exploring their experience with stress and the effect of stress on their skin. Then 422 students were divided into three categories—low-, moderate-, to high-stress—and researchers gauged their skin condition based on their reports of their experiences. Students in the high stress category disproportionately suffered from skin conditions including pruritus (itchy skin); alopecia (hair loss); oily, waxy, or flaky patches on the scalp; hyperhidrosis (troublesome sweating); scaly skin; and an itchy rash on hands, among others.

Further study would certainly be beneficial for dermatologists and patients but Dr. Gil Yosopovitch, chair of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine’s department of dermatology and director of the university’s Temple Itch Center, said that it was a good and potentially useful start. “Our findings highlight the need for health care/dermatology providers to ask these patients about their perceived levels of psychological stress.” Specifically, the article noted that the student response rate was lower than researchers hoped, and the researchers didn’t actually conduct physical examinations of the students to assess the extent of their skin conditions. Dr. Yosopovitch is, however, convinced that this information can still be of use to dermatologists treating college students and, really, anyone since stress is a factor not limited by age or gender.

The correlation between stress and skin conditions is further supported by a 2003 Stanford study that determined that college students were more likely to suffer from acne during stressful exams. This information is useful for dermatologists providing acne treatment in New Jersey and elsewhere, and is also helpful for students. The last thing someone suffering from extreme stress needs is the added unpleasantness of a skin breakout, but by preemptively seeking acne treatment, either in New Jersey or beyond, patients can eliminate or mitigate that added source of stress before it begins. 

Dr. Rachael Hartman and Dr. Kimberly Ruhl of Advanced Dermatology and Skin Care have been providing acne treatment to New Jersey patients for nearly 2 decades. Drs. Hartman and Ruhl are licensed to offer acne treatment and other services in both New Jersey and New York. Advanced Dermatology and Skin Care is located in West Orange, New Jersey and offers a wide range of treatment and services including acne treatment and other medical and cosmetic dermatologic services.