Video games for treating acne? Acne is the number one reason people visit dermatologists. We know that acne can cause stress during the already turbulent teenage years. Many teens and their parents, and to a lesser degree those in the medical community, also believe that stress can trigger and worsen acne outbreaks – but there have been no careful studies to suggest that this is true. Researchers at Stanford University undertook to debunk this common myth, but wound up showing that it is true: stress worsens acne. College students were followed closely, and when exam time rolled around, acne worsened. The more stress reported by the students, the worse the acne. Might this worsening have been caused by changes in diet or sleep during the exam period, rather than the stress itself? Even after taking these into account, the stress/acne relationship held up by itself (although worsening diet appeared to contribute a bit to worsening acne as well). The study, published in the July 2003 Archives of Dermatology, did not analyze whether changes in facial hygiene or face touching during exam time might have played a role. The authors suggest, with good reason, that changing hormones and neuroactive substances during stress may be the main culprit. If this is so, relaxation and stress reduction techniques that reduce stress chemicals (such as biofeedback) could prove to be powerful ways to treat acne, even if only practiced for a few minutes a day. Some groups, including NASA, have developed biofeedback computer and video games where the players win by decreasing stress signals in the body rather than by hand-eye coordination alone. What a fun way to learn to reduce stress – and perhaps to help with acne, ADHD, asthma, epilepsy, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, and a number of other common conditions.

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