Skin and Emotion

Exploring the Root Cause of Your Sensitive Skin

Your skin and emotions are linked.

You may be wondering, how could my skin and emotions possibly be connected. Let’s dive right into why the root cause of your sensitive skin may be your emotions (or lack thereof).

Your skin is a sense organ. Its job is to sense stimuli in your physical environment, but what if it senses your internal emotions too? Your emotions, especially one’s that haven’t been expressed, could be the root cause of your skin problems.

It’s common in our world today to bury our emotions. Skin issues are your body’s way of showing the feelings you have hidden from yourself and others. You may be hiding your pain from the world, but it is showing itself in your skin. 

You may not want to show anyone your pain or the feelings you are experiencing. They may be hiding in the depths of your mind, in the darkest closet corner, but those feelings are there even if you don’t want to show them. 

Skin problems express your true empathetic nature. 

Who or what taught you it was safer to hide your experiences than to show them?

Sensitive skin means you are a sensitive human.

People with sensitive skin often have the harshest inner voices. You can feel the energy of others. You struggle with differentiating what emotions are yours and what emotions are not. You may be absorbing the emotions of others unconsciously.

Your skin is a boundary. It protects you from everything in your environment. Skin problems are your body’s way of expressing that your boundaries are weak. Skin issues can be the root cause of emotional boundary issues. 

You may link your skin sensitivities to things in your physical environment, like foods and chemicals. But it may be time to look deeper and discover the emotional component of your sensitivity. There is always an emotional component—even if it lies deep within your family history.

Unexpressed emotions are taking a physical toll on your body.

What if you hold back your true feelings and emotions because you are sensitive to how you’re perceived by others? How do you think that affects your skin?

The root cause of itchy skin is emotion.

Hot feelings of irritation and agitation come out with an insatiable itch.

Irritation is often an unexpressed desire for things or people to be different. A feeling of being powerless to change things. This can leave you itching to make a change but feeling agitated when you can’t. These pent-up emotions can lead to unreleased anger.

Itchiness, irritation and burning are all skin issues that relate to anger. When something in your life is irritating you, that burning feeling of anger may be causing your itchy skin.

What if anger is not welcome in your life? What if you have learned to hold and control your expression of that emotion?

Unreleased anger is the spiritual meaning of eczema.

In my podcast, The Healing Point, I work with a woman to uncover the root cause of her eczema. Like many of us, she has buried her emotions and sees physical issues arise. You may be able to relate to this. In our society, we often feel we must hide our feelings. These unexpressed emotions lead to physical health issues.

In this woman’s case, she is experiencing eczema on her hands and arms due to her unexpressed anger. She was feeling the emotions of hurt and anger. She hadn’t allowed herself to truly feel those emotions when they came up for her, and her body was holding onto them. The anger she wasn’t acknowledging was showing in her body as eczema. 

To hear more of our conversation, listen to the full episode here: Podcast #14: Expressing Emotion Through Skin.

To heal your eczema, consider the emotions you may be masking. 

Are you hiding feelings of anger towards someone or something in your life? How can you release that emotion? 

You could journal, meditate, or talk about it with someone you trust. 

Defensiveness is the root cause of dry or hardened skin.

Think about the language we use. Thick-skinned people are perceived as tough and rarely show their emotions. Hard, dry skin expresses that defensiveness on the body. If you struggle to share your true feelings, this may be the root cause of your dry, hardened skin. 

The skin may become hardened, dry or form plaques in some conditions. Think of this like armour plating or a defence against the real hurt and sadness inside that has been buried. The armour creates the illusion of strength. To truthfully look at your pain would cause that armour to collapse.

Your emotions exist, even if you rarely show them. It may be time to tear down those walls around your feelings to uncover the link between your emotions and your skin problems. 

Rashes represent sensitivity.

Rashes show your sensitivity to specific people or situations.

Your skin may react when a boundary has been crossed, or an old trauma has been unveiled. If you experience a flare-up of a skin issue, look at what has happened in the past day or so. Think about feelings that may have come up for you. It could be due to stress at work or home. Or being in a situation that feels uncomfortable. 

Look at your emotions, and you can discover the triggers of your skin sensitivities, like rashes.

The root cause of boils and cysts is resentment.

Have you ever felt such resentment toward someone or something that you think you may erupt? 

This emotion may be the root cause of your spots, boils, and/or cysts.

Boils, cysts, and other related skin sensitivities are your body’s way of expressing emotions like resentment. They are a product of an inner battlefield. 

You may be holding a grudge or feelings of injustice. Those emotions that have not been released turn into mini volcanoes that erupt.

Feel your feelings!

Pause for a moment and ask yourself how you truly feel. Take some time to see what comes up for you. Ask yourself if something is weighing on you.  

Then, FEEL THE FEELING.

Instead of pushing away the emotion that comes up for you, give yourself permission to feel it. Name your emotion and embrace it. Pinpoint where you feel it in your body. Is it in your head? Your heart? Your gut? Tingling in your arms or legs? 

You may tend to rationalize and diminish your emotions, but your body wants to feel the feelings and release them. 

Allow your body to feel the feeling and release it. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to feel angry towards someone or something. It’s okay to feel hurt, fear, or anxiety. We are emotional beings. It is okay to feel! In fact, it is good for you. 

Let’s find the root cause of your skin sensitivity!

Are you looking to finally get to the root cause of your skin sensitivities or other physical health struggles? The link between emotions and physical health is undeniable. And you have the power to break your unconscious patterns to find true healing. 

I would love to support you on your wellness journey. My 4-week Root Cause Foundations course can help you discover the connection between your emotions and illness. Your path to awareness and empowerment begins here!