Sharing the reality of anxiety, Chrissy Teigen’s recent Instagram reel reveals the star still struggles with hives before major events and red carpets. Itchy and uncomfortable, hives are typically the result of your skin having an allergic reaction. Teigen, however, explains in her Reel that she chronically breaks out into hives during periods of stress.
While the majority of hives are caused by an allergen or irritant, “you might also be affected by hives during periods of extreme stress,” explains the Cleveland Health Clinic. The blotchy red stress rash commonly occurs on the face and chest, and affect about one to three percent of the population chronically.
Teigen Talks Anxiety
Teigen has been vocal about her relationship with anxiety for a long time.
“I’ll tell John, ‘Deep down, I know I am happy.’ But I think anyone with anxiety knows it’s physically painful to think about doing things,” she told Glamour in 2020.
Her relationship with anxiety has been life-long, and taking control of it has been a major focus for her.
“I was an anxious, nervous kid. That transferred into being anxious in high school and then right after, when I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life,” Teigen explains. “I started seeing therapists, but I stopped because I thought it was ‘normal twentysomething anxiety’. But after having Luna I thought, ‘Oh crap, this is a real thing,’ and I had taken myself off my own medicine. I realized when I was finally comfortable and knew where I was going in life and had every reason to be happy, that clearly something was going on.”
Four years later, handling stress is still an everyday battle that Teigen overcomes with grace.
Though some of her chest hives were still visible while she took photos with her husband, John Legend, on the red carpet, they were far from the center of attention. Glowing in a strapless dress with playful polka dots and a mega-watt smile, Teigen looked anything but anxious on the red carpet.
Honest about Plastic Surgery
Teigen is also no stranger to talking honestly about her body and her body image.
Recently revealing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen that she’s had three breast surgeries, Teigen has also admitted to disliking the scarring she’s left with.
“It’s the truth,” Teigen told Cohen. “I’ve had a lift, a put in, a take them out. I don’t like them out,” she said.
Only a few weeks later, she bared those scars in an Instagram post. Captioning the image, “when the flash hits your boob lift scars 🔥🔥🔥,” she claims to know followers are zooming in to see the evidence of her breast surgeries.
Stressed-Out Skin
Constantly battling serious anxiety can have impacts on your health. Aside from painful and irritating hives, stress can have an effect on your immune system and your skin.
“Constant worry can trigger the same stress response as a major threat—the release of adrenaline and other stress hormones—which over time can negatively impact our skin,” says New York dermatologist Doris Day, MD. “Studies show that long-term stress suppresses the immune system in all organs, including our skin, making us more susceptible to infections and even disrupting menstrual cycles, which can lead to hormonal breakouts.”
Finding ways to cope with and reduce stress is a key way to bringing your skin back under control.
