So What Actually is Cortisol Face & How Can You Get Rid of It?
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As you’ve gone through your Instagram or TikTok feed recently, you might have noticed a new health-related, quasi-aesthetic term gaining traction: “cortisol face.”
Based on the accompanying images or videos, it can be a little difficult to figure out what this term means—and why people are, suddenly, talking about it en masse.
Here’s a quick answer for you:
When someone has cortisol face, that means that their face is a little swollen or puffy. The swelling may, in some cases, be due to high cortisol levels (which, itself, is linked to high stress).
That’s the basic idea: When someone is chronically stressed, their face may change a little.
But why “cortisol face”? And why now? Are there other common afflictions that can result in facial swelling that might be confused for cortisol face?
And—critically!—if you do have cortisol face: How can you get rid of it?
Here’s what you need to know.
Cortisol Face, Moon Face, and More: Foundational Info
While cortisol face is a type of swelling or puffiness connected to cortisol levels, there’s another type of face swelling to consider.
Moon face is a common medical term to describe the face swelling that happens after a patient takes corticosteroids for a long time, in response to conditions like Cushing’s syndrome.
How do these two face-swelling-related conditions differ?
Moon face is medication-related and tends to afflict the patient for a longer amount of time.
Cortisol face is stress-related, and, typically, temporary.
Where moon face should be relatively simple to anticipate and has a clear explanation, cortisol face can be more difficult to predict.
Yet, as more and more of us are stressed in today’s overwhelming, fast-paced world, more and more people are cropping up with cortisol face (and other stress-related symptoms).
What, Exactly, Causes Cortisol Face?
Cortisol face usually happens as a result of the body’s response to stress.
As Dr. Brynna Connor, M.D., a board-certified family medicine physician who specializes in regenerative medicine, reminds us:
“Stress is more than just a feeling — it’s a physical change that affects other processes in your body. When you find yourself experiencing a stressful event, your brain responds. It churns out two key hormones: adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline is responsible for kicking your body into fight-or-flight mode, while cortisol controls your body’s stress reactions.”
Cortisol is important for many reasons: It helps your body regulate its metabolism, reduce inflammation, and manage many other functions.
Like so many things in your body, however, having too much of an important thing can get detrimental very fast.
Having a spike of cortisol in your system can really help you if you’re facing an acute crisis, for example, but if you have cortisol flooding your system consistently over a long period of time, that’s where the trouble begins.
Having high cortisol levels for a long time can make your body retain more fluid, especially in the face. Consistently high cortisol can also influence your metabolism, leading to swelling and puffiness in the face.
Further, there are lifestyle factors often associated with high stress (like poor sleep, high salt intake, and dehydration) that can also make facial puffiness worse.
While steroid use and deeper hormonal disorders can sometimes be associated with facial puffiness, for most people, figuring out some effective self-care mechanisms and being consistent with relaxation techniques should do a world of good for their health—their faces included.
How to Know If It’s Cortisol Face or Something Else?
Since facial puffiness can be either the result of stress—dangerous but admittedly quite common—or something a bit deeper, it’s a good idea to figure out if what you’re going through is actually linked to high cortisol levels.
Some common signs and symptoms of cortisol face include:
- Puffiness around the jawline and cheeks, specifically;
- Mild puffiness, not usually accompanied by pain;
- Puffiness in, around, or under the eyes—making patients look either bloated or tired; and
- Temporary puffiness, or puffiness that goes away as stress levels get managed.
If you’re worried that your cortisol face could be associated with something more serious (which can be stress-inducing, in itself!), here are some things to look out for that could indicate a need to go speak with your doctor:
Cushing’s syndrome, which can also result in facial puffiness, leads to persistent, more pronounced facial swelling.
Usually, people who are dealing with Cushing’s syndrome will also notice thinning skin, muscle weakness, and weight gain.
Thyroid issues, sometimes causing facial puffiness, tend to be associated with other symptoms like weight gain and fatigue.
Allergies and allergic reactions can be quite dangerous, but, unlike cortisol face, swelling due to allergies or injuries tends to happen very quickly and will often be accompanied by redness or itching.
If, after you’ve invested in stress management techniques, you’re not noticing improvement, it may be time to go speak with your healthcare team.
Similarly, if you’re noticing that your cortisol face is accompanied by high blood pressure, muscle weakness, or unexplained weight fluctuations, call your doctor:
At the very least, having your healthcare team on the case will help alleviate some of your own health anxiety and contribute to lower stress!
Are There Effective Treatments for Cortisol Face?
Yes, there are effective treatments for cortisol face.
If you’ve traced the likely cause of your facial puffiness to stress, good news! Your facial puffiness is very likely both temporary and simple to treat.
Your options for reducing your stress and your puffiness will boil down to skincare routines, dietary adjustments, and—perhaps most importantly—stress-reducing techniques.
Stress Management Techniques
If at all possible, your best bet for reducing cortisol face is attacking the problem at its source: Your elevated stress levels.
This is, of course, easier said than done.
If you already have stress-lowering techniques that work well for you, now’s a good time to invest in consistency and make sure that you engage in those practices often, even if you don’t see any immediate benefits.
If you’re looking for inspiration, a few tried-and-true stress management techniques to consider include:
Exercising, which can be stressful (e.g., heart rate raising) in the moment but can lower cortisol and stress over time.
Examples of helpful exercise types to consider include yoga, strength training, and cardio.
Mindfulness practices, including yoga, meditation, deep breathing, journaling, and even just taking quiet time to think.
Implementing top-tier sleep hygiene to help make the absolute most of your resting hours.
This can look like maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, keeping your bedroom dark, and avoiding caffeine in the later hours of the day.
Dietary Changes and Hydration
Interested in tweaking your diet to change the way your body retains fluid?
Want to see if a few food changes make it easier for your body to deal with unhelpful inflammation?
Here are a few swaps to consider:
Think about reducing your salt or sodium intake. Having too much salt in your system encourages fluid retention, which can lead to increased facial puffiness.
Stay as hydrated as you can. It can feel counterintuitive to drink lots of water if you’re dealing with fluid retention, but the human body actually tends to hold on to more water if it’s dehydrated.
Drinking water—not to the point of discomfort, but a good amount of it—can help flush out your system and reduce swelling.
Keep your alcohol and processed food intake to a minimum.
Both alcohol and processed foods can increase inflammation in your body (and, in the case of processed food, your sodium levels as well).
Skincare Tips
For the most part, cortisol face is an internal issue.
No amount of skin creams will help you outrun a stress-based disorder!
However, if you’re looking for a few external practices to implement—particularly if skincare is stress-reducing for you, or if habit-stacking a good internal habit with an external one will help you achieve consistency—here are a few skincare tips to think about:
Applying cold compresses to the part of your face that feels swollen can help reduce inflammation, constrict local blood vessels, and (as an added perk) feel really good.
Opting for eye creams that have caffeine in them. Caffeine can help reduce eye puffiness, so if you’re dealing with swollen eyes, that may be a good place to start.
Indulging in facial massages. As long as you’re gentle with the delicate skin of your face, you may be able to help stimulate lymphatic drainage and reduce fluid buildup through gentle face massages.
Make sure to use lotion and to massage your face in upward motions.
Do I Need to Get My Cortisol Face Diagnosed?
If you’ve tried some of the above practices and feel that it may be time to consider stronger options, your next step may be to speak with a licensed healthcare provider.
After you’ve scheduled an exam with a physician, it can help to know what to expect. Here’s what will likely happen during a consultation about cortisol face:
Your doctor will take (or confirm) your medical history.
To help figure out what the root cause of your cortisol face is, your doctor will ask you about the medications you’re taking, your lifestyle, and any symptoms you may be experiencing.
Your doctor will walk you through a physical exam and any diagnostic tests that may be necessary.
To confirm or rule out any suspected disorders, like Cushing’s syndrome, your doctor may want you to go through blood, urine, or imaging tests to get a clearer picture of the way your body is working.
If your tests do indicate that you have a condition to manage, your doctor may recommend medication, adjustments to existing medications, or more potent stress management interventions.
When Medical Treatment Is Necessary—What Meds Are There?
Are there medications that can help reduce cortisol face?
Yes, there are, depending on your doctor’s inclination for aggressive treatment and your specific diagnosis and health goals.
Just a few of the types of medications that can help address the root cause of elevated cortisol levels leading to a swollen face may include:
- Steroid modifying drugs: If your doctor thinks that you can link your cortisol face to use of corticosteroids (e.g., for arthritis or IBS), your doctor may reduce your steroid dosage or prescribe medications, like metyrapone or ketoconazole, that can reduce the effects of corticosteroids and resultant cortisol production.
- Hormone balancing medications: If your doctor believes that your cortisol overproduction can be traced to a hormonal imbalance, you may receive a prescription for a medication like pasireotide to help manage and correct that imbalance.
Anti-anxiety medications: Since stress is a major contributor to cortisol face, treating the underlying anxiety or stress disorder can be helpful.
If you choose to take this route, you may get a prescription for an SSRI or a benzodiazepine medication to lower your stress and cortisol levels.
Got Cortisol Face? Time to Feel Better and Move Forward!
When something as multifaceted as a hormonal imbalance or as overwhelming as a stress disorder starts to affect your quality of life and your actual appearance, it’s easy to get—well—stressed.
That’s completely understandable. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be unavoidable.
By taking practical measures to reduce your stress and manage your mental health, you may be able to both prevent cortisol face and improve your overall well-being.
And if, throughout that process, you realize that you do need to talk to your healthcare team about chronic cortisol management options, that information is good to have, too.
We’re here to help. If you’re looking for a convenient way to get the medication you need to feel your best, you’re in the right place.
Through NorthWestPharmacy.com, a CIPA-approved online pharmacy website, you can buy prescription and non-prescription medications and get them shipped directly to your front door.
Our team looks forward to supporting you as you pursue optimal healthcare!
