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Talk about offensive lines.
Rooting for your favorite football team through the thrilling highs and heartbreaking lows could be wreaking havoc on your skin, leaving you with wrinkles that last long after the Super Bowl.
Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Muneeb Shah is warning about the dangers of “fanxiety face” and breaking down how to mount a strong defense against it.
Fanxiety face can be a side effect of watching sports in general — but a survey by Neutrogena found that 53% of Gen Z feel more stressed watching football than any other sport.
“If you’re watching the game on TV or in person and you’re really focused, you end up squinting your face quite a bit and holding it like that,” Shah told The Post.
“And I always joke — you know when your mom used to say, ‘If you keep making that face, it’ll get stuck like that’? There is a truth to that in actual dermatology, which is why Botox has become so popular.
“So that’s what’s happening with the fanxiety — you’re really focused, or you’re squinting, or you’re worried, and you’re going to get that furrowed brow. You’re going to get those 11 lines to form, you’re going to get those horizontal lines to form.
“And ultimately, if you do that enough, it will get stuck like that.”
Emotions running high during the came can also increase your levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which could decrease collagen and make you break out.
“It can make your acne worse by acting on your sebaceous glands to increase oil production. It can worsen acne, but also it can actually damage or decrease your collagen production,” Shah said.
“So two things are happening in times of stress. You’re squinting your face, so you’re gonna get those etched-in lines, but also you’re losing the collagen support, and that elastin support that allows your skin to bounce back after you’re squinting your face. So it’s kind of a twofold effect.”
But what can be done about it? As any superfan knows, simply deciding to “calm down” doesn’t typically cut it.
If injectables aren’t your jam, there are other products that can help fight the lasting impact of “fanxiety” on your face, including a retinoid, a moisturizer and sunscreen.
“Sun protection is very important to protect your collagen and elastin,” said Shah.
He also recommends Neutrogena’s Collagen Bank line, which includes a daytime moisturizer with SPF and a nighttime one without it.
While we know collagen loss contributes to skin aging, many topical collagen products on the market don’t actually work because collagen molecules are naturally too big to be absorbed into the skin. Shah says Neutrogena’s found a way around that.
“If something’s larger than 500 Daltons, it’s not able to get to the skin,” he said. “So they created this micronized peptide that’s able to travel to that collagen layer to stimulate collagen production and elastin production.”
With more collagen, your skin bounces back faster — so the lines that show up on your face as you yell at the screen don’t stick around.
And macho men whose moods depend on the outcome of the game, take note: The doc also stressed that this isn’t just a problem for the ladies.
“Both men and women are going to have this issue equally, and the treatments are going to be pretty much the same,” he said.
