Health

How Stressed Are You? Your Earwax May Give Answers

Collecting and analyzing earwax for levels of the stress hormone cortisol may help us track mental health.

Photo by kyle smith on Unsplash

How stressed are you? We all experience it on occasion. Stress may occur as an acute, one-time event. Alternatively, it can happen repetitively over a more extended period. No matter what type, stress is associated with physical and mental health risks. Some of us may cope with stress more effectively and recover from stressful events more rapidly than others.

Examples of stress include:

• routine stress associated with work, family, school, or other responsibilities related to our activities of daily living
• acute stress, such as related to the loss of a job
• traumatic stress, such as experienced during a war, natural disaster, assault, or a significant accident.

While stress often has negative health consequences, not all stress is bad. For example, in times of danger, stress signals our bodies to fight or flight. This preparation is associated with a quickening of your pulse, faster breathing, the tensing of muscles, and increased brain activity. On the other hand, under less life-threatening situations, stress can enhance…