Most of us have a horror of letting others see our just out of bed, sleep wrinkled faces – we have all noticed how a night’s sleep causes the facial skin to appear somehow crumpled and more lined than it really is. This is undisputed – most of us don’t like how we look in the morning. But is it also true that your sleep position impacts how much and how early your facial skin will start to wrinkle? Is it true that some sleeping positions are better for the facial skin than others?
Sleep position and wrinkles: is there a connection?
According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) your sleep position does indeed impact facial lines and aging. There is this view that sleep lines that come from sleeping on your side can become etched on the facial skin – the cheeks, chin, neck, brow can show lines that do not disappear even after you’ve been out of bed a while. Lines could appear by the side of the eyes and the cheeks as well as the chest when you sleep on your side; and a furrowed brow could result from sleeping face down.
Women even find that the lines on one side of the face seem more pronounced than on the other side. Almost invariably, that would be the side that the woman favors when sleeping. The chest also, particularly the cleavage area, clearly also develops wrinkles from sleeping on the side because of the way in which the breast tissue exerts pressure. So there does in fact seem to be some merit in the observation that sleeping on the side creates more wrinkles.
So what can you do?
Well the most obvious solution seems to be to sleep on your back. However this is easier said than done because many people just find it very difficult to sleep on their backs. Even if they do start out sleeping on the back, they tend to turn to their side inadvertently in their sleep. So, experts advise using one of those U shaped pillows that go around the neck or to use additional pillows to sleep in the position indicted; on the back.
But what if you just cannot get comfy sleeping on your back? Well experts advise using satin pillow cases that are more slippery; which do not cause the facial skin to scrunch up.
There are also the so called Anti-wrinkle pillows available in the market, which are structured to prevent the facial skin scrunching and lining. These ‘beauty pillows’ promise no creases.
