Is the Way You Sleep Making You Look Older?

Do you wake up each morning to find your face marked with lines and creases from your pillow and wonder if the way you sleep is affecting your appearance? If so, you’re not the only one asking if you can get wrinkles while sleeping. Researchers have been studying the effects of sleep position on wrinkle formation, and what they found is interesting.

When you sleep on your side or stomach, your pillow distorts your face as it rests, subjecting facial tissues to “mechanical forces” such as stretching, pulling, and folding. Researchers looked into whether stressing the skin in a similar pattern, night after night, results in permanent wrinkles, much in the same way that repeated facial expressions can cause lines to become etched on the forehead or between the eyebrows over time.

The truth of the matter is that the amount of sleep you get is probably a more important factor in how refreshed you look than what position you sleep in.

The researchers found that so-called “sleep wrinkles” tend to coincide with existing expression lines, which are preconditioned to buckle under pressure, thus making expression lines worse. However, while sleep position may contribute to wrinkles to some degree, this research is not conclusive. More targeted scientific studies are needed to determine whether sleep wrinkles are a significant factor in visible aging.

The truth of the matter is that when it comes to preventing wrinkles and other signs of skin aging, the amount of sleep you get is probably a more important factor in how refreshed you look than what position you sleep in. If you chronically get too little sleep, you’re going to look tired and miss out on the many health benefits of a proper night’s sleep. There is some truth to the “beauty sleep” idiom.

Other significant factors that will influence how you look as you age are how well you protect your skin from sun damage, whether or not you smoke, and genetics.

Focus on proven methods to treat wrinkles and prevent premature aging

To effectively minimize facial lines and creases, you’re better off adopting a comprehensive, physician-designed anti-aging skin care program than changing your sleep position. I find that a multi-treatment approach achieves the fastest and most noticeable results. For example, in my Mesa and Scottsdale offices, I will typically recommend:

• Juvéderm® or VOLUMA injections to correct mid-facial volume loss and fill out mild to moderate creases
• BOTOX® injections to soften expression lines around the forehead, eyes, and brows
• Medical-grade skin care products from SkinCeuticals to use at home on a daily basis, including broad-spectrum sunscreen to protect from sun damage and antioxidants to repair skin on a cellular level, help slow premature aging, and prevent skin cancer

For patients with gravitational changes in the face such as jowls and saggy neck skin, facelift surgery may be necessary, in addition to non-surgical treatments to achieve natural appearing, lasting facial rejuvenation.

If you are looking for safe, effective anti-aging medicine in Scottsdale, I encourage you to contact my office and schedule a consultation. Together, we will discuss your goals and develop a treatment plan that is optimal for your skin type and matched to your aging concerns.

Categorized in: Skin Care