If you want to hold onto your youthful looks, sleep is so important.
Experts recommend that adults should aim for around six to eight hours of sleep per night. Not only is sleep important for your health, but a good night’s kip can prevent dark circles, puffiness, and discolouration. There are some other significant reasons to hit the hay, too:
- Sleeping 60 minutes more per night can make you happier and healthier
- According to Fortune, lack of sleep costs the US economy $411 billion a year
- Up to 5% of obesity in adults can be attributed to a lack of sleep
- Sleep deprivation causes paler skin, and more fine lines and wrinkles
- Sleeping less than six hours a night makes you 12% more likely to die prematurely
Okay, so it’s clear that sleeping is important for our overall health and our appearance. But had you considered your sleeping position could cause you to have more wrinkles? We have rounded some of the common problems and some tips to help you stay looking young…
Sleeping on your stomach
The worst sleeping position for anti-ageing is sleeping on your stomach. When you bury your face into your pillow, you’re effectively squashing your face and encouraging wrinkles. Ever woken up and spotted lines and sleep marks on your face? They offer a “sneak peek” of the lines and wrinkles that will form in the years ahead if you continue to sleep in this position.
Forehead lines and wrinkles are also common for stomach sleepers, so consider changing your position. Consider using a therapeutic pillow that encourages you to sleep on your back or side. Or share a bed with a light sleeper, who can nudge you onto your back if you fall back into the stomach-sleeping position. It takes time and determination, but you’ll get there.
Sleeping on your side
There are a number of benefits to sleeping on your side. It can lower joint and lower back pain, reduce your snoring, and improve your gut health. That’s because the position helps your digestive system to function better, easing conditions like heartburn and bloating.
However, side sleeping can create creases down your cheeks and chin. It also reinforces vertical expression wrinkles, such as lines around your lips. And if you favour one side over the other, you’ll start to accrue lines on one side. Alternating between them can reduce the chances of a half-wrinkled face. Ideally, you should be attempting to sleep on your back…
Sleeping on your back
If you want to avoid sleep wrinkles, you must avoid facial contact with your pillow at all costs.
The best way to do that is to sleep on your back. As well as the anti-ageing benefits, opting to sleep on your back keeps your spine aligned and reduces tension headaches. It can also help chronic conditions as it reduces pressure and compression. Finally, it helps you steer clear of your pillow, which can cause breakouts and puffy eyes from lack of eye draining.
You can “train” yourself to sleep on your back by purchasing the right mattress to support you. A good pillow can also help you sleep on your back, and you might want to consider a second pillow for under your knees or your lower back. Spreading out your arms and legs can help increase your comfort. If all else fails, consider building a fortress that will remind your body of your boundaries and force you to stay on your back when you want to roll over.
Sleeping positions are hard to change
It’s important to remember that you’ve been sleeping in the same way for all of your life. You cannot expect to change decades of sleeping habits overnight. 54.1% of adults sleep in the fetal position whilst just 37.5% sleep on their back – the healthiest choice. Don’t beat yourself up. Accept that sleep wrinkles are inevitable, and some disappear after a few hours, anyway.
Stomach sleepers should experiment with sleeping on their side as a compromise, which still offers benefits over stomach sleeping. Side sleepers can experiment with pillow sizes and shapes, which will offer more comfort and stability and encourage back sleeping over time.
Change your pillowcases
If you’re always waking up with wrinkles on your cheeks or sleep lines on your forehead, you might want to consider a satin pillowcase. Retailers including Slip and John Lewis now sell “anti-ageing pillows” made from satin. They’re designed to be gentler on the skin and hair, preventing wrinkles, creasing, and static. They’re also cool and breathable, which helps.
Consider a night cream
As we get older, we tend to break down more collagen than we make, which causes fine lines and wrinkles. Anti-ageing night creams contain retinol and alpha hydroxy acids, which will effectively “repair” your skin and encourage the production of collagen. This plumpens your face and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, helping you look younger.
From RoC Deep Wrinkle Night Cream to Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Cream, there are dozens of options on the market ranging anywhere from £5 to £250. Always check the ingredients and remember that the cheaper options often do an as good, if not better, job.
Tape your face
One trend that has grown in popularity in recent years is face taping. Before you go to bed, you apply adhesives to smooth, tighten, and lift your skin. It’s been a Hollywood secret for hundreds of years, with everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Lady Gaga taping their faces.
Patches such as Frownies can be used to train your skin to stay firm and reduce fine lines. And if you put the tape in the centre of your eyes, you can reduce headaches and depression.
The centre of your eyes is an acupuncture point called Yintang and is clinically proven to lower stress levels, increase your emotional wellbeing, and reduce feelings of sadness.
One other way to counteract the harmful effects of ageing is to use the Oralift anti-ageing device. Our mouthguard-like tool is designed to be worn for short periods over time, which will “activate” the facial muscles and help to turn back the clock naturally. Find out more on our site and check back soon for more anti-ageing advice right here, from the Oralift team.