Sleep is so important for our bodies because it gives it a chance to rest and rejuvenate, as well as it allows our skin to breathe and absorb any night creams and moisturizers that you put on before bed. So it may sound strange to you that how you sleep could possibly be leading to skin troubles!
Think about how you sleep. Do you sleep on your back, on your side, or are you a stomach sleeper? If you sleep on your back – this is good news! If you sleep on your stomach or your side you may wish to readjust your sleeping habits. Pushing your face into a pillow for hours at a time can cause the skin to contort in a weird way and causes your skin to involuntarily flex. We’ve all woken up with those big wrinkles down the side of your face that go away soon after wakening but repeating that night after night and your skin may not stretch back so quickly! We all know that as you age your skin thins and doesn’t bounce back so quickly so it’s a good idea to train your body as early as you can to prevent unnecessary sleep wrinkles.
But not only wrinkles – if you are rubbing acne prone skin onto your pillowcase each night it can not only aggravate the active acne but can spread the bacteria to the other side of your face if you turn over. And products from your hair can get onto your skin too.
Many people – I know I am one – are just plain destined to be side sleepers. It doesn’t matter if we fall asleep on our backs – we will automatically turn on our sides during the night and we don’t even remember doing it! But luckily manufacturers are now on our side – go have a look at your local bedding department and you will see special “anti-wrinkle” pillowcases which are softer and less prone to damage your skin. I know my skin hasn’t wrinkled up during the night since I switched to a silk pillowcase – and my hair doesn’t tangle as easily during the night either. This is only half of our problem though – we still have the bacteria on the case to deal with.
The best advice for all the side and stomach sleepers out there is to change your “wrinkle free” pillow case each night, clean your skin well before bed, and try to at least fall asleep on your back – even if you do flip over, half a night on your side is better for wrinkles than a whole night on your side.