What Are Sleep Lines And Can You Prevent Them?
Beauty Sleep … Or Is It?
Have you ever looked in the mirror straight after waking up, saw lines on your face, and wanted to scream because you looked more tired than when you got into bed? If you do, you aren’t alone! Quality sleep is vital to our well-being. Adults need seven or more hours of sleep regularly to stay healthy, improve focus, and make good decisions! But … good quality sleep also causes permanent sleep lines—or wrinkles (gasp!).
OMG! How does this happen, and how can I prevent them, you might be asking? Please keep reading to learn what causes these lines and tips for preventing and treating them.
Let’s start with how sleep causes sleep wrinkles.
Sleeping seven hours a night means you spend 2,555 hours sleeping every year. And some of us aim for more than seven hours. That’s a lot of time lying on a pillow! No matter what position you fall asleep in, you will move throughout the night. So, you can end up lying on your back, stomach, sides, and even in a fetal position. Sleeping on your stomach and side sleeping causes your face to be folded or squished on your pillow (particularly on cotton pillows). This repeated squishing of your face eventually leads to vertical lines from the pressure we put on our faces … while we sleep.
As you age, your skin starts to lose collagen, which makes it elastic. So, over time, you’ll notice these lines – which can be on your forehead, around your eye, and even on your chest – will stop bouncing back while you drink your coffee and become permanent.
Great! So, how can you prevent these pesky sleep lines, or pillow faces, as they’re also known?
If you’re young enough to still have a substantial supply of collagen (lucky you!), read on for tips on preventing sleep lines from forming.
Sleep on your back might seem completely obvious, but no squishing of your face on a pillow equals no (or less) sleep lines. This may be easier said than done if you aren’t a natural back sleeper. It’s not always easy to train yourself to change sleep patterns …
Use a silk pillowcase. Your skin grips cotton and jersey pillowcases. Silk or satin pillowcases are more slippery, so your skin isn’t as quickly able to grip and won’t scrunch up as much during sleep.
Take care of your skin—wear SPF every day. Drink plenty of water—especially before bed—so you’re fully hydrated, which your skin loves. Add a retinol serum and hyaluronic acid to your evening skincare regime to add extra moisture and support your skin during sleep.
If you’ve noticed that those pesky sleep lines have become permanent vertical lines and you’d like to treat them, all is not lost.
Anti-wrinkle injections treat wrinkles caused by overuse of facial muscles and won’t treat sleep lines. This is where dermal filler comes in. Hyaluronic dermal filler injections are very effective in treating sleep lines. Firstly – as the name suggests – they fill the sleep lines. Hyaluronic Acid is naturally found in your body and works to ‘plump’ your skin by trapping moisture in the skin. Hyaluronic acid filler will also help boost collagen production over time – bonus!
Spoiler alert: it will take two to three filler treatments to see full results. The good news is that the results can last more than a year, thanks to collagen stimulation! So, whether you’re looking to prevent sleep lines – or if they’ve appeared with the inevitable ageing process – there are options.
If you’re ready to treat the lines with filler, book an appointment with one of our excellent injectors to discuss your options.
Or, if you have any tips for back sleep training please, please let us know.