When we think of skincare, we often think of cleansers, creams, toners, and serums. Sometimes we even expand the term to include diet and hydration.¹ But too often, we skip a very important aspect of skincare: sleep.

True, the amount of sleep you get can certainly affect how your skin looks (read: dark circles and dullness), but there’s more to it. In fact, even the position you sleep in can affect the health and appearance of your skin. But never fear: we’re here to reveal the sleeping positions that could cause wrinkles. Avoid them, and you just might take your “beauty sleep” to the next level.

Side Sleeping 

Side sleeping is arguably the most common sleeping position; some estimates say that about half of all adults sleep on their side in one way or another.² Unfortunately, while curling up on your side may be very comfortable, it’s not very good on your skin. Applying repeated pressure to either side of your face is going to result in wrinkles over time.³ The different forces at work here—compression (downward force), tension (upward force), and shear (lateral force) all work against you when sleeping on your side.⁴ What’s more, the wrinkles you get from sleeping are different from the ones you get from repetitive expressions (i.e. expression lines) .⁵

Stomach Sleeping 

Sleeping on the stomach is not considered your best option for a few reasons, but one significant one is that it puts the most pressure on your face, possibly leading to forehead lines or other wrinkles.⁶ With your face smooshed up against your pillow or sheet night after night, it’s no surprise that you end up with a line or two to show for it.

Back Sleeping 

This is considered the best sleeping position for avoiding wrinkles because nothing is pressed up against your skin. In fact, the only force acting against your skin when you sleep on your back is gravity.⁷ While sleeping on your back isn’t necessarily going to be able to help you with the appearance of your expression lines or other wrinkles (you’ll need something else to help with that!), it can help you avoid adding even more wrinkles to your face while you sleep.

If sleeping on your back feels unnatural or uncomfortable, you could try using a special pillow that helps you stay positioned on your back throughout the night.

Skincare doesn’t stop at lights out. Minimize your risk of developing sleep wrinkles by adjusting your sleep position to be skincare-friendly!

 

References:

1 https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/acne/features/diet-and-skin#1

2 https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/best-sleep-positions#1

3 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/study-shows-stomach-and-side-sleeping-positions-cause-facial-distortion-and-wrinkles-over-time-300303981.html

4 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/study-shows-stomach-and-side-sleeping-positions-cause-facial-distortion-and-wrinkles-over-time-300303981.html

5 https://academic.oup.com/asj/article/36/8/931/2613967

6 https://www.self.com/story/sleep-habits-that-are-bad-for-your-skin

7 https://academic.oup.com/asj/article/36/8/931/2613967