Sleep Wrinkles Really Are Real!
Sleep may not always help our facial wrinkles...
It’s now clear… facial distortions created by pressure on our pillows when we sleep on our sides or stomach, can lead to the development of sleep wrinkles over time!
I have long suggested to a few of my patients that some of their facial lines were caused by their sleep positions. These were the funny wrinkles some people get that didn’t fit with usual lines of facial expression. Other patients may complain that they have more wrinkles on one side of the face than the other. I would always ask them how they sleep at night, on which side they slept on, and then, yes … those extra wrinkles are present on the side of their favourite sleeping position! So, these are real lines that we do see in our mirrors, and now there is a new study that properly quantifies them for the first time, giving us real evidence for their existence and cause.
Compression, shear and tension forces damage our facial skin whilst we sleep
Speciality pillows may help reduce wrinkles
The new study led by US plastic surgeon, Dr. Goesel Anson, just published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, the peer-reviewed publication of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), indicates that over time, repetitive compression, tension, and shear forces applied to the face when people sleep on their sides and stomach, do cause facial skin distortions leading to the development of sleep wrinkles.