As we age, the appearance of sleep wrinkles, those facial lines
that develop from sleeping with your face against a pillow, becomes much
more prominent. This should come as no surprise if you consider how
much of one's life is spent sleeping. If you are getting the recommended
8 hours of sleep per night, you sleep 1/3 of your life. Consequently,
by age 60, you will have slept 20 years. It is obvious why sleeping on
our face eventually leads to creases that become permanently etched in
the surface of the skin. Sleep wrinkles are much easier to prevent than
they are to repair. As a result, you should make every effort to keep
from getting them in the first place.
The most effective and least
costly method for preventing sleep wrinkles is to sleep on your back.
People who sleep in this position simply do not develop these wrinkles.
Chinese women recognized this fact ages ago, and always slept on their
backs using concave porcelain pillows. If you are unaccustomed to
sleeping in this position, you might try placing a pillow under you
knees to decrease stress on the lower back and increase your comfort.
If
you are unable to sleep on your back, using a pillow that minimizes
facial wrinkling is another possibility. Sleep on a big, soft,
non-synthetic pillow that you are able to fluff and squish. Those with
natural fill, such as down and feathers, offer the most comfort,
long-term performance, and adjustability. This type of pillow supports
the head while providing softness, eliminating pressure points, and
increasing facial circulation to reduce squashing and sleep wrinkles.
There are also pillows available made specifically for preventing sleep
wrinkles. They support the head while keeping the face and eye tissue
away from the pillow.
Choosing the correct pillowcase on which to
sleep can also deter the formation of sleep creases. If you awaken with
these unsightly lines in the morning, your cotton pillowcase may be to
blame. Instead of cotton, sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase that
allows your face to slide across the pillow thereby minimizing skin
wrinkling. Another option for not only preventing sleep lines, but also
repairing those which you already have, is to use a copper technology
pillowcase. It is imbedded with copper micro fibers which serve to
repair your skin as you sleep. Copper has been proven to stimulate
collagen production thereby helping reduce the appearance of lines and
wrinkles.
Unfortunately, if you already have sleep wrinkles, they
may be difficult to alleviate. As we age, our skin loses its elasticity.
When the skin becomes creased while sleeping, it no longer readily
snaps back when the head is not resting on the pillow, as it did when we
were younger. Since these wrinkles are not the result of muscle
contractions, such as worry lines or crow's feet, products with
Botox-like benefits are ineffective. In order to correct them, new
collagen needs to form under the wrinkles to push up the skin from
below. There are many skin care products on the market that contain
various peptides that promote the formation of collagen. If topical
formulations are ineffective, you might want to consult your
dermatologist about a wrinkle filler such as Restylane.