Did you know that the way you sleep could be making you look OLDER?! We know that getting ample sleep provides us with that healthy, younger-looking skin, but we never thought that sleeping on our back versus our stomach would make much of a difference. BUT - here's a reason for you to focus on getting better beauty sleep. Dr. Morgan Rabach is a board-certified dermatologist and explained that you should try to sleep on your back as much as possible.
“It lets your blood evenly flow into your skin and to prevent what we call ‘dependent’ edema or swelling that collects in a gravity-dependent way. Sleeping on your back also lets your dead skin cells ‘shed’ evenly across your face versus one side more than the other. You get fewer wrinkles on your neck, [and] sleeping on your back also allows your night cream to soak into your face instead of the pillowcase.”
So, what about the other positions? Staying horizontal for a long time can cause the fluid to move towards your upper body, which can lead to those puffy eyes. It disappears after a while, but if it continues to happen, the stress will cause the facial tissue to expand... permanently straining the support in your facial features. AKA - you can get a sagging appearance.
Stomach sleepers are probably at the most risk for problems with skin. According to Dr. Vasyukevich (certified plastic surgeon), this position can accumulate a LOT of fluid under your eyes. This leads to those fine lines and wrinkles.
Side sleepers will see more wrinkling based on which side they sleep on. The movement of the facial skin against the pillow isn't super strong, so you won't notice anything significantly, but overtime, this can really add up.
How can you help your skin if you can't control your position? Wash your face before bed; moisturize your face' use retinols and creams with antioxidants during the night. A nighttime skin-care routine is HUGE. Oh, and get 7-8 hours of sleep at least.