How often do you think about the way you sleep? Some of us fall asleep in one position and stay there through the night. Others pass out, toss and turn, and wake up in a completely different position than we started. Sleeping in certain ways can affect snoring, muscle and joint aches, and even acid reflux, but there a few more consequences to your chosen position than you may realize.
You’ve probably heard that sleeping on your back is the ideal position. Back sleepers maintain a neutral spine, which prevents aches and pains come the morning. With a nice fluffy pillow, your head is also elevated, which prevents nasty bouts of acid reflux. While sleeping on your back is no friend when it comes to preventing snoring, it does have one benefit you might not have thought of: preventing “sleep lines.”
Sleep lines occur when your face or other body part is pressed against a wrinkled pillow case for a long time. They have the appearance of wrinkles and do go away relatively quickly–for a time. A natural part of aging is the weakening of collagen and connective tissue underneath the skin. As you get older, these sleep lines won’t disappear as quickly because the skin is slower to smooth out and spring back into its normal position. Continual side, stomach and fetal position sleepers put a lot of pressure on the face during sleep, leading to repeated sleep lines that can end up lasting a little longer than we’d like.
Verdict: Fact…sort of. While sleeping certain ways night after night can in fact leave sleep lines ingrained in your face, the good news is that changing up your position can reverse them. Sleeping on your back is the best way to do this since your face isn’t smashed up against anything in this position. If you find it difficult to remain on your back, Huffington Post recommends sleeping with a U-shaped pillow around your neck.
Visit WebMD for tips on preventing wrinkles.
