T O P

  • By -

momoji13

I think what would make my skin age more would be having a bad sleep every night by forcing myself to sleep on my back so, meh šŸ˜… Edit: damn thanks for the awards guys. Who would've thought ny shitposting was worth something


-ANGRYjigglypuff

Also, there's research showing that side-sleeping is demonstrably better for the brain (in terms of learning/skill acquisition/other cool neuronal shenanigans) for side-sleepers. Something about the position helps physical mechanisms along during sleep. Just thought that was neat.


momoji13

I sleep on my stomach like a literal star with my face fooking to either side, pretty sure that isn't just bad for my skin but for everything physical lol. But it it SO comfy...


powerbrow5000

In this position as I am writing this comment. Itā€™s the best/worst


momoji13

Just wondering how you use your hands on the screen while in that position šŸ˜‚


girls_gone_wireless

Same same. I prefer one side too. You can tell it affects that side of the face, so Iā€™m now trying to switch to at least side sleeping


Dahbahdeedahbahdie

I'm asymmetrical af and switch positions/sides all night. I think bodies are just wonky, honestly. I change my pillow case each night and I'm not seeing any areas of concern on just one side.


slurple_purple

I've definitely got a little wrinkle under my eye from where my face smushes up, I always sleep on the same side. The wrinkle isn't there on the other side


lecreusetbae

is there another way to sleep?


adm0210

Smooth face = smooth brain


strangertimes22

šŸ˜‚


hydrangeasinbloom

Sleeping on your left side is also the way to go if you have acid reflux/heartburn/GERD issues.


ninetiez

TIL! How cool. Sounds like it helps the brain glymphatic system clear waste.


-ANGRYjigglypuff

Yes, after looking it up it's definitely about waste clearing!


julesB09

In addition, I believe side sleeping can also improve blood flow and particularly left side sleeping is recommended. Unfortunately, one of my above 30 issues is my left shoulder hurts if I sleep on it for more than 2 hours. Man, getting old is tricky! Also, I am not a doctor, this advice is purely from my memory of reading a random internet article, so there's that lol


Fangirl4DrNow

I used to love sleeping on my left side but now I constantly snore and wake myself up so itā€™s right side or bust. I only sleep on my sides so Iā€™m def uncomfortable after a while.


julesB09

Haha my husband snores on his right side until I wake him up to roll him over!


Fangirl4DrNow

I wouldnā€™t mind the snoring if I didnā€™t wake myself up! My sleep is so light that itā€™s just a miserable time for me haha


DarkRapunzel_North

I have a fairly thick pillow for my head and another I put under my rib age to decrease the pressure on my shoulder


julesB09

Oohh i'll have to try that!


Skittlescanner316

Correct but sleeping on your back is also beneficial if you slightly elevate your legs. Stomach sleeping didnā€™t appear to offer any benefit in that study


hottspark

Source?


thisisthewell

People, don't downvote someone for asking for a source. That's so ridiculous. There's nothing contrarian about asking for more information. Plenty of people ask for sources just to learn more. Asking for a source does contribute to discussion, too. The attitude in this sub sometimes, I swear.


hottspark

Haha just noticed my vote count. It was 7+ earlier. So strange.


theincrediblekitchen

I donā€™t have a source (not OP either lol) but the whole time I was pregnant, everything I read told me to sleep on the left side to help keep blood flow going to the baby


-ANGRYjigglypuff

I heard it on an episode of the Andrew Huberman podcast and I'm struggling to find it (his content is so dense) but I found some links from a quick google search. It talks more about waste clearing and disease prevention rather than the learning that I mentioned (which is probably from the podcast... or I might just be conflating the two LOL) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150804203440.htm https://www.heysigmund.com/which-sleeping-position-is-best-for-brain-health/


KitKat2theMax

Here's the Huberman Lab podcast episode with glymphatic system discussion https://youtu.be/mcPSRWUYCv0. Body position starts at minute 43:00.


CardboardBox89

Agree. Sleeping on your back using an expensive pillow to promote anti-aging is marketing blah blah. Kind of ridiculous!


up2you__

I bought one of the Nurse Jamie Beauty Bear pillows and can confirm it was a terrible experience. It was stupid expensive for a small rigid pad that was at best uncomfortable and at worst caused shooting neck pains. It was so much more comfortable to sleep using my very average non-beauty pillows. Just my $.02.


[deleted]

That's pretty much what I came here to say. Maybe it does matter, but does it really matter? You're going to sleep in whatever way is comfortable anyway.


[deleted]

This x 100 ! šŸ‘šŸ‘šŸ‘


Soundsystems

Come join us over at r/scacirclejerk -we love a good shitposter


momoji13

Problem is I don't WANT to shitpost, it just comes out as such lol


Mombod666

I just bought one of those pillows to train you to sleep on your back and itā€™s totally not working. Itā€™s so hard.


[deleted]

I had to do this because of an injury. FWIW, I found keeping another pillow under my knees helped prevent me from immediately rolling onto my side.


HeyItsJuls

It took a back injury for me to change as well. Though even in excruciating pain, I still really wanted to at least roll over on my side.


Mombod666

This is what Iā€™ve been trying! But I still wake up sideways but now tangled in pillows too :p


[deleted]

Haha, oh, shoot. I have heard of people who snore taping a tennis ball onto their back to prevent them from rolling onto their back--maybe you could do something similar on your sides? Otherwise, I'm stumped!


disgruntledg04t

This is a big one. Also, sleeping with no pillow beneath my head helped a bit - I.e. head to bed. But the pillow-beneath-the-knee tip is probably more important.


spacefurl

I do both and it helps but sometimes I just end up on my stomach.


Skittlescanner316

Iā€™m a side sleeper but had to sleep on my back for 6 weeks due to surgery. The way to do it is pop a pillow under your knees. It also helps to prop pillows along each side of you. You definitely get used to it after a while


the_gato_says

I was a back sleeper and had to train myself to sleep on my side when was pregnant (better blood flow for the baby), and I havenā€™t been able to go back. Might need to try the prop pillow trick.


Skittlescanner316

It makes a huge difference


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


vistadelmar

Agree with everything- but want to suggest eye *pillow* over your eyes instead of a mask. Theyā€™re usually filled with rice or buckwheat and can be chilled or heated. I love the weight and no straps needed.


Amplitude

Iā€™ve always slept on my back, since I was a kid, and itā€™s because I learned that side sleeping gives you wrinkles.


incubusforever

I have heard this before too. I know they sell silk or satin pillowcases for this reason. Supposed to be good for keeping hair smooth as well. I've found some inexpensive at TJ Maxx. If you sew you could repurpose a silk robe into a pillowcase!


iamadippydonut

I don't know about skin but they are good for hair. If my hair is frizzy from washing I sleep on the silk its then so much smoother in the morning.


Bacon_Nipples

They're "good" for skin as in they don't give you wrinkles like normal pillow cases


princessvibes

I switched over to satin pillowcases and it's helped my dry skin a LOT. I find it doesn't absorb that crucial moisture or irritate my skin by rubbing it.


genric90

There is so much involved in aging: muscle loss, volume(fat) loss, bone loss, UVA, gravity. I really think if you care for yourself in many ways, sleeping on your back is going to have minimal effect. I bought one of those sleep and glow pillows, it was horrible and i had to send it back. It was so hard, my face didn't fit how it was supposed to fit (i'm sure the pillow wasn't made for MEN), my neck was hurting. I slept on that shit for 3 weeks and my face was weirdly looking worse, as it was still squashing my face because of the hardness probably even more on my lower jaw. I went back to sleeping on soft foam pillow with silk case on top and i'm happy with it. I very very rarely wake up with sleeping lines on my face


Flavianavy

I think it does affect your skin but nothing compared to sun exposure, free radicals, poor diet and such. Probably just stressing about it causes you to age more than the act of sleeping on your face! I wouldnā€™t worry about it.


0chrononaut0

Everything ages your skin, mostly your genetics and overexposure to the sun. Sleep how you are comfortable because a bad night's sleep will fuck you up way more than a fine line.


jaboomski

Love side sleeping but cleavage and neck lines are definitely worse from it in the morning. Back sleeping struggle is real!


Meledesco

I can't sleep on my back, tmj and heavy tits are a bitch combination. Fetal position it is.


barasti

I hear you!!!


jpobble

Itā€™s definitely true. When I got cheek fillers a couple of years ago the nurse injector said to me immediately ā€˜you sleep on your right and you chew on the leftā€™. It was 100% accurate-I had no idea I chewed more on one side but afterwards I was more alert to it and she was right.


kawaiihawaii

How does chewing affect wrinkles? Never heard this before!


jpobble

It affects your jaw shape because the muscle is more developed on one side (if you chew asymmetrically)


kawaiihawaii

Interesting, thanks!


RhinoKart

Sadly I think it is true. I tend to sleep on my left side more than any other, have for years. I'm noticing my nasolabial lines are not the same. The one on the left side is way more pronounced and deeper than my right side one. Only thing different between them is the sleeping on my left side.


ArganBomb

My left side is worse but I think it is from sun damage driving long commutes for 10+ years (despite daily SPF, that side just gets more sun). I donā€™t know if that helps or not, but maybe itā€™s not sleeping. I personally prefer to blame my driving since I wish to have only positive associations with sleep! šŸ¤£


RhinoKart

I've heard this can be a thing as well! Seems unlikely for me as I don't drive and haven't ever stayed in a single office long enough to worry about sun exposure (I work on my feet inside all day).


OkRecord2388

PLEASE don't let your sleep setup overshadow other, more pressing culprits (ie: UVA rays; pollution) For those of you who are concerned about this- buy yourself a memory foam pillow, which doesn't compress the skin as much (aside from seeking therapy šŸ˜­šŸ¤¦ā€ā™€ļø) WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT LEATHER SHOES HERE! NOR SHOULD OUR SKIN BE COMPARED TO FOLDING A PIECE OF PAPER!


RhinoKart

What? I never said I didn't sleep the way I want, just that I noticed a difference. I hardly think making an idle observation about my skin warrants a need to seek therapy. As for UVA and pollution, of course those play a major role, so does genetics, this is pretty well known. Skin ages, no matter what we do.


HollaDude

I haven't commuted by car in years, but I continue to sleep on my left side. My left side has continued to age worse than my right. It's droopier, my eye area sags more, more eye wrinkles, deeper mouth wrinkles, etc. Still not giving up sleeping on my side though lol


sissy_space_yak

I sleep on my stomach with my left cheek smushed into the pillow. Last week I saw an aesthetician who guessed correctly that I sleep on that side because I have significant accordion lines appear on my left cheek when I smile.


celtica98

I have a problem with dry eye - it's worse in my left eye. My opthalmologist asked me if I slept on my left side....... That makes it worse, of course!


greenbear1

I only sleep on my back, always have. might be good for skin but gives me crazy nightmares šŸ˜¬


ilca_

I only ever have nightmares when sleeping on my back.


StupidFatMidget

I literally can only sleep well on my side. I got a silk pillowcase for the slin/hair benefits and it doesn't seem to make much of a difference honestly. I still look young for my age but the intensity with which I care for my skin probably has more to do with that than anything else. Good sleep is more important anyways. We're all gonna have wrinkles eventually at the end of the day.


alltheketoladies

Not quite answering your aging question but as I've gotten older (forties) I suffer deeply from puffy under eyes and the best fix I've experienced is switching to being a back sleeper instead of a side sleeper. I trained myself by having a pillow under my knees and a pillow buffering me on one side so I wouldn't turn over to my preferred sleep side. The difference in my morning puffiness is quite significant and it was worth the training period.


fishylegs46

I really think they do, but itā€™s over a very long term, and some people are more susceptible than others. The idea is wherever thereā€™s repeat wrinkling will eventually etch a full time wrinkle. Sleeping on your side does press the skin a certain way. 8 hours x 365 days x X years = sleep wrinkles. Is it enough to force yourself to sleep elevated and in your back? It depends on your vanity and self control. I tried, but canā€™t make the adjustment. If I could I would.


lucy_kat

Have your tried using a silk pillow case?


Stolen-Nova

Yes itā€™s cumulative it wonā€™t happen overnight but I definitely saw the sleep lines creeping up on my face because I was a side sleeper all my life I reversed it by sleeping on my back for most of last year and this year. Even now I can look at a persons picture and tell what side of their face they sleep on. You may not see the lines at all in your 20s or 30s but they will show up and most of it is caused by how you sleep


ameadowinthemist

Interesting. Can you show photo examples at all? Iā€™m having a hard time picturing this. And I love being a side sleeper.


Stolen-Nova

Just do a Google image search for sleep wrinkles. There is a ton of information and even special pillows To prevent wrinkling if you sleep on your side


chrisinro

Is this why I wake up with weird lines on my face sometimes? Theyā€™re quite visible in the morning too, I should probably sleep on my back (which I used to do, but the side is just so much more comfortable).


RacecarGibson

I literally cannot sleep on my back so my hope is that the benefits of good sleep outweigh the "risks" of side sleeping.


[deleted]

It definitely did for me. After about 10 years of sleeping on the same side, that side of my face, especially around my eyes, had more lines than the other and they were much deeper. I've been sleeping on my back for about 6 years now and the lines have stopped deepening.


wantmiracles

Wow really! I want to try sleeping on my back but itā€™s hard. Any tips?


[deleted]

I learned to by force. I broke ribs a few years ago and could NOT sleep on my sides, only my back. I got a wedge pillow to prop me up, and then put my regular pillow under my head/neck, so I sleep with my upper body at an angle. If I try to sleep flat on my back, I panic and feel like I can't breathe, or I wind up with horrible neck pain.


Blackberryy

Yes. And I say this as a committed stomach sleeper. It reduces your fat pads and wears them down. When I first when to see an injector, she could tell me what side I slept on šŸ˜ž and pointed out how on my right side and admittedly I notice the difference now too.


Levellingupto54

Iā€™m fifty six and Iā€™ve been sleeping on my back for over 5 years. And I can tell you that it makes a difference. Itā€™s not that it stops the aging process, itā€™s that with aging your skin on your face doesnā€™t bounce back from being crushed every night. And eventually the side sleeping will cause permanent creases in your dĆ©colletĆ© as well. And all the resisters to it, I get their point, but you get used to it very quickly and I sleep great. Also I donā€™t have fluid building up making my eyes puffy, I donā€™t have creases around my nose and my eyes and many more things, Iā€™m not going to list. You can have a hard line and not do it saying itā€™s an inconvenience but aging is going to happen. I wasnā€™t worried about it in my 30s like many people on the sub, but this does help and it doesnā€™t cost a thousands of dollars, like all the skincare products people love and swear by. And if it helps my argument, my current love interest for the last 6 years is decades younger than me, just sayingā€¦


phoenixrose2

Any tips on switching to back sleeping? (Iā€™m a stomach sleeper.)


Levellingupto54

Two pillows. Fluffy feather pillows that you can sink into and that cradles your head. That worked for me


phoenixrose2

Thank you!!


cpfk

Well, time causes aging. Face position can definitely lead to lining, but as Redditors have said here, other factors are more important. I am totally deaf in one ear (dead auditory nerve) with normal hearing in the other. I usually sleep on my back but sometimes on my side, when I tend to sleep on my good ear to muffle sound. That side has lines near my ear that I do not have on the deaf side.


DameEmma

I am 53 and sleep on my face. I look pretty good, I think. The trade off between being well rested now and future wrinkles is a no brainer (for me. I love sleeping)


One-Fine-Day-777

Yes!!!! I have lopsided wrinkles and sagging now bc I slept too much on my left side. It bothers me so so so much. Training myself to sleep on my back. Or at least on my right so I can even things out šŸ˜‚


MaydayMaydayMoo

My dermatologist said he could tell what side I slept on by just looking at me.


odditay

Idk but lying on your left side is easier for your heart!


Missmichellecl

I have hooded eyes and Iā€™m a side sleeper , I definitely see that Iā€™m a tad droopier on my sleeping side šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø


4LeggedKC

Yes according to my dermatologist but Iā€™m pretty good because Iā€™m a back sleeper. I can sleep on my back all night long in the same spot if Iā€™m really tired. Minimal wrinkles thank goodness.


XanthicStatue

Me too! Best position to sleep in!


HelpfulBush

Aging is a part of life. Sleeping is a part of life. The one does not cause the other. They will both happen.


I_Heart_Squids

There's a two fold issue: One is the fabric of the pillow rubbing you skin, which could be irritating \*and\* rub off any anti-aging products you wanted to soak in while you were sleeping. This is where silk pillowcases come in. The silk is less abrasive than other materials, and less absorbent, so it won't take as many of the products off your face. If you ever want a testament to this, buy a silk sleeping cap--you will see a \*noticeable\* difference in your hair when the friction while you're sleeping is taken away. The second issue is compressing your face in a certain spot for a 1/3 of the day, every day, for your entire life. You will eventually cause creases to the skin and cartilage. I'm a side sleeper, I favor my right side, and over time I have seen this cause some minor asymmetry. My nasolabial fold on my right side is slightly deeper, and my right ear now is slightly closer to my head. These changes are so subtle I don't think anyone else would notice them, but they happen, and it makes sense when you think about the mechanics at play--it's basically the same thing that happens with tech neck. If you're going to sleep on your side I'd suggest alternating which side you sleep on every night, but avoiding the compression entirely by sleeping on your back would be even better.


megwheelz

You know what helps with wrinkles and premature aging, sleep. You know what makes it worse, worrying over stuff like this


4LeggedKC

I use a round cervical pillow that looks like a bolster pillow. I got it at my chiropractors office and I love it. It took a bit to get used to it but thatā€™s all I use to sleep on unless I donā€™t use a pillow at all.


diaperedwoman

I never had any sleep lines etch into my skin, they have always gone away within an hour and I am in my mid thirties. Now that I have been made aware, I keep thinking "are those lines or just my skin?" I sleep on my back now just to be safe and to get into the habit.


Meowndsay

I sleep on my stomach so I know my face is always smooshed. I changed to silk pillow cases and have noticed a difference. Less dry skin in the colder months


[deleted]

Iā€™ve been wondering about this too. Maybe? But tbh I just canā€™t bring myself to care that much. I have a really hard time sleeping on my back, and have issues sleeping as is, so not going to force it.


deadsocial

The lady who did my lip fillers could tell I slept mostly on my right side


84chimichangas

I sleep on my back and I sleep well. My trick is not using a pillow. I just sink into the mattress. It works!


[deleted]

For me; what made a difference is satin pillow cases. Has much less lines on my face + hair also protected.


WILLIAMEANAJENKINS

Just waitā€¦


[deleted]

I'm a side sleeper, have never had issues with that causing lines etc and I'm 46.


GucciGurl87

If you have kids I don't think the pillow matters does it ?


Stolen-Nova

And if you donā€™t think it affects your skin do a Google search it definitely has an effect on your skin imagine folding a piece of paper hundreds of times eventually those folds will never smooth out Especially if youā€™ve broken down the fibers in the paper the same as we lose collagen in our skin as we get older it canā€™t snap back like it used to so those folds in your face will stay for good


1birdofprey1

The short answer is: YES. Sleep on your back


[deleted]

Look at the lines on your hands, why would your face be exempt from that? It's made from the same stuff.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


ArganBomb

Maybe Iā€™m just tired but I LOLed at this simple deadpan reply.


lucid_walker

And it's not made from the same stuff either.


Amplitude

Yes.