Comments on: Sleep wrinkles?

Question: Sleep wrinkles?

otherwordlyglow — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:01:47 -0800

How can I diminish the apparent sleep wrinkles that I've developed?

Lately I've noticed a bunch of wrinkles extending from the outer corner of my eyes towards the tip of my nose.. They are worse on my left side which is also the side that is usually against the pillow (I'm a side sleeper). They look like this (not me) I can make the wrinkles worse by pressing my hand the way the lady in the photo is against my face which makes me believe that the wrinkles are from smashing my face up against my pillow. I'm not opposed to wrinkles generally but these seem particularly stupid to me and I'd like to do something to stop them getting worse and perhaps even make them go away. I don't sleep well on my back so that's probably not an option. Would satin pillowcases help? Some other kind of pillow? I'm moisturizing a lot more and trying to use an eye cream before bed but I have no idea what would really help.

By: tel3path

tel3path — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:14:01 -0800

Silk pillowcases might help, and sleeping on your back might also help although it's not at all good for keeping your airway open.

Moisturizer will smooth away dry lines, but wrinkles can't be moisturized away. The only thing that will help to restore your skin's elasticity is a topical retinoid, prescribed, not in a beauty product.

By: Ery

Ery — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:21:26 -0800

Those are the sort of lines that everyone I know develops, starting in their forties or fifties, the age of onset depending on how much sun they get.

Lines that are more pronounced on the left side of your face might be sun damage, from light coming through the window when you drive. Be sure to use a moisturizer that has a sunscreen in it every morning. It doesn't make the wrinkles go away, but it slows their advance.

By: acanthous

acanthous — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:16:45 -0800

I've tried Frownies in the past- in my case for lines in between my eyebrows that are exacerbated by sleep-scowling. I find that they help a lot for those. I've also tried them on my frown lines (nose to mouth) and they help some, but not as much, I think because that's naturally a much more mobile area.

They make them in a number of shapes, but I have just bought what's on sale online and then will trim them a bit to fit. I haven't tried them in the area you are talking about, but they do make ones for that area, I believe.

By: loquat

loquat — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:53:07 -0800

I used to have this problem and it was kind of distressing to have a line that eventually took hours after waking to "disappear" so I'd walk around part of the morning at work with a crease in my face heh. My Christmas gift wish was for satin pillow cases which seem to have helped tremendously since I no longer wake up with that dreaded line.

By: Mo Nickels

Mo Nickels — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:17:32 -0800

Knowing that they're often called crow's feet will help you Google the problem.

By: otherwordlyglow

otherwordlyglow — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:22:39 -0800

No, I don't think they're called crow's feet. Aren't crow's feet the kind that radiate out from the corner toward your ears/back of head? These aren't like that at all and aren't made worse by the squinting that I can do to accentutate my crow's feet. The wrinkles that I'm talking about occur at nearly the opposite angle to crow's feet.

By: gudrun

gudrun — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:10:23 -0800

Ery is correct re dry lines/sun damage, as is tel3path re retinoids.

We all get some facial wrinkles of some sort over time as we get older. Skin loses elasticity. How much (and where) is partly genetic, and not in your control. It is also can be affected, as Ery says, by sun exposure. You should moisturize, both morning (one with sunscreen), and evening. Also, being well rested and keeping well hydrated are good things. Now is the time, if you have not been careful before, to minimize too much sun and avoid deep tans and sunburns. If you are a smoker, then quit if you can, because smoking is a known contributor to wrinkles.

If it helps, I'm in my fifties and I have a few facial lines but nothing too dramatic. I have made an effort both to try to minimize sun exposure/damage and to moisturize. I also have naturally oily skin (bad for zits, helpful for wrinkles) and my family seems to have good genes in that respect (now if only there was less cancer and heart disease, we would be golden, sigh.) My old boss had lots more facial lines at my age, but she had really been a sun worshipper in her youth.

By: h00py

h00py — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:31:35 -0800

At 43, you start to develop wrinkles. It's terrifying but true. Definitely try the satin pillowcases and daily application of sunblock and of course continue with the moisturiser, but those wrinkles are a sign of the marching of time.