Why Our Faces Look Different Just After We Wake Up
Everyone knows the feeling, you've just woken up and are ready to begin the day when you look in the mirror and see that your face looks scarily different to when you went to sleep.
Your eyes and face look puffy, your skin is full of wrinkles and despite your night of rest you look weirdly tired.
But why does this occur and why does it happen so regularly?
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Ultimately there's number of different reasons this can happen from dehydration to poor eating/lifestyle habits. Even your sleeping position can impact how you look waking up.
According to Medical News Today, when you lie down to sleep at night more fluid accumulates in and around your head than is usual during the day.
This can be exacerbated by getting either too much or too little sleep.
Thankfully once you get up and spend some time upright, the excess fluid drains away and your face goes back to normal.
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According to one expert, your sleeping position is one of the most common reasons you might be waking up with a puffy face.
Dermatologist and founder of Visha Skincare Dr Purvisha Patel told Bustle that sleeping face down can have a detrimental impact on how your skin looks when you wake up.
She said: "Gravity wins when we sleep on our faces."
She explained that lymphatic fluid in your body pools downward when you sleep, which can lead to 'in puffy eye bags and a swollen appearance'.
To counteract this, Patel recommends sleeping on your back or trying to elevate your face slightly with a pillow.
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There are many different lifestyle and dietary habits that can have a negative impact on your skin, such as high alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, irregular sleep habits, excess sun exposure and low activity levels.
Other possible reasons include allergies, crying the night before and not getting enough sleep.
Any of these can make it harder for your body to rest and repair at night, and can dehydrate the body, reduce circulation and/or cause cellular damage to the skin.
Isobel Pankhurst