With daylight saving time just ending, people all around the United States sleep schedule has been thrown off course. Getting an average of 8 hours of sleep per night is important for overall wellbeing and skin health as well. Now is a great time to formulate a sleep schedule and develop strong sleep habits that will help you feel 100% and your skin look it. Let’s look at some of the reasons why sleep is so important for your skin and some tips on how to get better sleep.

Sleep is much needed for our bodies and a good night’s sleep helps with recovery from the stressors of the previous day. Since skin is the largest organ of the human body, sleep is critical for healthy skin. Inconsistent and poor-quality sleep can start to affect the skin, people may begin to notice and increase in fine lines, uneven pigmentation and reduced elasticity in their skin due to poor sleep.

Throughout the recommended eight hours of sleep, the human body goes through three stages. During those stages there are processes that take place that help with overall wellness and also skin health. In the first stage the pituitary glands produce somatotropin. This hormone can help maintain youthful skin. Not having the proper amount of this hormone can lead to an acceleration of the aging process. The next stage of sleep, typically in hours 4-5, melatonin is produced. Melatonin helps the skin combat free radicals that can damage the skin. The final stage, REM sleep, cortisol levels and skin temperature drops. When skin cools our muscles relax and collagen production goes up. Collagen can lessen fine lines and can cause your skin to be smoother.

Let’s look more into the specific skin issues that can occur when not getting enough sleep.

Dry Skin

When sleeping our body naturally perspires, which is needed to rebalance hydration levels. Perspiring while sleeping is our bodies natural method of moisturizing, which can work to ease up fine lines.

Dull skin.

In REM sleep cortisol levels decrease. Cortisol causes inflammation, which can inhibit your skin from looking smooth and can also leave your skin more prone to acne and other irritations. So, in REM sleep the inflammation of your skin goes down which makes your skin smoother and brighter.

Eye bags and dark circles

Your blood vessels dilate when you don’t get enough sleep. This can cause dark circles and puffiness to form underneath your eyes. When we sleep blood flow increases throughout the body and can work to eliminate dark circles and eye bags.

Now that we know how important skin is for healthy skin, let’s go through ways to get good sleep.

Sleep at consistent times

Keep consistent sleep hours by looking at when you need to get up the next day, and back track the needed 8 hours of sleep. For example, if you need to wake up at 7am shoot to be asleep by 11pm the day before. Keeping this up even on weekends can get you into a healthy sleep routine.

Wind down before bed

Winding down is an important step for preparing for bed. Here are a list of some good ways to relax before going to sleep:

• Writing – organize your thoughts on the day or list your goals for the next day
• Listen to some gentle and calming music
• Stretch – yoga stretches can help to relax your muscles
• Read a few pages of a book to give your brain a distraction

Avoid Technology

Make sure to avoid your smartphones, televisions and other devices 20 minutes before sleeping. The lights coming from these devices can really negatively affect your sleep.

Track Your Sleep

There are many smart watches that can help to track your sleep, how well you slept and when you were in specific stages of sleep. This can show you what habits the day before that contributed to your inability to sleep. Monitoring this and taking note of what you did the day before can help you avoid doing things to negatively affect your sleep in the future.

How does lack of sleep affect the skin? – walk-in dermatology. Walk. (2020, October 30). Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://walkindermatology.com/blog/how-does-lack-of-sleep-affect-skin/#:~:text=Dull%20Skin,more%20sensitive%20to%20allergic%20reactions.