Quality sleep and skin health go hand in hand while lack of sleep puts a strain on our body. Not getting enough sleep accelerates aging, impairs water balance, changes facial expressions, enhances weight gain, and ruins our skin’s natural beauty. Moreover, stress caused by sleep deprivation triggers elevated levels of cortisol, the so-called stress hormone, which furthers inflammation in the body. The inflammatory response is not good for skin health. Here is how sleep deprivation can damage our skin:
Poor Sleep Worsens Skin Conditions
Not enough sleep activates an increased inflammatory response in the body, which irritates existing skin conditions and sets off added skin sensitivity, intensified reactions for allergic contact dermatitis, increased acne breakouts, and aggravated irritant dermatitis. Immune-related skin conditions, such as eczema or psoriasis, also worsen just because the body, invaded by inflammation, loses its ability to regulate the immune system. Skin begins to itch increasingly exacerbating the symptoms of immune-related skin conditions. Increased itching affects the quality of sleep, and thus we enter a never-ending circle.
Less Sleep Means Poor Water Balance
Our body needs enough sleep to rebalance hydration, a process that allows the skin to recover its moisture while the excess water gets processed for removal. Poor water balance translates into puffy eyes, under-eye dark circles, dry skin, and more visible wrinkles. The puffiness under our eyes says we are not getting enough shut-eye. Water tends to accumulate under eyes, and with the skin so thin there it becomes quite visible. There are ways to reduce swelling during sleep, and you can find some ideas here.
Poor Sleep Undermines Skin’s Natural Beauty
An increased level of stress hormones boosts the number of inflammatory cells in the body. Collagen, a protein essential to our skin’s health and beauty, breakdowns faster in these conditions. Our skin willlose its bounciness, radiance, and translucency and will start looking dull, pale, and even lifeless. On theother hand, collagen replenishes during sleep, and that means less visible wrinkles and a plumperlooking skin. Blood flow to the skin improves when we sleep, which offers our skin that healthy-looking glow and gives us those rosy cheeks.
Enough Deep Sleep Slows Down the Aging Process
A good night’s sleep is like a fountain of youth for our skin. If we want to look younger for many years, we need to understand the importance of deeper phases of sleep in controlling the aging process. When we get enough deep during the night, our bodies experience a rise in growth hormones production. Growth hormones are essential for repairing cell damage. Cell breakdown, which occurs during the day, is no longer accumulated inside the cell but is reversed overnight in the presence of growth hormones. This way, damaged cells get repaired, and signs of aging become less noticeable. This process can happen when we get enough deep sleep.
Our body longs for quality snooze time because it helps to repair itself and recover from daily stress. Within this context, getting enough quality sleep is essential to our looks. Enough shut-eye means 7 to 9 quality hours each night and less than 6 hours of sleep will likely affect our appearance and, therefore, our skin health.
