The Best Sleeping Position for Your Skin (and What to Do If You Can't Switch)

What Is the Best Sleeping Position for Skin?

Sleeping on your back is the best sleeping position for your skin. It's the only posture that doesn't apply pressure to your face. The next best one is side sleeping because only one part of your face takes the brunt. The worst is stomach sleeping.

That's the honest ranking, and it's where most advice stops. The better question is what your position is doing to your face.

The Three Forces Acting on Your Face While You Sleep

Your pillow (or mattress) is doing three things to your face, all of which require a different fix:

• Compression is when the weight of your head is pressed into your pillow for hours overnight. The intensity of this force is the culprit behind the deepest creases, and it's the only factor that needs you to change your sleeping position.

• Friction is when the surface of your pillows drags against your skin as you move in your sleep. This can stretch your skin. A pillowcase with a smoother texture reduces this.

• Fluid pooling is gravity pulling fluid toward your eyes when you lie flat. It's what causes temporary morning puffiness. Yes, you can reduce inflammation when you wake with an eye mask for puffy eyes. Elevating your head in your sleep does the trick.

Research published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal found that sleep wrinkles are caused by nighttime pressure, not the muscles you use for smiling or frowning.⁽¹⁾ It's why you still wake up with creases even if you use a silk pillowcase. Silk reduces friction, but not facial compression.

The supine sleep position (or back sleeping) leaves your eyelids prone to any light in your room, making it difficult to get a good night's sleep. Lying on your stomach, or the prone sleep position, means your expensive serum smears all over your pillow instead of being absorbed by your skin.

Why One Side of Your Face Ages Faster

Do you prefer to sleep on a certain side most nights? If so, it's the side that shoulders the load. The pressure lands in the same spots: your cheeks, the fold beside your nose and the outer corner of your eye.

Sun exposure and smoking play their part too. But repeated pressure on the same side is a mechanical contributor people rarely consider. Everyone has some natural facial asymmetry, and sleeping on your left side isn't a diagnosis.

A large analysis published in GeroScience found that genetic and epigenetic markers together explained about 59% of the person-to-person variation in wrinkle area.⁽²⁾ Plenty of what shapes your skin still comes down to what you do with it. So, the solution isn't giving up side sleeping entirely. It's dividing the load on either cheek by rotating your sleeping side.

What's Already Touching Your Face for Eight Hours

You might have noticed that most beauty sleep articles focus on your sleeping position. They miss out on what's already against your face.

Start with your pillowcase. A study published in Lubricants measured how much human skin drags against different fabrics and found the friction coefficient varied from 0.27 to 0.38 depending on the material.⁽³⁾ Smoother fibers help, but only with friction.

Then, look at your pillow. Height and firmness determine how much contact your face makes with your pillow, which determines the amount of compression regardless of fabric type. Since we're on the subject, here's one of our favorite tips. If you want your serum that boosts collagen and elasticity on your skin instead of your pillow, wait 10 to 20 minutes before turning in.

Now let's talk about what you wear on your face. When you're sleepy, an eye mask blocks out light, so you fall asleep fast and stay asleep. But a flat mask pressed against your face delivers pressure, too. It's worth saying before we recommend one.

If you're looking for the best sleep mask for wrinkles, choose one that keeps fabric off the delicate skin circling your eyes. One with tapered eye cups like Manta SILK Sleep Mask does the trick, ensuring the pressure lands on bone instead.

We talked about how smooth fabric puts less friction on the skin, and that's one silk eye mask benefit that makes it worth the buy. The same applies when choosing pillowcases.

How to Actually Change the Way You Sleep

If you want to train yourself to sleep on your back, know that it takes weeks and not just nights. The key is preventing yourself from rolling over. Think pillow fort. Put a body pillow on either side or roll up towels and put them under each hip. Add a pillow under your knees for support. You'll likely wake on your side at first.

One thing worth knowing: trading good sleep in the quest to achieve better skin can actually work against you. A review published in Dermato found that even just a night of poor sleep weakens the skin barrier, the layer that locks moisture in.⁽⁴⁾ Meanwhile, another review in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences found that for night shift workers, the genes responsible for repairing skin don't switch on as often.⁽⁵⁾

And if you don't make a switch, it's a choice and not a personal failure. It comes down to having the right equipment: having the best pillows for each sleep position, rotating sides and reducing friction to protect your skin.

Conclusion

The best sleeping position for skin is your back. But that only helps if you can act on it, and plenty of people can't. If that isn't your natural sleep position, then it takes time and some effort to transition from yours.

Compression means changing position, or rotating sides if you can't. Friction needs a smoother surface like a silk pillowcase or Manta SILK Sleep Mask. The fix for puffiness is elevating your head. You can start with whatever fits your situation tonight.