A prominent American emergency room doctor has issued a serious health and beauty alert to the millions of Brits who regularly fall asleep on their side. Dr Joe Whittington, known to his vast online following as Dr Joe, cautions that this common nightly habit could be subtly but permanently reshaping your face.
The Unseen Damage of Your Sleep Position
Dr Joe, who has two million followers on TikTok, asserts that the continuous pressure and friction from sleeping on the same side of your face night after night can lead to visible, long-term damage. He explains that your pillow can act as a silent offender, exacerbating facial asymmetry and creating premature wrinkles that are not easily corrected with cosmetic injectables like Botox.
In a video that has since gone viral, the doctor was unequivocal, stating that years of this pressure can leave a lasting mark. They've even proven it in studies with twins, he said, pointing to research from the National Library of Medicine. He highlighted a particularly stubborn type of wrinkle, noting, Worse yet, the wrinkles caused can be vertical facial wrinkles, and usually these won't go away with Botox.
How Nightly Pressure Reshapes Your Skin
The mechanism behind this damage is a relentless cycle of compression and folding. Chronic pressure against a pillow doesn't just compress the skin it folds it into the same lines, night after night, Dr Joe elaborated. This repeated action is why dedicated side-sleepers often develop vertical sleep wrinkles that remain visible long after they've woken up, unlike temporary sleep lines that fade by morning.
Thankfully, the ER physician was quick to offer practical solutions that don't involve sacrificing a good night's rest. His primary recommendation, which he calls the gold standard for facial ageing, is to sleep exclusively on your back. This position keeps all pressure off the face and helps reduce overnight swelling by allowing fluid to drain evenly, though he acknowledges it can be a difficult adjustment for some.
Simple Swaps to Minimise Sleep Ageing
For those who find back-sleeping impossible, his second tip is to switch to a silk pillowcase. Silk is smoother, softer, and creates significantly less friction against the skin than cotton or other materials, providing a gentler surface for your face to glide across throughout the night.
His third suggestion is for committed side-sleepers to make a conscious effort to alternate the side they sleep on. I'm a side sleeper, I know it's hard to do, Dr Joe admitted, [but] small adjustments like these add up over the years. With the potential for Botox-resistant wrinkles, sagging, and asymmetry on the line, it appears your sleep posture could be more critical to your appearance than any topical serum.
In a related piece of advice for those struggling with restless nights, Dr Joe also promoted a one-minute technique to calm an overactive mind. The Infinity Tracing Technique involves slowly tracing the infinity symbol in the air with your finger and following the movement with your eyes alone. This action is said to activate the vestibular system, which can help trick the body into a state of relaxation, providing a simple tool to combat nighttime overthinking.
