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Which Wrinkles are Which?

In my practice, I see patients every day who ask me what can be done to minimize the effect of aging on their faces.   Combining a healthy lifestyle, exercise and nutrition with good skin care including the use of sun block is a good start.  Botox, fillers, lasers, dermabrasion, peels and, of course, cosmetic surgery can also improve the appearance of wrinkles. But sleep wrinkles will only get worse unless the underlying cause is addressed.

I find that many of my patients don’t realize which of their wrinkles are being caused by the way they sleep, until I point them out. In this blog, I would like to share with you Vectra photographic images of a woman to illustrate which wrinkles are which –expression lines vs. sleep wrinkles.

Which wrinkles are which?

If you can’t reproduce the wrinkle with an expression you make, it’s probably a sleep line.  However, it is important to note that expression lines can be reinforced by compression during sleep.

* Examine the photo to the left below. Can you tell which wrinkles are which?  Next look at the photo on the right with the same woman smiling. Notice which wrinkles are created by expression.

* For comparison, I’ve highlighted her sleep wrinkles on the photo below.

Sleep wrinkles occur in predictable locations and tend to appear more vertically.  Some people have more sleep wrinkles on the upper face, others on the lower face, depending on how exactly they scrunch their face on the pillow while sleeping.

If you can sleep exclusively on your back all night long, you don’t have to worry about sleep wrinkles because your face makes no contact with your pillow.  For the rest of us, the JuveRest pillow can help!

Dr. Goesel Anson