How is lack of sleep ruining your skin?

Arshad Amin
7 min readSep 25, 2020

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Sleep is the most effective natural gift we have to revive both body and soul. Sleeping Beauty probably realized that before anyone and slept for decades to stay as beautiful as a princess. A long and peaceful period of eye-shut will give you a new boost to overcome any hurdles. Furthermore, you will be more focused due to mental peace.

Unfortunately, we sometimes avoid this great gift of nature and get deprived of sleep. This condition creates numerous health issues that affect both the mind and body. As the largest organ of the body, the skin absorbs the damage more than any other organ, and most of the signs of lack of sleep appear on it.

Why is Sleep so crucial for your body?

Our body needs rest. All the organs, muscles, and circulatory systems need a period of calmness to repair all the daily wear and tears. There is no other way of giving the body a complete overhaul than a sound sleep. It is the recharging phase of our body.

Think about running for days without taking a break. It is both ridiculous and impossible. In the same way, our organs need a halt. Although none of the organs stop working altogether, however, they get a time to “go slow” and make necessary repairs. I am sure it will make clear to you how does sleep affects your health.

Muscles are the top candidate for repairing. The muscles-lose take place more prominently than any other part of the body. As the skin is directly related with both organ and muscles.; therefore, along with the major organs, the outside coating of your body need sleep most to rebuild and repair the daily damages.

How long you should sleep in a day.

We all know the number, it is Eight! However, we neglect it more than we ignore the notifications of the credit card payments or utility bills. The reasons for lack of sleep could be diverse: late-night weekend parries, cramming for the semester finals or feeding a newborn.

No matter what the causes are, you are depriving of sleep every day. The most ignored thing is around 33% of the US population are not fulfilling the eight hours of shut-eye time. You may be wondering why it is still not declared as a public health problem. Well, the effect of not having enough sleep have more indirect than direct effects.

For a healthy adult, eight hours is the optimum amount of sleep for maximum bodily functions. However, several studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended that the hours might vary between 7 to 9 hours.

Nevertheless, there is an exception. Some people are diagnosed as “short sleepers.” They can function less than seven hours of sleep typically. According to recent research conducted by Mattress Firm, a short sleeper’s genetic structure made it possible for them to lead a healthy life with less than seven hours of sleep.

Effects of not sleeping on your skin

Unless you are a short sleeper, you need at least eight hours of sleep. Otherwise, you feel the effects of sleep deprivation on your entire body, especially on your skin. As the largest organ of your body, the skin represents all the good and bad metabolisms inside the body.

How do you feel after a wild weekend party? Along with the hangover, you will found yourself tired, stressed, and lethargic. All of these are happening because of one thing, lack of sleep. If you look closely, you will also found your face dried, dark circles under eyes, and a little bit wrinkled.

These are the most common side effects that can lack sleep cause of your skin. You will be surprised to see the entire list. Numerous research and public surveys identified these side effects. Thus, you need to be concerned.

Dehydrated Skin Complexion

Sleep can save hundreds of bucks. Do you want to know how? Well, regular and adequate sleep maintains the pH balance of the skin and keeps it hydrated. Therefore, you do not have to buy expensive and artificial moisturizers.

Nevertheless, lack of sleep will create a pH imbalance, and your skin will eventually become dehydrated. The more you skip your eight hours marks, the more it will become lifeless and dry.

Skin Breakdown

Dry skin is prone to so many problems. One of them is skin breakdown. Lack of moisture makes the skin cells dull and they tend to break down. Have you seen excessive exfoliation during winter? Those white powdery flakes are nothing but the remnant of your dry skin.

If you do not sleep, the dry skin will breakdown and exfoliate more than the natural rate. As a result, it will become difficult for you to put your most favourite make-up base or foundations, let alone water. Only a good night’s sleep can save you from all of these.

Redness and Rashes

Blush can only be beautiful before you say yes to the love of your life. Otherwise, any other redness ion the skin means something unpleasant is going on. If you cannot sleep properly, it will affect the skin with redness and rashes.

One of the main reasons behind those issues is dry skin. Moreover, sensitivity to various infections also plays an equal role there. You need to treat rashes with more concern. Else, it may turn to severe skin problems like eczema.

Wrinkles

People got wrinkle with ages. It is a natural process unless you are suffering from a lack of sleep. The wrinkle is the result of dehydration and eventual cell death. Long sleepless nights not only expedite the process but also make them more prominent.

Wrinkles may indicate wisdom on your grandparent’s face; however, it will not be wise at all, if you have few on your skin. Eight-hour sleep is necessary if you want to wane those wrinkles.

Stressed face

Sleep is inversely related to stress on both body and face. The less rest you will have the more stress will be imprinted on your face. After every crammed pre-exam nights or long weekends, you look exhausted. You probably think it is the food or the beverages; nevertheless, it is mostly the sleepless hours.

Acne

Among the North American teenager women, the most common skin-related question that can lack sleep cause acne. Yes, it can. American Academy of Dermatology stated that one of the most common reasons behind acne is pH imbalance in the skin. Sleep deprivation creates significant pH level disruption. Thus, it is common that sleepless nights will bring limitless acne on your face.

Gentle pH soap and cleanser will work best to remove acne if you can have nights with seven to nine hours of sleep.

You looked more aged

One of the most common effects of not sleeping is the fast ageing process of the skin. Less sleep means your body is absorbing fewer nutrients and eventually, the cells are not re-growing. If new cells do not generate your skin will start losing the existing cells and breaking down. This breaking down process creates wrinkles, stretch marks and all other ageing signs on the skin.

Have you ever thought why all anti-ageing cosmetics commercial has a wake up from the bed scene? Well, it is evident that a good night’s sleep has a close connection with stopping the ageing process. So have a good rest and start every morning with a revived you!

Bags under the eyes

There is a myth that bags under the eyes only appear if you consume too much alcohol. Well, too much alcohol is definitely harmful, but it is not the only reason for those under-eye bags. Sleepless nights are one of the significant reasons for those bags.

Less sleep disrupts the water absorption process in the body and some of the excess water forms those bags under the eyes. Any other excess liquids in the body can do the same. Additionally, stomach sleepers can also have those bags. So, think about both your sleeping pattern and style.

Sensitive to Infections

A tired body will always have an exhausted immune system. There is no other worst way to make your body vulnerable than a lack of sleep. If you do not get enough sleep, the organs become inefficient and the guard cells aka white blood cells, cannot generate. A limited number of white blood cells cannot fight with exotic germs and you will be sick more often.

As the primary line of defence, your skin absorbs most of the germs and other harmful organisms from outside. You cannot stop them from spreading from the skin to other parts of the body if the immune system is exhausted due to sleep deprivation.

Dark spots and circle around the eyes

You probably spent hundreds of bucks for dark spots and dark circles removal creams and cosmetics. Nevertheless, you have missed the most inexpensive way to remove those. Yes, that is eight hours of sleep. More sleep means balances pigmentation throughout the skin. As a result, there will be not buildups of dark pigments on a particular area of skin.

Accumulation of those dark pigments on sensitive areas like face, eyes can create both dark spots and circles. When you get enough sleep, the circulation systems maintain a balanced pigmentation and help you get rid of dark spots.

Originally posted in: https://www.underglowskin.com/blogs/news/how-is-lack-of-sleep-ruining-your-skin

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Arshad Amin
Arshad Amin

Written by Arshad Amin

Freelance Writer | Entrepreneur | Digital Marketer

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