Sleep and the Effects on Your Skin

By Patti Zimmerman

The relationship between skin health and lack of quality sleep can be a vicious cycle. Compounding this issue may be conditions such as atopic dermatitis or eczema, which may lead to scratching throughout the night. Inflammatory membrane conditions like acne or psoriasis are also affected by poor sleep habits when the body produces an increase of stress hormones. Increased itching disrupts the sleep cycle resulting in the poor quality of sleep and worsening conditions. On the other hand, when the body gets a good night's sleep, this allows the epidermis to clear up, which improves skin health and improves sleep.
Reasons why not getting adequate sleep diminishes skin health and health in general:

• When your body doesn't get enough sleep any existing skin conditions worsen. This can be increases in sensitivity, acne breakouts, allergic contact dermatitis reactions and irritant dermatitis. When these increases occur, the more skin care routines are needed to treat the ailment.


• Lack of or not enough sleep diminishes your skin's natural beauty. When there are increased inflammatory cells in the body, this leads to an increase in the breakdown of hyaluronic acid and collagen, which are the molecules that give the tissue its bounce, translucency and glow.


• Immune-related skin problems worsen when a lack of sleep occurs. When the body's ability to regulate the immune system is thrown off balance, increased inflammation arises. This also leads to getting sick more often and immune-related skin diseases like psoriasis and eczema to flare up.


• As we sleep, the body's hydration rebalances. When the body doesn't receive enough sleep the body can't process excess water for removal. This results in puffy bags under the eyes and under-eye circles, as well as, dryness and more visible wrinkles.


• When the body does not receive enough sleep the aging process accelerates. Damaged cells are repaired with the rise of growth hormones during the deep sleep phase. Without this deeper sleep phase's only small breakdowns are accumulated instead of being reversed, thus the noticeable signs of aging.


• Insufficient sleep can be attributed to weight gain. Lack of sleep has been linked to excess snacking and calorie consumption.

Tips for obtaining good sleep and better skin health:
* Drink plenty of water during the day but limit evening consumption
* Don't eat a big meal late at night
* Sleep in a cool, dark, quiet room under a warm blanket
* Keep all electronic devices out of the bedroom
* Use clean cotton sheets as they don't collect dust mites and bacteria
* Avoid laundry detergents that are scented as they may irritate the skin
The old cliché of getting your beauty sleep is a must for having healthy skin that glows.

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