Sleeping With An Eye Mask Offers Benefits Beyond A Good Night's Sleep

When it comes to our skin, there are many ways to treat fine lines, wrinkles, and other conditions during the day. However, it's also important to keep your skin healthy at night while you're sleeping. For great-looking, healthy skin, it's key to take steps to protect and nourish your skin before hitting the sheets. One thing you should always do is ensure that you go to bed with a freshly washed face. This will allow you to get rid of all the dirt, oil, makeup, products, and pollutants that can accumulate on your face during the day.

It's also key to keep your hair pulled away from your face so that the oil from your hair doesn't transfer to your skin. Another way to take care of your skin at night is by sleeping on a silk or satin pillowcase. This will not only help your skin from forming wrinkles at night, but it's also great for your hair. Sleeping on your back can also help combat lines on your face. Sleeping with your head elevated is also a good practice, as it can improve your blood flow and reduce dark circles under your eyes.

However, one big trick to protecting your skin while you sleep is to use an eye mask. It may sound strange, but there are many benefits to wearing a sleep mask to bed.

Wearing an eye mask created for sleeping can actually help your skin more than you may think. If you're the kind of person who moves in their sleep, then you might want to consider wearing a mask to prevent your face from rubbing against the sheets and pillows, which can damage your face. "When we sleep, there are frictional forces between our skin and our sheets," dermatologist Dr. Joshua Zeichner told Byrdie. "This means that there can be rubbing of the skin against the sheets, which leads to skin barrier disruption and inflammation. There also can be physical folding of the skin, which contributes to wrinkling," he said. A mask can also protect the sensitive and delicate skin around the eyes.

A sleeping eye mask can combat the puffy eyes that some of us tend to wake up with in the morning, as well as increase the quality of your sleep. By blocking out light, eye masks offer longer REM sleep. Better sleep is sure to leave your face looking well-rested and healthier on a daily basis. Wearing a mask over your eyes in bed can also allow the barrier of your skin to heal, which will leave you looking refreshed and reduce inflammation and signs of aging. Sleep masks can also help you feel better throughout the night.

If you're not worried about preventing lines and wrinkles but want to have a clearer complexion, an eye mask for sleeping may be your secret weapon to help deal with stubborn breakouts. Wearing a sleep mask made of breathable material such as silk or cotton will allow you to get better sleep at night. Because acne has been linked to poor sleep, you might find your breakouts clearing up in no time.

In addition to helping acne-prone skin, wearing a sleep mask may also help reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, which are other factors that could cause breakouts. Wearing a weighted eye mask might also be an option if you suffer from nighttime headaches. "A weighted eye mask usually contains small microbeads that offer a compression that some people find comforting as they settle into sleep," sleep science coach David Rubin told Byrdie. "These masks apply light pressure to your face, which can be helpful for tension around the eyes as well as nighttime headaches or migraines."

Wearing an eye mask during sleep can be an easy and affordable way to not only allow yourself to get a more restful night of slumber, but also heal your skin and prevent early signs of aging as well. Give it a try, and you may be surprised how a little change can offer big results.