If catching up on lost sleep is a race you run every night, you’re definitely not alone. According to the Sleep Foundation, up to 70 million American adults struggle with a sleep disorder—from insomnia to sleep apnea and more.
While pulling an occasional all-nighter isn’t so bad, constantly depriving yourself of sleep can put your body in a constant state of stress. Sleep deprivation, according to plastic surgeon and dermatologist Dr. Mary Lynn Moran, MD, causes an elevation of cortisol, the stress hormone, interfering with our bodies’ ability to mend itself overnight.
As the body’s largest organ, skin is usually where the first signs of damage appears, and we’re not just talking about dark circles and eye bags. Here are just some of the ways insufficient sleep can wreak havoc on your appearance.
1. Lack of sleep can make you look older.
Dr. Moran says that when we don’t log away those hours with the sandman, our aging process is accelerated, leading to visible wrinkles in a shorter period of time. She notes that several studies have demonstrated that women who are deprived of sleep have more wrinkles, dehydrated skin, large pores, increased redness and increased dark circles under their eyes. “Our cells regenerate while we sleep, so if we don’t get good quality sleep, they are unable to repair themselves, leaving us looking older,” she explains. Read more
