How Better Sleep Can Change Your Whole Appearance

For many centuries people have been heading to bed early to get their beauty sleep without thinking the saying actually has merit in looking after your appearance. Board certified plastic surgeons such as Dr. Usha Rajagopal are now extolling the virtues of a healthy amount of sleep to change the entire appearance of patients who may feel they need regular cosmetic treatments to look maintain their youthful appearance.

Maintaining the youthful glow

The aim of most people is to start each day with what is often referred to as a youthful glow. WebMD reports the glow many people refer to is actually a healthy amount of blood flowing to the face and the skin around the face with sleep increasing the blood flow to the region and giving a more youthful appearance. Getting more than six hours of sleep each night encourages the flow of blood to the skin across the entire body and assists in maintaining the healthy glow.

Puffy eyes and dark circles can be avoided 

Many patients entering the offices of board-certified surgeons such as Dr. Usha Rajagopal want to do something about the dark circles they see beneath their eyes. These dark, puffy bags are often a symptom of not enough sleep or low-quality sleep which can be helped with a few simple changes. Dark circles are caused by the blood vessels around the eyes dilating due to a lack of blood flowing to them often caused by poor circulation when not enough sleep is obtained, according to Cosmopolitan. Improving the amount and quality of sleep combined with better hydration can make a big difference to the appearance of dark circles beneath the eyes.

Changing the way we sleep 

When we discuss our sleeping habits the attention generally turns to the amount of sleep we are getting each night and not the quality of the sleep we are getting. To make sure your appearance is the most impressive possible means taking a look at the way you are sleeping each night; an individual sleeping on their stomach will struggle to remove bags under their eyes as water within the body pools in this area when sleeping in this position. Sleeping on your back and elevating the head with an extra pillow is recommended for creating a better appearance through a healthier lifestyle.

Avoiding alcohol 

The quality of sleep is an aspect of improving the appearance of any individual without the need for cosmetic surgery in the traditional sense. Lifestyle changes should always be considered when improving the appearance and the use of alcohol can often have a negative effect on the appearance of any individual. There are four stages of sleep with REM sleep seen as the most important for regeneration of cells and the skin; alcohol is referred to by professionals such as Dr. Usha Rajagopal as a REM sleep inhibitor damaging the skin when consumed at the wrong time. Consuming alcohol just 90-minutes before trying to sleep can limit the amount of REM sleep achieved by as much as 75 percent leading to less skin regeneration and a dull, ashen appearance.