How to Train Yourself To Sleep On Your Back (To Prevent Wrinkles)

Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best wrinkle preventers… unless you sleep on your side. Side sleepers wake up with more wrinkles than they went to bed with! These sleep induced wrinkles tend to smooth out as the day goes on, but eventually they become permanent.

Chest wrinkles from side sleeping (not mine)!

Fortunately, there’s a “simple” solution… just turn over and sleep on your back!

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as it sounds. After I noticed a big chest wrinkle and a vertical wrinkle down my cheek I was determined to switch positions. It took me about 3 months of semi-restless nights to figure out a comfortable position, and then another 3 months for it to become natural and truly restful. I know that seems like a long time, but in the long run it’ll be a small sacrifice for years of non-wrinkle inducing sleep.

Switching sleep positions can be very much a mind game… one I would have won easily when I was younger. But as I’ve gotten older and sleep’s gotten more elusive I was unable to just lay on my back and fall asleep so I had to break it down to get to my goal.

Here’s what worked for me:

Step 1 ~ The twisted half-side/half-back

I started by getting comfy on my side but then while keeping my legs and knees bent and to the side, I’d rotate my torso until my shoulders were flat and my head face up. I found I could fall asleep that way, but every time I woke up during the night or rolled over I’d have to consciously re-do the twist and that made it hard to get back to sleep.

Step 2 ~ Add an incline

The half-side/half-back twist was working well for falling asleep, but I was waking up and finding myself back in the fetal position. I discovered that if I created a wedge out of 2-3 pillows and laid with my upper torso and head up on the wedge I didn’t toss and turn as much so I slept more soundly.

My pillows would usually squish down during the night so I added a foam wedge to keep my head and shoulders elevated (which also helps reduce under eye puffiness)! I bought this 10″ foam wedge from Amazon and absolutely LOVE it!

Step 3 ~The Peter Pan

Once I was comfortable with the inclined-half-twist I was ready to move on to sleeping on my back fully, but sadly, my legs just wouldn’t cooperate sticking out straight. I have a long torso and my back would get sore with my legs straight. The solution to that was to keep one leg out straight and fold the other like a number 4 with my foot tucked under the opposite knee. I kept the incline because it keeps me on my back better than lying flat.

That’s how I sleep now and when I get up in the morning and look in the mirror I don’t see those creases at all!