Wrinkles, creases, and dimples are a fact of life. As our bodies age and change, our skin is often the first to feel–and reveal– the brunt of time. Foreseeing dreaded wrinkles in our future, we focus on our faces. We slather on the sunscreen, lotions, and serums. We wear sunhats, get a facial, and pray to stay forever young. In the pursuit of a fresh face, the other approximately 95% of our skin’s surface often goes sorely neglected!

If you woke up this morning and noticed a few unexpected wrinkles forming, you’re not alone. As we age, women, and even some men, may develop wrinkles in the center of their chest. If your chest skin has been lacking a little TLC, don’t despair. Understanding how these wrinkles form and making some minor changes in your routine can drastically improve your skin’s appearance.

Like any skin damage, a number of factors come into play in causing chest wrinkles. Aging, genetics, weight loss, and even tobacco use can contribute to the eventual creping of your chest skin. However, even those with seemingly healthy daily habits can develop chest wrinkles due to lack of knowledge of what causes these wrinkles and general neglect of this important part of our skin. Though our daily habits matter, these actions may not have the most significant affect on chest skin health and appearance. Surprisingly, the biggest culprit in creating these frustrating lines in your decolletage is…sleep!

How does sleep cause chest wrinkles?

Over time, our bodies produce less collagen and skin loses its elasticity. This natural process makes it far more difficult for skin to bounce back to a smooth appearance.The skin on your chest is somewhat thin and delicate, making it quite susceptible to creasing. Wrinkles between the breasts form overnight…or rather over many, many nights of sleeping in your bed. The constant strain on the skin from being in the same position night after night “trains” our skin to fold, crease, and wrinkle resulting in crepey skin between the breasts. Like a crumpled up t-shirt that just won’t regain its shape, our chest skin is often mistreated and disregarded when it comes to our nightly habits.

Side-sleepers are more likely to develop chest wrinkles, simply due to the effects of gravity. The extra stress from one breast routinely pressing into the other stretches the skin and ligaments causing both wrinkles and sagging. Stomach-sleepers fare no better, as the constant squishing of breast tissue puts a strain on delicate chest skin.

People with larger breasts may notice significantly more chest wrinkles, but any side or stomach sleeper will eventually face the consequences of their favorite sleeping position.

Luckily, it’s not all bad news! If this much damage can be done to our chest skin overnight, changing up our nightime habits and being better to the skin we live in can help prevent chest wrinkles while we sleep.

Preventing side-sleeper chest wrinkles

If you’re a habitual side-sleeper, you may be wondering if theres any way to slow the development of lines and wrinkles between your breasts. The obvious solution: stop sleeping on your side! Those who sleep on their backs form significantly less wrinkles overall. However, old habits die hard. If you’ve spent years cozied up on your side, muscle memory may win that battle while you’re snoozing unaware. So, is there any way to lessen the affects when back sleeping isn’t an option?

Wear a breast-wrinkle pillow.

Breast-seperators, or breast-support pillows, counteract the affects of gravity pressing the breasts together and stretching out chest skin. Made in a variety of comfy fabrics and shapes for different sleep positions, there’s a product out there for everyone.

Wear a supportive overnight bra made just for side-sleepers.

If you wear a bra to bed, either for comfort or necessity, you may be doing more harm than good when it comes to your breast skin  health.

An ill-fitting bra that is too tight or lacks proper support will only exacerbate chest wrinkles over time. Choose a bra that is as equally soft as it is supportive to keep skin smooth and protected.

Sleep in silk.

Sleeping in soft, silky pajamas with built in bra will help your skin stay mositurized and protect against rubbing and scratching on blankets and sheets. This luxurious fabric has been used for neary 4500 years and has long been trusted to prevent aging and wrinkles. While it may be pricey, it is far cheaper than expensive skin treatments used to treat deep set wrinkles such as laser treatment- so it might be worth the investement!

Moisturize chest skin while you dream.

Tackle chest (and neck) wrinkles overnight with anti-aging chest wrinkle pads. Made from medical grade sillicone, these pads can be worn directly on the skin for 1-8 hours. Properties of silicone work to treat and prevent chest lines by moisturizing and gently smoothing the skin.

Hydrate before you call it a night.

Water is the #1 skin serum. Drinking enough water for your body helps skin retain its elasticity, ultimately giving you more youthful, glowy, and smooth skin all around! The average woman should drink about 11.5 cups or 2.7 liters a day, while the average man should drink 15.5 cups or 3.7 liters daily. 

Bye-bye chest lines

At then end of the day, it’s all about routine. Our skin has a memory, and the unhealthy routines we set will reveal themselves over time. Side-sleeping may be a tough habit to break, but even avid side-sleepers can take steps to avoid chest lines and wrinkles caused by sleeping.

Chest lines are formed when breast tissue is routinely stretched and smushed throughout the night. These wrinkles are exacerbated by wearing ill-fitting bras and neglecting a healthy skin care routine. Adding some helpful products to our nightime ensemble and making sure to hydrate our bodies can do wonders for the appearance of our chest skin.

By changing our overnight habits, we’re likely to notice less chest wrinkles in the morning.