Social media has a method of constructing us analyze each little factor about our look. Why is that this eyebrow arching larger than the opposite? Perhaps your left cheekbone is sharper than the appropriate, otherwise you’ve received a so-called “unhealthy” facet that’s much less snatched.
If you happen to’ve ever discovered your self fixating in your “facial asymmetry,” you’ve most likely stumbled upon a couple of TikToks claiming that side-sleeping is accountable. In principle, it type of is smart: Certainly urgent the identical a part of your face right into a pillow for years would possibly make it extra “squished,” much less outlined, or barely lopsided. The fact is, “All of us are a bit of uneven,” Melanie Palm, MD, board-certified dermatologist at Artwork of Pores and skin MD in San Diego, tells SELF—however is it actually due to the way you sleep? We requested consultants to set the file straight about this viral magnificence delusion.
So…why is my face asymmetrical?
For starters, blame genetics—none of us are born completely symmetrical, Prem Tripathi, MD, board-certified facial plastic surgeon at Bay Hills Plastic Surgical procedure in Alamo, California, tells SELF. However in at present’s world, the place social media has influenced us to be our personal worst critics, it’s simple to develop into hyperaware of each little inconsistency. We’re additionally not used to seeing our faces inverted or flipped, Dr. Tripathi provides, which might make any pure asymmetries seem extra “off” or jarring than they really are.
Past genetics, sure environmental components can affect your face form. Extra so than your sleep place, consultants say chewing habits play a much bigger position. In reality, some analysis has proven that constantly utilizing one facet of your mouth to eat can strengthen and develop these muscle tissue, probably resulting in delicate imbalances within the decrease half of your face.
It’s additionally pure for our faces to look extra uneven as we age. That’s as a result of, after we’re youthful, “we’ve a ton of quantity on our face,” Dr. Palm explains. “We’ve got rather more smooth tissue, which might disguise small skeletal asymmetries.” Over time, nevertheless, we naturally lose that quantity (significantly within the cheeks and eyelid area), making a few of these structural bony variations extra noticeable.
Might your sleeping place actually be accountable?
Okay, so what about way of life habits—like the best way we sleep? There isn’t any stable proof to point out that mendacity in your facet is the rationale you’re asymmetrical. However based on Dr. Tripathi, this little TikTok principle possible stems from a well-liked 2016 examine, which recommended side-sleeping (and that face-to-pillow contact) might contribute to creasing and wrinkles on the a part of your face you snoozed on. Whereas this might theoretically make your face seem uneven, there are additionally a couple of essential caveats to contemplate, per Dr. Palm and Dr. Tripathi.
For one, this is only one small, restricted literature evaluate, Dr. Tripathi factors out—not definitive proof that your pillow is accountable for any lopsidedness. What’s extra, the analysis didn’t single out sleeping place because the solely offender of high quality traces: Different components similar to uneven solar publicity, as an illustration, could cause one half of your face to age sooner and seem “saggier,” “looser” or “wrinklier.”