Morning swelling on the face is an entirely normal phenomenon. Depending on the situation, most often, they occur due to excessive consumption of salt, water, or alcohol, due to lack of sleep or stress. How to deal with it?
We share proven ways to quickly get rid of puffiness and also listen to the recommendations of a doctor, nutritionist, and cosmetologist-aesthetician.
What is the swelling of the face?
Facial swelling is a temporary cosmetic defect that occurs due to the accumulation of fluid in the tissues. But in some cases, it signals health problems. The causes of edema can be very different. Here are the most common ones.
Dream
Many people wake up with a swollen face due to average fluid retention during the night. This becomes especially noticeable if a person sleeps too little or too much. Lack of sleep and excess sleep negatively affect internal processes and provoke inflammation and swelling. Lovers resting on their stomach face into the pillow are especially prone to swelling. In addition to the daily routine, it is equally important to observe sleep hygiene:
- Use gadgets less in the evening.
- Ventilate the room.
- Ensure silence and darkness so that the body has a good rest.
Decorative cosmetics
You may encounter contact dermatitis if you do not remove even delicate, nude makeup before going to bed. It is expressed in redness, irritation, and swelling of the face and eyelids. There is no cause for concern in most cases unless the symptoms worsen. But be sure to make it a rule to wash off the remnants of makeup before going to bed.
Food
Eating certain foods in the afternoon can lead to morning puffiness. This is especially true of dishes with a lot of salt, which retains moisture in the cells. In addition, spicy and salty foods cause thirst and lead to excess water intake. It’s good if it’s not other drinks, lovely soda, as they exacerbate the problem even more. Try to eat fast food, fried, overly spicy, and salty foods, as little as possible.
Of course, you should avoid going to extremes and altogether refuse to be salty. Salt is involved in water-salt metabolism and should be present in the diet, but with a restriction. Sufficient, and sometimes excessive, salt comes from food; therefore, to avoid fluid retention, it is worth limiting the use of foods high in sodium chlorides, such as pickles, chips, dried fish with salt, and the like.
Promotes fluid and sugar retention. This is not only about sweet candies and pastries but also drinks containing syrups, including alcoholic ones. The recommendation, in this case, is to reduce the consumption of added sugar and replace such drinks with regular drinking water.
Dairy products containing casein and lactose also cause fluid retention in the body. You can leave fermented milk products in the diet, with a minimum amount of lactose, and replace cow’s milk with any plant milk, such as coconut, almond, or soy. Canned foods should also be consumed in moderation. Marinades and canned food combine salt and sugar, the main provocateurs of edema.
Alcohol
Puffiness after drinking alcohol is almost inevitable and is especially noticeable with age. Alcohol impairs the function of the intestines and liver. It causes dehydration, making the body retain moisture in the cells. As a result, both the body and the face swell. In addition, an excess of alcohol negatively affects the quality of sleep, which becomes an additional cause of morning swelling.
Physiology
Systematic, non-chronic swelling is expected. For example, it may be the body’s reaction to hormonal changes before the start of the monthly cycle when some women notice morning puffiness. In this case, monitoring the drinking regime and diet, exercising more, and getting enough sleep are essential.
Allergy
Sometimes swelling of the face in the morning occurs due to an allergy to dust, dander, or pollen inhaled at night. Additional symptoms may include nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, itching, or watery eyes. To cope with the problem, you need to consult a doctor, ideally – to find and eliminate the cause of the allergy. Many are helped by changing bed linen, choosing pillows with hypoallergenic fillers, and periodic wet cleaning.
Diseases
Malfunctions in the body’s work can be expressed by external symptoms, including facial swelling. They are often diagnosed with hypothyroidism and other diseases that require mandatory medical advice and treatment of the underlying cause.
How to remove swelling from the face
Here are a few ways to help get rid of morning facial swelling.
1. Contrast wash
Prepare two towels and two containers – with hot and cold water. Alternately apply hot and cold towels soaked in water to your face. The procedure must be carried out for at least 20 minutes. With general puffiness, you can replace it with a contrast shower, but only if you have used it before since the body needs to gradually get used to temperature changes. Particular care should be taken with thin vessels and a tendency to rosacea.
2. Decongestant gels and creams
Many manufacturers offer decongestant gels and creams for the face and skin around the eyes. Most of them have a cumulative effect; for an obvious result, you need to use such funds for an extended period. But if you need to get rid of swelling quickly, choose cosmetics with a cooling effect, and when buying, pay attention to the specified skin type.
3. Ice
Regular ice cubes from the freezer will do. But it is even better to make them from pre-prepared herbal decoctions: chamomile, celandine, rose petals, or St. John’s wort. With such frozen cubes, you can wipe your face in the morning. Even if there is no swelling, this remedy will help tone the skin, and the effect of a contrast shower will strengthen it and make it more elastic. Use this method with caution on sensitive skin and thin vessels.
4. Patches
Patches have been the trend for the last few years. They first appeared in South Korea, the country – a leader in terms of cosmetic innovations. There are two main types of patches: hydrogel and tissue. The first fit closer to the skin, but they have the same functions: removing puffiness, moisturizing, eliminating dark circles and bags under the eyes, and smoothing small wrinkles.
5. Self-massage
You can cope with swelling on the face even without additional funds. Self-massage techniques will help eliminate puffiness in just 15-20 minutes. In addition, massage enhances the effectiveness of creams, gels, and masks. It improves blood circulation and promotes hydration.
6. Tea
If there are no decongestant cosmetics at home, you can use one of the simple and affordable photo recipes. Everyone has black tea in the kitchen – it will help to cope with the edema problem in a matter of minutes. Brew two tea bags, calm, and put on your eyes. Green tea is more suitable for the skin of the face and neck, which is strongly brewed and used as a lotion, rubbing the skin with sponges.
7. Facial massager
An effective remedy for edema is homemade facial massagers. According to Tatyana Zharkova, they help a lot if they perform self-massage along the lines of lymph outflow. For these purposes, the gouache scraper is perfect. In addition, manufacturers offer massagers of other modifications: based on microcurrent therapy technology, pulsed, laser, and my stimulators. In addition to reducing puffiness, they improve the skin’s condition, contribute to lifting the face oval, and help get rid of fine wrinkles.
How to remove swelling in five minutes: instructions
If time is short, combine several practical ways.
- Take a contrast shower and ventilate the room nicely.
- Wash your face and do the most suitable self-massage for you.
- Wipe the skin with ice cubes or apply pre-chilled tablespoons to the face.
- Apply sliced cucumber slices or tea bags to your eyes, or cover your entire face with a tea-soaked washcloth.
- Apply a suitable serum or cream to your face.
To resort to urgent methods of getting rid of edema as little as possible, try to adhere to the basic rules of a healthy lifestyle every day.
The more attention you pay to your drinking regimen, eat less spicy and salty foods, and get enough sleep, the better you look in the morning without additional cosmetic procedures. If swelling occurs frequently, this is an occasion to consult a doctor and identify the cause of the failure in the body.
