Morning under eye puffiness is caused from many things: eating salty foods at night, yawning, and sleep, where the flat nature of the body for 7-8 hours makes for improper drainage of the fluid around the eyes. While eating less salt at night or propping your head up by sleeping on two pillows can help with drainage and prevent some puffiness, it’s virtually impossible to completely avoid it.
However, I’ve gained some insight into this common occurrence through my own experience. A few years back, I decided to start showering at night before I went to bed in an effort to save some time getting ready in the morning. Shortly after, I started to notice that my morning under eye puffiness (that normally would be gone well before lunch time) wasn’t going away as quickly. Basically, my under eye puffiness was getting worse and I didn’t know why…
Well I soon discovered that the cause of this was that I was no longer showering in the morning, but instead at night. Here’s why.
Taking a shower in the morning offers two benefits for reducing under eye puffiness.
-Heat from the water dilates (relaxes and opens) lymphatic vessels to help assist with drainage of fluids (wastes and toxins) that build up in vessels. When you wash your face in the shower and the water is directly hitting you with force, this helps to stimulate excess fluids to move out of the eye area.
-In addition to the heat helping with the circulation, your vertical position in the shower helps drainage move out of the face area.
Note: Particularly for skin with redness and rosacea, it’s important to not use hot water (use lukewarm) when washing your face, as it can damage your capillaries (long-term) and make matters worse.
Interesting, huh? Needless to say, I do not shower at night anymore!
Read: Do You Have Under Eye Bags?
Read: Can Eating Pickles Cause Under Eye Puffiness?
Read: Yawning Can Cause Under Eye Puffiness
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