8 Daily Habits That Could Give You Wrinkles

Some seemingly harmless everyday actions may have negative long-term side effects for our skin. For example, eating red meat often can speed up the aging process and skipping sunscreen when you’re indoors may lead to pigmentation and older looking skin.

We at Bright Side were curious to find out about the small things that we do daily that may be sabotaging our efforts to keep our skin looking younger.

1. Chewing gum

Many gum chewers have a pattern of wrinkles around their mouth, and doctors believe gum is responsible for this. When we chew, we may overuse our muscles, and this can lead to fine lines and wrinkles around the mouth.

2. Running

When exercising, runners burn off fat beneath the layers of their skin. The loss of fatty tissue may make their wrinkles deeper. Moreover, many runners spend long hours outdoors without proper sun protection, exposing their skin to sun damage. If you’re an outdoor runner, it’s better to use waterproof sunblock, because sweat reduces the protection level of the sunscreen faster.

3. Staring on your smartphone

Using a cell phone can make you look prematurely older. Medical experts suspect the continual downward gaze toward the phone may lead to more lines on the neck that you would not have developed otherwise.

4. Passing on sunglasses

80% of the visible signs of aging, including wrinkles, are caused by sun exposure. When you squint, it makes the grooves in your crow’s feet deeper. And if you try to focus on anything with a light in your eyes, it may deepen the wrinkles between your eyebrows as well.

5. Sipping through a straw

Drinking coffee or tea through a straw can keep you from getting stains on your teeth, but it may cause lines to form around your lips. Although it won’t change your lips significantly, people who are prone to lip wrinkling should avoid using straws really often. The repetitive muscle motion breaks down the collagen around your mouth, leading to more creases.

6. Sleeping on your side

Some sleeping postures can cause your skin to form wrinkles. If you sleep on your side or on your stomach, your face is being pressed into your pillow, causing your skin to fold. The best way to avoid “sleep lines” is by sleeping on your back.

7. Wearing a sleep mask

The skin around your eyes is very delicate and prone to damage. Some sleep masks may traumatize it and cause inflammation, which can eventually cause wrinkles. If you wear a sleep mask to bed, make sure it’s loose and doesn’t pull or stretch the skin.

8. Wearing contact lenses

When we put in contacts, we often raise our brows. This repetitive movement causes the skin on our forehead to wrinkle. Unlike glasses, contact lenses don’t protect the skin around the eyes from UV rays, which eventually leads to wrinkles and thinning skin.

Do you have any of these habits? Have you noticed how they affect your skin?