Wake-up call for tired skin

The reasons why fatigue shows on your face may be surprising, says LARA OWEN

- LARA OWEN

WE often talk about tiredness as a feeling but it can visibly hit your skin too. Exhaustion often shows up first on the face: dark circles under our eyes, dulled skin, a heaviness around the mouth that wasn't there before.

Despite how dramatic tired skin can look, the biology behind it is relatively straightforward. When sleep is disrupted or stress is prolonged, the body shifts into a state of reduced repair.

“Cortisol rises, which disrupts epidermal barrier recovery and increases low-grade inflammation,” regenerative aesthetics doctor Dr Hansel Misquitta explains, “growth hormone secretion drops, so collagen repair slows down.

“Cutaneous blood flow reduces, meaning less oxygen and fewer nutrients reach the skin and lymphatic clearance becomes less efficient, so fluid and metabolic byproducts linger longer.”