You wake up in the morning and your face is puffy. It leaves you wonder on how to get rid of a puffy face fast. What’s even worse is that it can stay that way all day long if you don’t treat it right away. The good news is that unless you have a medical condition, puffy face isn’t permanent. It just means that your body is signaling out that it needs some attention and you can treat it with simple puffy face remedies.
What Causes a Puffy Face?
Puffy face can be caused by one thing or a combination of things such as water retention, stress, diet, infections/sickness, allergies, overweight/obesity and medical conditions. Since everyone is different, you may have to try a few different things until you find something that is effective, however, the puffy face will disappear with the right solution.
Water retention happens in the body when the fluid intake is inadequate. Not drinking enough water causes the body to hang onto the water that it does have. Drinking alcohol in excess can create the same problem. Moreover, alcohol actually works to dehydrate the body. Alcohol tells your body to cease the production of a hormone known as vasopressin. Vasopressin allows your body to retain moisture; without it, the fluids basically drain from your body.
Stress causes your adrenal glands to produce the hormone cortisol and the fight or flight response. It used to be that when stress occurred with an event and once the stressful event ended, there was time to recovery. The cortisol was replenished, especially during sleep.
All too often today, the stress does not end. Many people carry the burden of stress and it may amplify over the course of the day, week, or in general until the stressful situation is resolved. Stress hinders sleep and can even cause insomnia. And the sleep cycle is when your body does most of its healing and replenishing.
Cortisol is also an anti-inflammatory hormone and now the big picture comes together. If you are stressed, overworked, and overtired, your body suffers in the way of the immune systems, nutrients, sleep, and cortisol. It means you may wake up with a puffy face. It may be a sign of a medical condition or it may be a mild occurrence. Either way, it’s a sign from your body that you need to do more to take care of yourself.
Your diet has a direct effect on the body. In addition to not drinking enough water, consuming too much sodium causes a puffy face. Sea salt and vinegar potato chips, Chinese food, or any foods high in sodium overload your body. In an attempt to dilute the sodium, your body will hold onto extra water.
Sometimes, puffy face is from an inflammation. This may be caused by an allergic reaction to dust, mold, pollen, sinus/throat infections, a tooth abscess, and food allergies to lactose, gluten, soy, etc.
How to get rid of a puffy face fast
Ice Cube Face Soak
Grab a large bowl and fill it to the halfway with water. Add some ice cubes into the water. Take a deep breath and hold it as you stick your face in the water. Stay there for 10s to 15s. Do this a few times or hold your face in the water for a longer period if you can. This reduces puffy face by constricting the blood vessels and making them smaller. It’s similar to how ice is used to reduce swelling.
If that method is too dramatic, an alternative is to prepare the ice water as described above: a large bowl filled half way with ice-cubes. Soak your washcloth in the ice cold water and lay it across your face. Leave it in place for a few minutes or until the cloth warms up and repeat it time or two.
Another method is using an ice pack. Simply wrap a few ice cubes in a washcloth and apply to your face. Start at your forehead and work the compress evenly across the face until you reach the chin. Try not to miss any areas and apply the compress until you see a reduction in puffiness.
Coffee Mask
All you need is 2 tablespoons of fresh, finely ground coffee. The finer grounds work best. Add 1 tablespoon of enough honey to create a thick paste. Apply the mask onto your face and leaveit on for 15-20 min.
How to use it:
If you want to be time efficient, you can brew a pot of coffee and create the mask out of the grounds and wear it as you drink your morning coffee. Wash the mask off in the shower to reduce spillage and you can even give your face a little scrub with the coffee grounds as you wash it off. It’s a good idea to put on a button down shirt prior to applying the mask to help with a smooth transition.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers have been a favorite of spas everywhere for a long time. That’s because the smell is refreshing, relaxing and because cucumbers work! To use cucumbers to reduce a puffy face, mash the pieces with a fork or toss the cucumber, skin and all, into a blender and puree it.
There’s 3 ways to do this:
- Apply the mashed cucumber to your face as a mask
- Use a washcloth to soak up the juice and lay it across your face
- Only apply the cucumber juice onto your face
Let the mask or juice sit for about 10 minutes before rinsing.
Green Tea Ice Cubes
The next morning when you wake up with a puffy face, grab yourself an ice cube and work it around your face. The green tea has nutrients and some serious antioxidants that replenishes your skin. Combine it with the ice and you have a mega puffy face reducing machine. It’s low maintenance and saves on time.
How to prepare it:
To get started, brew yourself 2-3 cups of strong green tea, using 3 tea bags. You can stop here and freeze the ice cubes. Or, you can add 3 tablespoons of honey and 2 tablespoons of lemon and then mix it and freeze it. This makes your ice cube facial practical as well as a treat. Honey is naturally antibacterial as well as the lemon juice. Lemon juice is also an astringent, meaning that it tightens tissues. It also brightens skin and is useful as a way to even out skin tones.
As you work the ice cube over the face, lean over a sink to reduce drippings. If you’ve decided to add honey and lemon, once you’ve completed the ice cube treatment, you’ll probably have some residual residue on the face. You can leave it on for about 20 min. as a mask and rinse it off. Lemon juice will dry out the face if left on too long.
Strawberry Mask
The scent alone can be an aphrodisiac. To create a mask that is relaxing, refreshing and aids in reducing a puffy face, all you need is strawberries, honey and olive oil.
How to prepare it:
Mash enough strawberries to make a mask or blend them if you have a blender. Add 1 Tbsp. of olive oil and 2 Tbsp. of honey. Mix the ingredients together and smooth the mask over your face. The honey is antibacterial and the olive oil helps to moisturize the skin as it draws toxins from your body. The strawberries contain antioxidants that refresh the skin and help to boost your immune system. After 10-15 minutes, you can remove the mask.
Massage
Never underestimate the power of a decent massage. It’s effective, inexpensive, and quick. You can even massage your face as a precursor to any mask or ice compress. Before you begin, you may want to wash your face with a gentle cleanser to remove all the dirt and oil from your sleep. After all, you don’t want to massage it in.
How to do a massage:
To get started, gently massage your face in half-moon motions. Start at the bottom of your face and work upwards. This way, you’re not dragging your skin down. As you massage it, primarily use the two middle fingers on one hand. Be gentle with the skin on your face because it is thinner.
Another way to massage the face is to use a moisturizer, massage oil, or olive oil as a lubricant. Before you begin, wash your face with a gentle cleanser to avoid trapping dirt and grime in your pores. This massage causes lymphatic drainage.
To begin, apply the lubricant and gently massage the face starting at your forehead, working gradually across the face evenly under the eyes and cheeks, jaw and neck. Complete this massage at least 20-25 times. What makes this lymphatic drainage massage effective is how it pushes the excess water down the upper chest, neck, and lymph nodes.
How to prevent a puffy face
Staying Hydrated
Believe it or not, this one is hard for most people to do. And, it’s not because there’s a shortage of water. It’s because there are too many choices of fluids and no one really wants to make all those trips to the restroom. It’s inconvenient and suspicious.
Let’s be honest. While many people prefer water, other people also prefer heavily sugared coffee, alcohol, fake fruit juice, sports drinks and energy drinks. Also, timing is everything. If you drink a decent amount of water all day but then have a heavy sodium saturated meal right before a night of partying and alcohol, your earlier accomplishments are weakened. Hydration must be an on-going process. This doesn’t mean that you can never drink alcohol or sweet drinks again. It just means that between alcoholic beverages, it’s prudent to drink a glass of water. It means that you might need to reduce the amount of carbonated beverages and up the water intake.
Yes, drinking the recommended amount of fluids that the body needs means that you’ll make more trips to the restroom. It means that you will be inconvenienced and you’ll always need to be near a restroom. Another way of looking at it is that you are no longer allowing outside influences to take priority over your health. It’s up to you to decide what is most important.
Diet
Sodium isn’t just the salt and soy sauce. It can include sausages, sauces, canned vegetables, processed and packaged snack foods, and salad dressings. As previously discussed, the body will retain water in an effort to dilute excess sodium in the body. If you want to get rid of a puffy face, you can help the body along by drinking lots of water. For 50 years old and younger, 2,300 mg or less is enough sodium for the day. For those who are 51 years and older, cut that sodium intake down to 1,500 mg a day and hydrate, hydrate, and hydrate!
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Processed foods may be easier on the go but they are also one of the worst things you can eat. The foods are so processed that it’s hard to determine what they are made of. The ingredients along can be intimidating. At least when you eat vegetables and fruit, there’s only one ingredient on the list.
Many fruits and vegetables contain vitamins and nutrients that your body can really benefit from, such as beta-carotene, vitamin C, and antioxidants. These nutrients help to prevent your face and body from hanging on to water. So reduce the amount of processed foods you eat and increase your servings of fruits and vegetables.
Elevation
Since puffy face is often times due to water retention, try elevating your head higher than your heart. Sit, stand, or elevate your head with extra pillow (if your lying down) to drain fluids from your face.
Conclusion
In most cases, puffy face is usually a wakeup call from your body that it needs some attention. While stress by itself may not seem all that threatening, it’s no secret that years of it will take a more serious and permanent toll on the body. The same thing is true for unhealthy diets. Even if you can bounce back from the heavy alcohol use, processed foods and energy drinks now, it won’t always be so easy. Eventually, your body will slow down. Try to make a few simple lifestyle changes that make you feel better, help your body in the long run, and help to prevent the occurrence of a puffy face.
References:
http://www.crunchybetty.com/crunchy-bettys-top-5-ways-to-slim-down-a-puffy-face-naturally
http://www.indiaparenting.com/beauty/article.cgi?art_id=139
http://www.livestrong.com/article/479280-does-sodium-make-your-face-fat/
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