Facial Puffiness and Bloating- Scientifically Explained Causes and Treatments

We have all been there – waking up, looking in the mirror, and looking like our face is made of freshly risen dough. Puffy cheeks, swollen eyelids, and general facial bloating are very common after sleep. However, usually this puffiness goes away soon after washing your face and getting some blood circulating. But what if the puffiness stays? What if the symptoms happen every morning, and to the extreme? What if your face only “deflates” by 4pm, and for the majority of the day you walk around miserable and uncomfortable, and you have no idea why? In my opinion, in order to solve any problem, you need to understand the root cause of the issue. This applies to facial bloating as well – it isn’t a curse from the heavens, there are a few physiological causes for your discomfort. Let’s go through a few of them.

The predominant reason for facial swelling (or other bodily swellings, for the most part) is a condition called edema. Generally, edema is the accumulation of fluids in your body’s tissues. Most often it occurs in the appendages (arms, legs, feet, hands, ankles, etc), but it can happen anywhere and for a variety of causes. Edema happens because fluids being exchanged between your blood and the areas outside of your cells build up and don’t get reabsorbed into the bloodstream or into the lymphatic system, resulting in swelling. This can occur due to low blood protein concentrations, inflammation/infection, high blood pressure, and a few other causes. Swelling can also occur due to water retention, where your body holds on to fluids because of increased salt and other solute concentrations. Keeping these causes in mind, let’s list a few things within your body that can cause facial bloating due to inflammation, high blood pressure, and the other few causes. 

• Allergic reaction or other medical conditions: Your face might be puffy because you slept over at your friend’s who has a cat – and you’re allergic to cats. It may be because your room got a little dusty, triggering your dust allergy. It might also be a few other, more serious medical conditions such as an abscessed tooth, Cushing’s disease (extra cortisol- a stress hormone), or a sinus infection. All of these conditions cause inflammation, which, as discussed earlier, can cause edema. I would hope that it’s obvious that if you suspect you have one of these conditions, you should definitely see a doctor. Proper medical treatment should help your face depuff, and, most importantly, solve the underlying issue and prevent any complications.

  

• Secret Sunburn: Another potential reason for facial puffiness is a secret sunburn. You might be wondering – how in the world can a sunburn be “secret”? Aren’t those some of the most obvious skin injuries in life? Well, for the most part they are. However, those of us living in a cooler climate farther from the equator have a tendency to not wear sunscreen during any season but the summer (and maybe late spring and early fall). This can result in sneaky sunburns that come from UV rays reflecting off the snow, or just the usual sunburn you get from spending too much time in the winter sun. These “secret” sunburns won’t necessarily make you tanner. Rather, your body will react to them like it would react to a burn you get from a stovetop- swelling, redness, tender to the touch… sound familiar? If, after assessing your puffy face, you come to the conclusion that some of these symptoms match yours, I would strongly recommend you use soothing, aloe based lotions, take cool baths and load up on sunscreen the next time you go out to build a snowman. If your symptoms don’t go away, see a professional – the burn may be worse than you think, and you will probably want to check for any signs of skin cancer as well.

  

• Excess sodium (or too little): Sodium is a key mineral in our bodies, and when its balance is upset, the symptoms can be from mild to severe. More commonly, we see an excess of sodium in someone’s diet. High sodium can cause high blood pressure, as well as fluid retention, which leads to not just facial but general bodily swelling. You may notice facial swelling more because it’s a smaller region with more grooves and angles that show telltale signs of puffiness. If you suspect that excess sodium is the culprit, make a conscious effort to reduce your salt intake. Cook at home, avoid processed products, and try using non-salt spices like oregano, pepper, lemon, cumin and chile. A sodium deficiency is rarer, but much more dangerous in a shorter span of time – if you suspect that this is your case, see a medical professional as soon as you can to avoid serious health consequences. A sodium deficit can lead to nausea, vomiting, poor muscle and neural control, and even cause a coma. This condition is found much more rarely in the USA, so if you do suspect a sodium imbalance to be the culprit behind your swollen visage, it is probably too much salt rather than too little. 

  

• Alcohol:  Alcohol affects your facial swelling in a similar way to sodium, by making your body trap more water, leading to puffiness. The mechanism behind this, though, is slightly different. Under normal (and sober) circumstances, if your body senses that its fluid levels are dropping too low, it releases a hormone abbreviated as ADH (antidiuretic hormone). This hormone causes water to be reabsorbed from the filtrate in your kidney, keeping it in the body and preventing dehydration. What alcohol does (apart from making a night out more wild) is inhibit ADH, meaning that all the water that enters the filtrate in the kidney will be excreted out as urine. This can quickly lead to dehydration, which is why you wake up with a hangover and why your face might puff up. When your body feels that it is low on water, it will avoid releasing it at all costs, trapping it in body tissues until it can guarantee that a steady supply of hydration is available. This will cause facial and bodily bloating that is best mitigated by drinking plenty of water and electrolytes to convince your body that it is no longer in danger.

  

Treatments:

As previously mentioned, in order to treat facial swelling we need to combat the root of the problem. These can be any of the causes I listed in the first paragraph – for example, one of the solutions we can have is lowering your blood pressure, or treating inflammation. Here are a few ways to treat these individual causes:

• Treating inflammation: Inflammation results in edema because it causes your blood vessels to become more “leaky,” which makes substance exchange between the cells and blood easier. This is super helpful in combating infections, treating sprains, etc. However, it also results in fewer substances being reabsorbed into the blood vessel, causing regional swelling. Some ways to treat inflammation is by increasing the pressure between the blood vessels and the extracellular matrix. This can be done through applying pressure, with the use of a bandage or a massage. Obviously, you aren’t about to wrap your whole face in an ace bandage. However, a few alternatives could be using a facial roller or just massaging your face in the morning when applying moisturizer.

  

• Treating high blood pressure: High blood pressure is the second culprit behind edema, and can easily be treated by simply constricting the capillaries in the surrounding area. This is done either with the use of medication (in more extreme cases), or with cool temperatures. To treat facial puffiness, use an ice cube or a chilled spoon or simply cold water and run it gently over your face. For me personally, the biggest problem area is around the eyes. What I do is gently press a spoon that I had placed in the freezer for a few minutes under and around my eyes, and the puffiness improves very soon. The reason this works is because by lowering the blood pressure in that specific area, you are allowing substances to re-enter your blood vessels to get carried away. This lowers the fluid concentration in that tissue area and reduces swelling.

• Treating fluid retention: Fluid retention is a nemesis that we are all well familiar with. I am sure that everyone has encountered this ugly companion after a bit too wild of a night out, or after eating a packet of salty potato chips or some movie theater popcorn. The reason fluid retention happens is because in our bodies, water follows sodium. High sodium can also cause higher blood pressure, the effect of which is often puffiness and bloating. Sodium can be very useful in the majority of our body’s mechanisms, however when we are trying to look cute for a brunch with friends but wake up looking like one of those dogs that swallowed a bee, it might not be as appreciated. So, how do we combat this salty surprise? The biggest recommendation I have found is to drink lots of water– this will dilute the sodium in your body, which will lead to some of the water being let go out of your system and reduce swelling. I would also recommend eating lots of fruits and veggies. For one, they contain tons of water, and they also are rich in potassium, which is like the protagonist to sodium’s antagonist – one will be useless without the other, and they keep each other in check and maintain a balance of activity within our bodies.

  

  As one final note, I would like to beg you all to not freak out over a bloated face. While I did list some conditions that are definitely serious and should receive medical treatment, chances are you do not have something that serious going on. For the majority of us, facial bloating really is just a result of a salty snack or dehydration, and can be solves quickly with lots of water and cool temperatures or massages. The key to this situation is to breathe, relax, and take 15 minutes to just care for yourself a little bit. Try it, you might do wonders!

• face care
• health
• science
• self-care