Emergency room doctor issues stern warning about sleeping on your side: 'The damage won't go away'

A popular US emergency room doctor has issued a stark warning to the millions of people who fall asleep curled up on their side every night.

Dr Joe Whittington claims this one simple sleeping habit could be quietly altering your face shape without you even realising it.

Known to his two million TikTok followers as Dr Joe, he claims your pillow may also be a silent offender, worsening facial asymmetry and premature wrinkles - and even creating issues that aren't easily corrected with injectables.

In his now-trending video, Dr Joe didn't mince words, but insisted years of pressure and friction by sleeping on the same side of the face can cause visible, long-lasting damage.

'They've even proven it in studies with twins,' he said, referencing a well-known study by the National Library of Medicine.

'Worse yet, the wrinkles caused can be vertical facial wrinkles, and usually these won't go away with Botox.'

According to Dr Joe, chronic pressure against a pillow doesn't just compress the skin it folds it into the same lines, night after night.

'Chronic pressure and friction also fold the skin in the same place night after night, which is why side sleepers often develop vertical sleep wrinkles that don't fade in the morning.'

Thankfully, the ER doctor said there are simple ways to reduce the damage, and none involve giving up comfort.

His first tip is what he calls 'the gold standard for facial ageing' and involves sleeping on your back only.

Admittedly hard to do for some, but it can keep pressure off your face entirely and reduces swelling by allowing fluid to drain evenly.

His second recommendation is to switch to a silk pillowcase that is smoother, softer and a lot gentler on the skin than any other alternative.

Silk reduces friction, prevents creasing and gives the skin a smoother gliding surface through the night.

And if you despise sleeping on your back, his third tip is to try and alternate every other night if you can to give your face 'equal time'.

'I'm a side sleeper, I know it's hard to do, [but] small adjustments like these add up over the years.'

With Botox-resistant wrinkles, sagging and asymmetry on the line, it's clear your bedtime position may matter more than any serum on your shelf.

If you're a victim of disturbed sleep, he also believes there's a simple one-minute 'effective trick' that could help calm the nerves in seconds by 'fooling' the body into thinking it is relaxed.

According to Dr Joe Whittington, taking control of your eye movement by focusing on a single object can help restore calm, and has urged people to try the method, known as the 'Infinity Tracing Technique'.

This involves putting a finger up into the air and tracing the infinity symbol slowly.

'Brain won't shut up at night? Do you ever lay in bed at night overthinking all of the embarrassing things you've done since childhood? Same,' he said in another viral video.

'As you're tracing this infinity symbol, you're going to just follow it with your eyes - only your eyes.

'What this does is activate your vestibular centre which is involved with your balance and eye movements.'

According to medical experts the vestibular system - located within the inner ear - is stimulated by movement up or down, backwards or forwards, and around or over.

Focusing on gentle, slow and predictable movements is just one of the techniques, the health professionals suggests to calm a sensitive vestibular system.

While the method isn't a replacement for professional support, many praised Dr Whittington's advice to ease the nightly onslaught of overthinking.