Puffy Face Causes & 12 Tips How to Get Rid of Facial Swelling

Waking up with a puffy face can be a disconcerting experience, transforming your appearance overnight. From swollen cheeks to puffed eyelids, the reasons behind facial swelling are numerous and varied.

This article delves into the causes of facial puffiness and offers effective strategies for reducing swelling. Whether you’re looking for immediate solutions or preventive measures, we provide insights and tips to restore your face’s natural contours.

🔎 Revealed on this page:

• 📖 A list of possible causes of a swollen face and cheeks.
• 📝 Tips, tricks, and methods of reducing swelling in the cheeks and face.
• 👀 See how our methods of reducing facial puffiness work.

Does Puffy Face Go Away on its own?

Usually, your face gets a bloated look during sleep, and you notice it in the morning. Once you’re in an upright position and start moving, it can start to disappear.

But this can take time. Luckily, there are certain methods that can help you get rid of puffy cheeks quickly. Some exercises and practices can even prevent them from happening again.

For example, mewing does help you achieve positive facial changes, including debloating your face. If you want to get to know the technique better, we have mewing fully covered in another post on our blog.

Why Are My Cheeks Puffy? Causes of Facial Swelling

Lots of things can cause facial puffiness. Some are connected to health issues or temporary conditions, while others include bad habits and diet. There can be various reasons your cheekbones look big and puffy, and here are some of them:

• Water Retention in the Face Area. Contrary to popular belief, water retention in the face happens when you are dehydrated. Dehydration leads to enlarged blood vessels, which retain more water. The best way to combat this is to drink more water during the day.
• Stress. Stress is always on the list of common reasons for most health issues and can leave an impression on your face. Besides acne, elevated cortisol levels can lead to facial bloating.
• Lack of Sleep. Not getting enough sleep can affect your appearance by causing bags under your eyes and overall face puffiness.
• Certain Foods. High-sodium foods make your body retain water which leads to a puffy face. Try to avoid salty snacks, soy sauce, and salty dairy products. Alcoholic beverages, especially red wine, lead to dehydration and water retention, especially visible on the face.
• Allergic Reaction to Something. Food, medicine, or seasonal allergies cause inflammation, redness, and bloating in the areas around the eyes, nose, and lips.
• Sinus Infections. Sinus infections cause a build-up of mucus in the cavities, causing a feeling of heaviness, headaches, a dull ache and pressure around the eyes and the forehead, and eventually facial puffiness. Sinus infection is a serious condition that needs to be treated by a medical professional.

How to Debloat Your Face and Depuff Cheeks Naturally?

There are many natural methods that can help you de-bloat your face quickly in the morning. But, we recommend taking preventive measures and incorporating healthier habits and choices that will be beneficial in the long run.

Take a look at the results of the mewing technique and other recommended methods for reducing face puffiness. You can also check out the hollow cheeks guide that will instruct you on the best mewing techniques to decrease the amount of fat in your cheeks.

Aside from mewing, there are other techniques that you can use to de-puff your cheeks. Below we give you the most common natural ways to decrease a bloated face.

1. Start Mewing Regularly

Mewing is a method of keeping the tongue in its natural resting position on the roof of the mouth. It helps to align the jaws and the teeth, promotes forward growth of the face and improves the look of your jaw and facial features.

Mewing helps to de-puff cheeks and debloat your face by improving circulation in your cheek and jaw area and by toning the masseter muscles. To get access to a guide around all the best mewing exercises and techniques, you can download our Mewing.Coach app.

The app has tutorials on every aspect of the technique and will work as your personal trainer on your way to an improved facial appearance. You will get motivational support by being constantly reminded to continue with your exercises and to check your achievements via the progress tracker.

You can see in our cheek fat reduction tutorial how mewing helps you shape your face and prevents a bloated look in the future, while the guide on how to slim the jawline will introduce you to methods of achieving a slimmer facial appearance.

Just incorporate mewing into your daily routine, and you will notice improvements in your face without needing any medical treatment.

2. Apply Cool Compress

The area around the eyes is most sensitive to increased fluid retention and regularly appears puffy after a long night out or after eating salty snacks the night before. One of the simplest yet effective traditional remedies is applying a cold compress on puffy eyes.

Take a clean cloth, wet it with cold water, twist it to get rid of the excess water, and apply it over the eyes and forehead. Put the cloth in the freezer for extra coolness.

3. Apply Hemorrhoid Cream

Hemorrhoid cream is used to narrow the blood vessels, and when applied to the face, it can tighten the skin and reduce redness and facial bloating. It is recommended to use only for special occasions because it can worsen other skin issues.

Keep it out of your eyes to avoid irritation, and try not to use it very often to avoid other skin complications.

4. Stay Hydrated Throughout the Day

Some of you might not believe it, but more water means less puffiness. If you’re dehydrated, the blood vessels get bigger to keep water reserves. Drinking plenty of water will make the body realize that the danger has passed, and the cells can release the stored water.

5. Cut Down on Salty Foods

Foods that are high in sodium are dangerous in many ways. Too much salt enlarges the blood vessels and retains more water than normal amounts, which causes high blood pressure and the danger of developing heart disease and other health issues.

High-sodium foods are responsible for free radical damage to the body, and on top of that, your appearance suffers as you get a swollen face, hands, ankles, or feet. To avoid this, it is best to have a balanced diet with as few unhealthy snacks as possible.

Cut down on fast food, processed meats, chips, nachos, and cheese. But don’t forget to incorporate exercises that will move the facial muscles, such as mewing.

6. Do Regular Exercise

Physical exercise helps the lymphatic system get rid of the extra water in your body. You can do light exercises, such as walking, swimming, or yoga, and they can still aid in the process of lymphatic drainage that consequently reduces facial swelling.

7. Reduce Intake of Alcoholic Beverages

Alcohol can make you feel dehydrated quickly and cause a puffy face. The swelling will subside after your body digests all of the alcohol, but the best thing to do in the meantime is to drink more water to replace what you’re losing. Keep your alcohol intake in check, and your face will thank you for it.

8. Steer Clear of Foods You May Be Allergic To

Allergic reactions are always visible in the face as redness, inflammation, and puffiness. If you know what triggers your allergic reactions, you’ll know how to avoid those allergens. But if an allergic reaction happens suddenly, you should take antihistamines and see a doctor as soon as possible.

9. Treat Yourself to a Face Massage

Any kind of massage is guaranteed to relieve built-up stress and leave you feeling relaxed and in a better mood. A face massage promotes blood circulation and lymphatic drainage, thus reducing swelling and puffiness.

You can also try jade-rolling, an ancient Chinese practice of face massage that uses a small device made of precious stones. A massage with a jade roller improves blood circulation and works on facial swelling. Plus, it helps your skin routine by allowing products to penetrate deeper into it.

Mewing exercises, face yoga, and face massage are a winning combination to increase blood flow in the face and reduce facial swelling.

10. Keep Your Head Elevated While Sleeping

Lying down on your face for hours while sleeping will definitely cause a build-up of fluid in your cheeks. So, try to sleep in a position that keeps your head elevated or use an extra pillow to prop you up comfortably.

You can also learn some exercises that can help your sleep. Mewing exercises, for example, can aid you with your nose or mouth breathing. Nose breathing is achieved by maintaining the tongue in the correct position on the palate, thus opening the nasal airway. Also, sleeping with your head elevated will reduce the risk of sleep apnea and mouth breathing.

11. Increase the Intake of Inflammation Fighting Foods

Sometimes a puffy face is caused by inflammatory processes in your body. Try to incorporate anti-inflammatory foods into your diet, such as berries, nuts, green leafy vegetables, fatty fish, ginger, avocado, olive oil, and green tea.

They are rich in vitamins, minerals, and natural antioxidants that will aid your overall health and appearance.

12. Take Magnesium Supplements

Magnesium is a mineral that has anti-inflammatory properties and helps to control blood pressure, heart rate, and bone strength. It is an electrolyte which means it plays a crucial role in the balance of fluids in the cells.

Getting the right amount of magnesium can help reduce inflammation and de-puff your face.

Use Coffee and Tea as Topicals

When you wake up with dark circles around your eyes, it is better to wait before you start applying makeup and a ton of concealer. Try applying ground coffee to your eyes and let the caffeine improve blood circulation and reduce puffiness and discoloration around the eyes.

You can even make your own coffee eye cream with just a few ingredients and use it to treat this kind of facial condition.

It’s even easier with tea bags that can be applied directly to affected areas on the face, especially the eyes. Steep two tea bags, wait for them to cool off to a pleasantly warm temperature, and place them on the eyes.

Use tea that is high in caffeine because this will tighten the blood vessels and take away your puffy face. You can also prepare a face mask with tea and a few other ingredients to incorporate into your skin routine.

12. Opt For Healthy Snacks

The foods we eat affect our appearance. The right foods can make your skin glow, and the wrong ones, like those that contain a lot of sodium, allow for fluid retention, especially in the face. A bloated face can be avoided by choosing healthy bites over unhealthy, processed snacks.

Try to eat more fresh fruit, dark chocolate, and protein smoothies when you need more energy between meals.

When Should You Seek for Medical Treatment?

A swollen face is usually treated with a home remedy, a change in the diet, or starting mewing facial exercises. However, in cases when the swelling persists and you find yourself unable to eat, drink, or open your mouth and eyes properly, you should immediately seek medical attention.

Try to remember if you have eaten any food that you are allergic to, and don’t ignore the symptoms. Go to a hospital immediately for treatment and a doctor’s evaluation.

Summary

Facial swelling is primarily caused by water retention in the cells. It happens because of dehydration which, in turn, is caused by poor diet choices, inactivity, and bad habits. However, a puffy face can sometimes appear due to more serious health conditions such as allergies or certain diseases.

There is a number of home alternative treatments that help to fight puffy faces and swollen eyes. A simple one is mewing. This exercise can help you prevent the occurrence of facial bloating by building strong jaw muscles that tighten the cheeks and remain active all the time to fight water retention in the face.

Mewing will also show you how to fight the turkey neck and achieve well-proportioned facial features and a more attractive facial appearance. And in just a few weeks, you can say goodbye to your puff face!