Eradicate Dark Under Eye Circles: 3 Tips to Look More Refreshed

They’re unsightly and afflict most people at one time or another. They’re dark under eye circles and they can happen for genetic or lifestyle-related reasons in women and men. Everyone can agree that dark circles make them look older or like they haven’t slept in days. Plus getting rid of them is not such an easy endeavor. Let’s explore three non-genetic causes of this common skin condition and what can be done to brighten and rejuvenate the under eye area.

How to Deal with Dark Circles from Lack of Sleep

There’s a simple medical reason for why dark circles occur when you’re fatigued or running short on sleep. The tiny blood vessels under your eyes can become dilated when you’re tired, creating a darkish tinge to the underlying tissue.

Part of the problem is that the skin in this area is paper thin so vascular stagnation is readily apparent. The easiest and most obvious solution is to get sufficient sleep and the dark circles should resolve themselves. If catching up on your sleep in not an option and you need to look bright-eyed right away here are a few tricks to temporarily ease your dark circles:

Start by laying down for 15-20 minutes with cool chamomile tea compresses over your eyes. Chamomile herb combined with cold temperature has a vasoconstriction effect (temporarily shrinking blood vessels). Additionally, gently massaging the area with a high-quality antioxidant eye cream can improve blood circulation and brighten the area even more.

Make Sure to Rule Out Hidden Allergies

If you’re getting sufficient sleep yet your under eye circles persist anyway then you may want to consider a health-related cause. The most common culprit is an allergic reaction to a food or environmental trigger such as hay fever.

When we’re experiencing an allergic reaction our body’s histamine production goes into overdrive. In addition to other symptoms such as itchy eyes and running nose, histamines cause the tiny blood vessels under your eyes to dilate in much the same way as lack of sleep. Therefore dealing with your allergies over the long-term will often resolve your ‘racoon eyes’.

Hyperpigmenation Masking as Dark Under Eye Circles

If you’ve ruled out allergies and you sleep like a baby then your condition may be caused by sun exposure. Ruling out genetic causes of hyperpigmentation, UVA/UVB can damage the delicate skin under the eyes causing the pigment cells to overproduce melanin.

In this case the cause of the dark circles is not dilated blood vessels but rather discolouration of the skin. When there’s hyperpigmentation present under the eyes it’s typically accompanied by darkness in other areas such as cheeks and forehead. Possible treatment solutions include skin peels, microneedling, IPL and wearing daily sunblock to prevent dark circles from forming in the first place.

Dr. Nino Kuzmar is a Toronto general practitioner practicing non-surgical cosmetic rejuvenation and enhancement procedures for the face and neck. His extensive clinical experience, training and expertise in the area of cosmetic injectables, laser and energy based technologies spans 12 years. BOOK YOUR COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION