Dark Under Eye Circles - Causes And Treatment

By Margarita Nahapetyan

Many people are really annoyed and, sometimes even worried about dark circles under their eyes. The circles are visible to everyone and can add at lest ten years to the age of a person. The skin directly under the eyes is very tender and sensitive and is the most vulnerable area of the face. Therefore, it is very important that individuals have a better understanding of what causes those dark under eye circles in order to be able to do something about them.

To begin with, it is good to know that your lifestyle, eating habits and genetics are directly linked with your skin. The appearance of dark circles is a possible sign either of poor health, stress or unhealthy habits. In general, the culprit is a combination of several factors, such as overexposure to the sun, allergies, heredity, aging and sleep deprivation. If you are having sleepless nights for any reason, then you are likely to develop dark under eye circles. Lack of sleep tends to cause the skin to become paler and reduces blood circulation. However, there may be other reasons, such as sinus infections or inflamed nasal passages, for example. These are other main culprits of dark under eye circles because they will mean that there is not enough blood flow in the small blood vessels in the under eye area. The blood then pools in this area, creating those unsightly and aging dark circles that irritate everybody.

However, sometimes individuals get these dark circles under their eyes even when they get enough sleep and are not being under stress. In this case, there is a chance that the culprit is the age. Years of sun exposure lead to microscopic blood vessels to loose their stability below the eye area, therefore adding to the problem. The layer of fat underneath eyes actually becomes thicker over time and gives the illusion of dark circles. In some cases, dark circles under the eye area may also be light carbon deposits that are a result of an incomplete digestion of protein. Allergies are another well-known reason of skin discoloration under the eyes.

A great deal of success at reducing dark under eye circles can be achieved with products that you may always have at hand. Applying cool tea bags or slices of cucumber to your eyes on a daily basis and leaving them on eyes for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, better in the morning hours, works amazingly. Both tea bags and cucumbers are known to reduce inflammation and decrease swelling. In addition, try to stick to a healthy and balanced diet, take vitamins, and drink lots of water. A big number of cosmetic problems can be attributed to lack of vitamins in your body. Try to use less salt as excess salt causes the body to retain water in unusual places and this can lead to puffiness under the eyes. Also, if you are a smoker, quit smoking immediately as this bad habit causes vascular problems and makes your blood vessels appear more prominent and bluer beneath the skin.

Dark circles and puffiness are often attributed to lack of vitamin K or inadequate antioxidants. A good under eye cream could be a solution to the problem. Your regular moisturizing cream will have little or no effect on dark under eye circles but there are products that are being created specifically for this problem. Buy a cream that contains vitamin K and retinol as they are great for strengthening the blood capillaries. If your capillaries are strong enough, they will help to maintain good blood flow in the under eye area, and so your dark circles will be reduced with less blood pooled there. Good eye creams also have other anti-aging effects as they help to diminish the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines which make people look much older than they really are.

The advice will be not to expect any home-based treatment or anti-aging products to work very quickly. For best results it is good to use them for a long time. However, if you feel that product is not definitely right for you, you can always try a different one. Never judge the product based on its cost, thinking that if it costs more, it has to be better, that is not necessarily true. The most important thing in choosing the right product is to check on the ingredients which the anti-aging product contains.