How To Get Rid Of Your Dark Under-Eye Circles

Posted on: 20 May 2015

If you have pervasive dark circles under your eyes that make you look like a vampire, and extra sleeping isn't helping, there are some other options you can try. Take a look:

Try At-Home Spa Treatments

The image of placing cucumbers over your eyes at a spa may be cliché, but it could work for you. Cucumbers have an anti-inflammatory effect, and if you refrigerate them first, their cooling effect can help decrease some puffiness. Try placing them on your eyes for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Another great at-home spa treatment you can try is using rosemary tea bags as compresses. Like cucumbers, the herb rosemary has some anti-inflammatory properties. You can either soak them in water and lay them over your eyes, or you can refrigerate them first.

Lastly, after using the either cucumbers or teabags, take a few drops of almond oil and lightly dab them around your eyes. Be careful not to vigorously rub the oil into your skin, since the skin under your eyes is thin and fragile.

Change Your Diet

According to LiveStrong.com, a lack of iron cannot only cause anemia, but the symptom of dark under-eyes. To combat this problem, you need to up your intake of iron with things like spinach, kale, beans, and egg yolks.

If you love sprinkling salt on your foods, you may want to cut back. Since salt causes your body to retain water, it could actually cause the skin under your eyes to look puffy. While you may be tempted to quit drinking lots of water for fear of water retention, it's actually better to drink lots of water since it flushes toxins from your body that could be causing dark under-eyes.

Use Creams Chock-full of Vitamins

Along with a good diet, you may want to either take supplements or use creams with vitamins. A moisturizer with vitamin C or K can help you rebuild the collagen in your skin.

Visit a Cosmetic Dermatologist

You may only think to visit a dermatologist with acne issues, but they have lots of treatments for the skin under your eye.

If your under-eye skin is loose and dark, then lower blepharoplasty, or lower eyelid surgery, may be able to reduce the lines or dark circles since the skin will be tightened. If you have the opposite problem, and the skin under your eyes is hollow-looking and transparent, your dermatologist may recommend fat grafting to increase collagen in the area.

However, if that is too intense of a procedure, you can opt for intense pulse laser therapy (IPL). IPL is great because you don't have to go under the knife to get results. The dermatologist will use a laser to destroy any uneven skin or melanin under your eyes.

The least invasive procedures are chemical peels and cosmetic bleaching. A dermatologist, such as those at Greater Des Moines Dermatology, P.C., can exfoliate any damaged layers of skin, then bleach the new skin layers to lessen the dark  circles. It's best to talk with your dermatologist about your specific goals and budget to find the best treatment.

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