Dark Circles under eyes - do's and don'ts

Dark coloration of the skin under the eyes is mainly referred to as dark circles. These under eye dark circles are one of the most common cosmetic conditions for which patients come to a dermatologist.

How do dark circles develop?

Just like any other body part, blood vessels are present underneath the skin’s surface around the eyes. These vessels are delicate, and more prone to damage than that almost anywhere else in the body. This damage is usually caused over a prolonged period of time. Upon damage, blood particles leak out from the capillaries making the vessels visible through the skin. This gives the appearance of blemishes or discolouration of the skin around the eyes. It is likely to affect a lot of people at some point of time in their lives, but for some people, the darkness around the eyes just refuses to go away.

What are the causes of dark circles?

There are many causes of dark circles. There may be an inherent genetic tendency to develop dark circles in a family. With increasing age , the skin under eyes becomes lax and puffiness appears. This leads to increased vascularisation under lower eye lid, which gives it a darker appearance. Dark circles may develop later in life or may appear much darker due to certain acquired causes like:

• Deficiency of iron & vitamins
• Lack of proper sleep
• Strenuous visual work such as computers and reading
• Stress and anxiety
• Smoking and alcohol
• Thyroid disorder or other chronic illness
• Allergic reaction due to eye make up
• Pregnancy or hormonal changes

Life style modifications are important in improving dark circles. Here we discuss some do’s & don’ts to get rid of dark circles. These are usually the first steps for effective reduction of dark circles.

Do’s to avoid dark circles:

• Well-balanced diet rich in iron, vitamin K, vitamin C can considerably improve dark circles.
• About 7 hours of sleep at night with a 15-20 minutes nap in day time is sufficient to keep you fresh and reduces appearance of dark circles.
• Wearing good quality sun glasses and applying sunscreen daily on under-eye area will reduce the sun damage to delicate skin of eyes.
• Cold compresses soothe the skin. These shrink the prominent blood vessels and reduces under-eye puffiness, thus reducing the appearance of dark circles. One can use cucumber slices, potato slices, cold tea bags or cold clothes. Theses are to be applied on closed eye lids for at least 15 minutes.
• Decrease stress and discover more time to relax.
• Always remove your makeup gently with cleansing milk without much rubbing or pulling the skin of under eye.
• Consult a physician and take treatment if you are suffering from allergic rhinitis & sinusitis.

Don’ts to avoid dark circles:

• Avoid doing strenuous visual work (like prolonged working on computers or reading) continuously at an stretch. If required, take a break of 20 to 30 minutes in between.
• Don’t consume excess of salt so as to decrease puffiness or bags under eye.
• Don’t consume excessive alcohol, smoking , caffeinated sodas, and addictive drugs, as these affect the quality of sleep, increasing appearance of dark circles.
• Don’t sleep with makeup on. Makeup can irritate your skin and cause you to rub your eyes, which causes increased pigmentation.
• You should avoid mascara or eyeliner on lower eyelid , as they can smear on the surrounding skin and give darker appearance as the day passes on.
• Don’t keep rubbing your eyes every now & then. Rubbing irritates the skin & can break the very small & delicate blood vessels underneath the eyelids, leading to increased pigmentation.

If the dark circles do not improve even after these lifestyle modifications, you should consult your dermatologist. There are various under eye creams and procedures (like chemical peels, dermal fillers) to improve dark circles, that we will discuss about in our future posts. If you like this article, don’t forget to share it with your friends!