Hey guys in this week's video we are going to learn how to get rid of those dark circles under
the eyes we're going to learn all about the science of dark circles we're going to learn
about the causes and we're going to learn all about dark circles under the eyes home remedies
and lots more so welcome to my channel if you haven't been here before we talk about
everything medical and healthcare related here on the channel and most importantly all of the
information we give here on the channel is always evidence based so you know you can trust all of
the information that we give also please remember this entire video is going to be chaptered in
the description below so if at any point you want to find any specific piece of information
feel free to click on the description and click on the relevant chapter however as i always say
make sure you watch the entire video because it's going to make you a bit of a pro on the topic
lastly if you find anything new or you've learned something new in this video please don't forget to
click that like button because it's going to help me and it's going to help the video grow so now
let's begin okay so first of all let's go into a bit of science why do we get dark circles probably
one of the most common questions i get asked so with dark circles you need to remember a few
things the skin under the eyes is very thin it's one of the thinnest parts of the skin on the body
this means that this skin doesn't contain many oil secreting glands firstly and secondly it doesn't
contain much collagen so what does this mean well first of all it means that the skin is going to be
very prone to getting dehydrated quickly because it's so thin and also because it doesn't have much
oil producing glands and secondly it's going to be far more prone to aging because we have
far less collagen there so because of these two factors mainly the area the skin under the eyes is
very sensitive to many different changes and we're going to go through all of these in this video now
you also have to remember with the skin under the eyes it's also highly vasculated and vasculated
means it's got a lot of blood supply there what does blood mean blood means that it's going to
change the color of the area so if you have a lot of vascular supply there so a lot of blood supply
there and the light is going to reflect from it and it's going to give it that darker appearance
this is quite normal also please remember anatomically speaking as well this is a sunken
area when the area is sunken we are gonna get more shadowing which is gonna make it appear darker as
well so these are some of the reasons why we get those dark circles now unfortunately there are a
few things that are out of our control when it comes to dark circles so for example we've got
aging we've got ethnicity we've got genetics health conditions you know if you're prone to
getting sinus infections if you have diabetes if you have allergies all of these are out of
our control when it comes to dark circles now studies have also shown that as you get older
the distribution and volume of fat in your face changes which along with the loss of bone density
leads to facial hollowing such as sunken eyes and it's also believed that dark circles are
more visible in those of non-white descent due to differences in melanin production now the
good news is there are a couple of things that we can do that have scientifically been shown to help
improve the appearance of dark circles which is exactly what i'm going to go through with you
in this video please remember there's going to be no magical solutions or potions or trickery
or anything like that in this video that's potentially going to get rid of your dark circles
but i am going to go through everything that i know the evidence supports and the science behind
it supporting it to help with dark circles so please do remember that let's begin now the first
thing i want to say before we start to go into home remedies and things that we can do to help
with dark circles is there are lots of creams and lotions out there that advertise themselves that
are going to help with dark circles and get rid of them please do remember that there is very very
little evidence supporting these creams i have had a long look at the evidence on these creams
and there's very little data supporting them in them actually improving the appearance so a lot
of them are going to be a waste of money okay so please do bear that in mind don't fall for the
misinformation and advertisements out there because a lot of it really isn't gonna help with
the appearance of dark circles okay i keep saying we're gonna begin but now we are actually gonna
begin okay so let's begin with remedy number one the first thing i want to talk to you all about is
good sleep hygiene and i know it sounds a little basic but i'm going to ask you two questions now
first of all are you getting enough sleep so are you getting at least eight hours of sleep
per night and secondly are you having a regular sleep cycle do you have a regular sleep pattern
so for example that you sleep at 10 pm and let's say you wake up at 6 30 7 p.m okay do you have a
regular sleep pattern because if you don't these can definitely make dark circles much much worse
so in order to reduce the appearance of dark circles you should try and get about eight hours
of sleep every night but bear in mind some of us need less and some of us need more and you should
try and keep to a regular routine where you can so waking up at the same time each day and trying to
go to sleep at the same time each day also please remember that over sleeping can also have an
effect on dark circles too so please don't think to yourself that you're going to catch up on sleep
you need to be maintaining that routine now if you're the type of person who feels like you get
puffy eyes especially when you sleep this could be due to the drainage that happens when you're
sleeping so a top tip of mine is if you do find yourself being one of these people that has really
puffy eyes in the morning try adding an extra pillow or getting a thicker pillow so it raises
your head a bit more by raising it we're not going to have that gravitational force that causes the
drainage towards the eyes okay by raising a little it's going to help it drain down and we're not
gonna get that puffiness so please bear that in mind if that does apply to you you can give it a
go see how you get on with it okay so moving on to tip number two tip number two is all about using
a cold compress cold compresses can be really effective at helping to reduce the appearance
of dark circles what they do is they restrict the blood flow to the bottom of the eyes the
skin there which can help with any inflammation any swelling and also just the appearance of dark
circles reducing that appearance of them so they can be really helpful so it is one option that you
could give it a go it's fairly easy to do you can buy them from the chemist you can buy them
from online wherever really usually you keep them in the fridge and you can usually use them now
there's no real evidence in terms of how often to use them but some people find them helpful to use
twice a day once a day so see what works best for yourself really now obviously here on the channel
i also like to make things easy for you guys so if you can't go and get yourself a cold compressed
bag or anything like that another option which there is some evidence for as well is green tea so
green tea the stuff that we drink use the bag the tea bag let it cool pop it in the fridge maybe so
it's nice and cold and you can place that on the eye obviously make sure your eye is closed and on
the tea goes into your eyes but it has been shown again to have that cold compress effect so it's
going to help with the dark circles but also green tea contains things like caffeine and antioxidants
which again have been shown to help improve the circulation around the eye and again reduce the
swelling and any inflammation that it's going to cause dark circle so green tea is a really good
option as well especially if you drink green tea i guess it's a great way to recycle those bags as
well pop it in the fridge give it a go and see how you get on i'd also love if any of you have
tried it or if you give it a go please do leave a comment below because i'd love to read more about
your experience and i'm sure everyone else would too and if you've ever seen in the films or on tv
when people sit with cucumber slices on their eyes well there is a bit of science to that
so while you can use cold cucumber slices as an option called tea bags like we just spoke about
or cold flannels or any cold compress they will all do so i really hope this helps okay so moving
on to remedy number three which is all about staying hydrated and avoiding triggers we know and
studies have shown that excess alcohol and excess caffeine can actually make dark circles worse also
excess sun exposure can also make dark circles worse so bear that in mind let's talk about it
more okay so let's begin with the alcohol so first of all alcohol is not only going to dehydrate you
and make the actual appearance of dark circles worse by causing more of a sunken effect but it is
also going to expand and open the blood vessels so we're going to have loads more blood flow in there
which again is going to make the dark circles appear much worse so if you do drink alcohol
have a real think about how much alcohol you're drinking obviously here in the uk the recommended
amount per week is 14 units per week for men and women with alcohol free days that's the most
important thing you shouldn't be drinking alcohol every single day you should be having you know
two to three alcohol-free days just for the body to recover now if you can go less than that even
better it is going to help with the appearance of dark circles and if you want some more tips on how
to reduce alcohol intake i do have a video on it which i will leave up here and in the description
below now as much as you may love coffee which i love it too by the way you really need to think
to yourself how much coffee are you drinking okay really think about it if you're having too much
coffee you need to cut down on it because coffee is going to dehydrate you which is going to make
the dark circle appear worse but also remember the coffee affects our sleep cycle so we're not going
to be getting that good sleep cycle which is going to make us feel rested and it's going to help with
those dark circles and studies have shown that getting the right amount of sleep having a good
sleep cycle does help with the dark circles okay so please think about the coffee think about how
much you're having and see if you can actually cut down on it and it will well it should help with
the appearance of dark circles as well and lastly on this topic let's talk about that sun exposure
so sunlight is really important for our mental health as well as being needed for vitamin d
production in our bodies however too much sunlight can also be bad for us especially for our skin
as not only does it increase melanin production under our eyes leading to more pigments there but
it also increases your risk of skin cancer so in order to reduce your dark circles from sun
exposure you really need to wear sunglasses especially on sunny days it's going to help
protect that area it's going to cause that barrier protection which is really important
you also need to try and avoid direct sun try and stay in the shade as much as you can and lastly
don't forget you really need a good sunscreen with both uva and uvb protection sunscreen is so
important at preventing that aging of the skin one of the things i said at the start we really
couldn't you know change much but we can slow it down as well with good sunscreen and sunscreen
is massively important to reduce the aging and reduce problem as in the aging that causes the
dark circles so i can't stress the importance of sunscreen enough for you guys if you want
more information on buying the best sunscreen what to look out for what ingredients to look out for
i do have quite a comprehensive video on it which i will leave a link to up here
and in the description below for you and moving on to tip number four which is all about using a
good concealer look if you've got dark circles and they're really affecting you and the things that
we've tried aren't making much of a difference and a good concealer can be a really great
quick fix just to help with the appearance of dark circles now whilst we're on this note please also
remember that dark circles are completely normal a lot of us have them it's not a sign of bad health
well it's not usually a sign of bad health okay it's very normal for us to have dark circles and
just embrace and love the skin that we have okay that's the most important thing now obviously this
video is for information purposes and i really do hope that it helps you but please also remember
that it's very very normal to have dark circles now as i mentioned dark circles can be caused
by a variety of different things however please remember that if you are not having good sleep
if you're struggling to sleep having real problems with it or if you're oversleeping constantly okay
all of these can be causes for the dark circles as well if this is happening to you please remember
to speak to a healthcare professional don't just leave it there might be underlying causes
they're actually causing it so you actually need to speak to healthcare professional
so you can take a history do an examination do a blood test do everything they need to do to
find out that everything is actually okay now also dark circles and sunken eyes can also be
a sign of dehydration so please remember if you're constantly having dry lips if you're
feeling dizzy if you're feeling really tired all of these can be signs of dehydration which
again is important to speak to your healthcare professional about so that's it for this week's
video on how to get rid of those dark circles i really hope that you found this information
helpful like i said at the start of the video i wasn't gonna go through some magical potions and
things to make that you can apply in the eye that's gonna get rid of it because there's no
evidence supporting these things and they're really quite frankly a waste of time all of
the stuff that i've mentioned to you in this video is all evidence supported that actually show that
if you do them right they are going to help with the appearance of dark circles so i really do hope
that you find this information helpful you're now a bit of a dark circle as pros to tell your
friends so your family tell your loved ones tell everyone because you now know all about
dark circles and what causes them what treatments to do what you actually need to do to help with
the appearance of them also if you have any of your own tips i would love to read them so please
leave a comment below i'd love to read i'm sure everyone watching this video would love
to read it too as i always say at the end of every single video always remember that you're
awesome and i will see you next week hey guys thanks for watching this week's video make sure
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