have you noticed these dark circles or puffy under eye bags lately then this video is for you we're
going over the top causes as well as treatments for these baggy dark eyelids let's focus in
hey howdy everybody I'm Dr. Neal Guymon, Dr. EyeGuy, with a show that keeps your eyes healthy
and your vision clear and i talk all about the eyes so make sure you subscribe so i can help you
with your eyes now let's talk about those dark baggy eyelids to understand the causes of these
under eye bags let's go over the anatomy of the lower eyelids our eyelid skin top and bottom is a
very thin skin and on top of that as we age that skin structure tends to degrade and loosen over
time and so if you have any vessel dilation you tend to get those dark circles or if you had fluid
retention or fluid buildup in that area you tend to get that under eye bag another note is that
genetics plays a role in how much pigmentation we might have around our eyelid skin as well as the
structure of our eyelid skin and that's something we just can't avoid so let's go over the main
causes of these dark circles and eyelid bags number one is sleep sleep is your eyelids time
to rejuvenate the skin if you have lack of sleep it doesn't have time to keep the eyelids tight
so you tend to get fluid build up and vessel dilation in that area so you get these dark
puffy eyelids sleep position is also very important if you sleep prone or maybe on your side
then fluid will tend to build up and won't drain out of your eyelids and then you'll wake up
with these puffy eyelids in the morning and then on the flip side of things if you sleep
too much that gives the eyes too much time for the fluid to build up and pool in your eyelids
and then you'll wake up looking like a mess even though you slept a ton the next big cause
is allergies if you're exposed to an allergen maybe dust or pollen that tends to get on the
eyelid skin or maybe the eyelashes and it causes a histamine response which causes inflammation
more fluid buildup and those dark circles under your eyelids as well as on top of that if you
have allergies and itchy eyes you tend to rub your eyes a lot and that can cause the puffiness to get
worse and with the allergies there's a term in the clinic i like to use called allergic
shiners the dark circles in your eyelids from the allergies can get so bad it looks like you have a
bruised eye or someone punched you in the eye allergic shiner ultraviolet rays or uv damage
is another big one it can cause the degradation of the skin of the face including the eyelids making
the skin more loose making more prone to develop those under eye bags leaving on eye makeup can
also irritate the skin around the eyelids as well as something called blepharitis an overproduction
of bacteria around the eyelids maybe flakes on the eyelashes that can cause your eyelids
to inflame and making it have that puffy under eye bag look and this next one is probably the biggest
cause for many people and that is taking in too much salt in your diet like most people
in america we tend to take in sodium or salt way too much in our diet and that salt tends to hold
water inside the structures of our body including the skin of our eyelids and so a lot of times when
you eat a salty meal or we have a few days where you're eating a lot of salt you'll go to bed and
wake up with those under eye bags or those dark circles and that's because that salt is retaining
fluid in there now let's talk about the treatment or what can you do about these under eye bags or
these dark circles number one on the list would be to get better sleep it's recommended to get
between seven to nine hours of sleep not too little not too much we're all busy so good luck
on that one along the same line sleep position is also very important you want to try to sleep
on your back with a slight incline that will allow the fluid to drain down so it doesn't pool in your
eyelids the next thing on the list is you want to be ready to go with your allergy medications
including your allergy eye drops so make sure you check out my video about the best over-the-counter
allergy eye drops the number one on the list would probably be pat a day this will definitely help
with your eye allergies for that uv light damage you want to make sure that you're wearing 100 uv
blocking sunglasses as much as you can sunglasses don't just protect your eyeballs but they protect
the skin of your eyelids the next one will be to also remember to remove your makeup before you go
to bed also to treat your blepharitis check out my video that i did about how you can get rid of or
treat your blepharitis at home the next one can be tricky but also very very important and that's to
control the salt intake through your diet if you can take in less salt controlling how much salt
you're taking in that will definitely help with a lot of things of the body but definitely help
with how much fluid you are going to retain and that will help with the under eye bags for sure
another thing that i didn't mention with the causes but that would be smoking smoking can
definitely degrade the structure of the eyelids and so you want to try your best to quit smoking
now here are a couple tips to help you with those under eye bags or those dark circles especially if
you just woke up and notice that your eyelids are puffy now like i said before that dark
color comes from blood vessel dilation and that thin skin allows you to see that a lot easier and
along with that the under eye bags come from the fluid retention from those dilated vessels so one
big tip to constrict those blood vessels to make the eyelid skin a little bit tighter to get that
fluid out of there would be cold compresses now you can also use a cool compressed eye mask like
this or you can use something frozen out of the freezer like a bag of vegetables or a bag of fruit
or even some frozen meat another popular tip that many people use is using the tea bag trick
and you want to use tea that has caffeine in it caffeine can be absorbed through the skin of the
eyelids and caffeine can constrict blood vessels making that darker color to go away and so you
just apply a tea bag on your eyelids for a little bit and they'll constrict the blood vessels and
also tighten up the skin as well and one thing i want you to be aware of is if you're getting
these under eye bags more frequently it could be a sign of something else going on some thyroid
issues or cardiovascular issues and so it'd be a good idea to go see your primary care provider
to get things checked out now if you've noticed that you have constant under eye bags and maybe
have gotten worse as you have aged then the cause of this could be something else and also very
common now like i said before the skin of the eyelid tends to degrade over time and it loses its
structure and so a common thing that will happen is the orbital fat or the fat right underneath the
eyeball will slip forward and push out and bulge out the eyelid causing that under eye bag and that
fat won't get sucked back in so then you just have this redistribution of fat that bulges out
the eyelid now you can still use the same tips to tighten up that eyelid skin to make it not look as
puffy but that fat will still remain there and usually the only way to get rid of that
fat would be to have surgery there's a surgery that's called the lower eyelid blepharoplasty
and they can remove that fat and tighten up the skin and then get rid of your under eye bags hey
thanks everybody for checking out this video I'm Dr. Neal Guymon, Dr. EyeGuy, focusing on you and
your eyes stay focused check out my other videos right there and i'll see you in the next video