Under Eye Bags: Causes, Symptoms, Home Remedies and Treatment

Table of Contents

Symptoms of Eye Puffiness or Eye Bags

Types of Eye Puffiness

What Causes Puffy Eyes?

How to Get Rid of Puffy Eyes Easily?

How to Reduce Eye Bags with Right Eating Habits?

Seeking Medical Guidance

Treatment Options for Eye Bags Removal

Why choose ClearSkin?

Eye Puffiness: Your medical queries answered

Many people complain of eye puffiness or mild swelling under the eyes and it is a major contributing factor to a diminished youthful appearance. This is more common among aged people though there can be many other reasons for the weakening of the tissues around the eyes including allergies, genetic problems, stress, and fatigue. However, in most cases, these eye bags do not need medical intervention and can be easily got rid of using home remedies for puffy eyes that are simple and easy to apply.

Symptoms of Eye Puffiness or Eye Bags

• Mild swelling
• Sagging or loose skin around the eyes
• Dark circles formation around the eyes

Types of Eye Puffiness

• Under eye puffiness: The most common type of puffiness around the eyes includes slight swelling on the eyelids and below the eye socket, thus, lending a tired and saggy feeling. These eye bags are not prominent and are noticeable only from certain angles. Though the most common cause attributed to these types of eye bags is lack of sleep, dehydration or triggering of allergic reactions are some other reasons for such unwarranted swelling.
• Sagging eye bags: There’s no denying that growing age always factors in our loss of beauty. It all starts with innocuous puffiness around the eyes and gradually culminates into sagging eye bags that you want to get rid of. These little pockets of fat under our eyes are responsible for the formation of small semi-circles around our eyes, thus, lending a changed facial projection. Though not infectious, these kinds of eye bags are not welcome in daily parlance.
• Dark circles: These may be due to lack of enough sleep and may appear as black or blue bags depending on your skin complexion. The best part about these dark circles is that you can get rid of them by following some simple home remedies daily.

What Causes Puffy Eyes?

One may have puffy under-eyes due to factors including:

• Retention of fluid around the eyes due to excessive salt in the diet
• Insufficient sleep
• Allergic reactions
• Smoking habits
• Genetics wherein eye bags formation runs in the family blood
• Loss or collapse of underlying supporting tissues and structures

How to Get Rid of Puffy Eyes Easily?

Get Rid of Puffy Eyes

Some simple lifestyle changes can help in the eye bag removal but also reveal a smooth and radiant skin underneath the eyes.

Some simple puffy eyes remedies that can be tried at home include:

• Get enough sleep: A good night’s sleep for at least eight hours every day can keep many problems at bay. Though limited sleep may not be one of the reasons for puffy eyes, chances are that you will suffer from a pale complexion, thus, accentuating the shadows or dark circles that you want to hide.
• Keep your head elevated while asleep: Tuck in more pillows under your head while you sleep and let gravity do its magic. Keeping the head in an elevated position prevents fluid and blood from being accumulated in the lower eyelids.
• Apply tea bags on the affected area: The caffeine in the tea does not rid you of sleep only. One can also place the caffeinated tea bags (chilled in the fridge for around 20 minutes) under the eyes to help get rid of the dark circles and unwanted puffiness. One may also use a green tea bag for puffy eye treatment as the anti-inflammatory effects in green tea helps provide immediate relief to the swollen area. For better results, you may either leave the tea bags on the swollen area for 15-20 minutes or squeeze out the extra liquid and apply it to the area under the eyes.
• Applying cold compress: Have you ever tried the age-old formula of applying cold compresses to swollen areas?  This trick applies as a puffy eyes remedy too as the blood vessels are constricted, and hence, less conspicuous. You may try a tissue paper or a cloth dipped in cold water to soothe the affected area or try the same with the back of a cold teaspoon or cucumber slices after having stored them in the fridge.
• Drinking lots of water: Dehydration or loss of water from the body can be one of the reasons for puffy eyes. When asked by patients how to get rid of eye bags, doctors often recommend men to drink at least 12 cups of water every day, while nine cups of fluids are deemed enough for women. While water may be one of the liquid options to stay hydrated, you may also try drinking juice or buttermilk to increase the total hydration of the body.
• Clean your face every night: You must get rid of the makeup on your face before going to bed every night. Your eye makeup or the foundation under your eyes can irritate, if not washed properly. This may also trigger an allergic reaction resulting in eye puffiness, redness, and early signs of eye bags problem.
• Cut down on alcohol intake: Too much drinking can cause dehydration, which in turn may cause bags and dark circles under your eyes. If you are unable to find the answer to the question “How to reduce eye bags?” you must try refraining from excessive alcohol consumption. Instead, replace your alcohol with fluids like juice or water, and you will see how the added fluids in the body serve as an effective puffy eyes remedy.
• Get rid of smoking: Smoking depletes the Vitamin C responsible for collagen formation in the skin; also, it affects synthesis and hinders the repair of preexisting collagen. Smokers frequently suffer from problems including early age wrinkles, skin discoloration, under-eye bags, and dark circles.  

How to Reduce Eye Bags with Right Eating Habits?

Reduce Eye Bags with Right Eating Habits

What you eat reflects on your health. This means preferring nutritious food over unhealthy snacks and oily food can help maintain your skin elasticity while retaining its color and smoothness. One of the best ways of getting rid of eye puffiness is to include more nutritious foods that are rich in the following micronutrients. 

• Rich in collagen: Aging can weaken the muscles and tissues supporting the eyelids. This may cause sagging of the skin inclusive of the fat surrounding the eye muscles or eye bags. Eat citrus fruits like lemons and oranges rich in Vitamin C and food items rich in amino acid content for healthy skin. Other preferred sources of Vitamin C include:

• Red peppers
• Kale
• Brussels sprouts
• Broccoli
• Strawberries

• Rich in Lycopene: Several fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants like Lycopene that improve eye health and have a boosting effect on overall immunity. Rich traces of Lycopene help treat skin pigmentation that in turn reduces the formation of dark circles under the eyes and subsequent eye puffiness. The commonly available sources of Lycopene are vegetables including cabbage and tomatoes, while fruits like papaya and watermelon are also rich in this antioxidant.
• Rich in Vitamin K: When it comes to repairing skin damage and injuries, nothing works better than Vitamin K. Known for its healing properties including its effect on dark circles under the eyes and removal of unwanted puffiness around the eyes, increased intake of food items rich in Vitamin-K are advised by nutrition specialists. The commonly available sources of Vitamin K include fruits and vegetables like pomegranates, tomatoes, cauliflowers, and turnips.
• Rich in iron content: Iron-rich foods are always advised to patients diagnosed with anemia. The iron in the blood enables the carrying of oxygen to the blood vessels. Its deficiency may give way to pale skin besides the formation of dark circles around the eyes. Anemic people are more likely to struggle with eye puffiness or dark circles in the area under the eyes. To get rid of the puffiness around the eyes, you must include iron-rich foods in your diet like:

• Seafood
• Beans
• Leafy green vegetables
• Dry fruits and nuts
• Certain cereals
• Pea
• Less in salt content: Too much salt in your food can contribute to fluid retention and eye puffiness. If you feel bloated or experience puffiness around the eyes, the first thing you must do is to cut down the salt content in your food. This can be done by avoiding the consumption of packaged, processed foods and including more fresh fruits and vegetables in your daily diet.

Seeking Medical Guidance

In some cases, the under-eye swelling may not be due to lifestyle reasons, stress, or aging alone. The puff under the eyes may be due to inherent allergy problems or an anomaly in the genes that begets medical treatment. Besides, the puffiness around the eyes does not subside despite the consistent application of home remedies for puffy eyes.

While you may try using skin-lightening creams to conceal your bags under the eyes, you must also consult an expert or an experienced dermatologist before seeking any surgical procedure. 

Don’t ignore the first signs of eye puffiness or dark circle formation around the eyes. Ask your doctor the reasons for puffy eyes before deciding the right course of treatment for eye bag removal.

• What are the likely reasons for bags under your eyes?
• Are the reasons for puffy eyes temporary or critical?
• What are the possible home remedies for puffy eyes?
• Which home remedies for puffy eyes will relieve my symptoms?
• What are the available puffy eye treatment options?
• Are the eye bags due to fluid retention? Will a potassium-rich diet help?
• Which puffy eyes remedy has the most potential for eye bag removal?
• How to get rid of puffy eyes inexpensively?
• Which puffy eyes remedy has a long-lasting effect?
• Are there any follow-ups involved in the puffy eye treatment?

Treatment Options for Eye Bags Removal

Eyes are delicate organs, which means you must take care to choose the right option. The common treatment options to remove the bags under the eyes include:

• Prescription-based creams: You can see the formation of dark circles on the thin skin under your eyes before they change to little pockets of fat also called eye bags. Doctors mostly prescribe retinoid creams for eye bag removal as the retinol in the cream stimulates collagen production, thus, doing away with dark circle formation.
  
  Creams containing phenylephrine help constrict blood vessels, thus, reducing their diameter. Due to their potential dual effect on puffy eyelids, many dermatologists recommend these to treat puffy eyelids. Another set of preferred creams recommended by doctors are hemorrhoid creams that are available over the counter to reduce swelling of the blood vessels around the eyes.
  
  It’s vital that before using any of these creams, a proper evaluation of cause and skin type is done by a dermatologist. Avoid using any of these creams without a proper prescription
• Therapies: While prescription creams may reduce puffiness around the eyes to some extent or reduce the swelling of eye bags, you may require other treatments like chemical peels, heat based rejuvenation, laser therapies and injectables either alone or in combination, for prolonged use and the best possible  improvement.

• Surgeries: Many people seek puffy eye treatment because of allergy problems that cause the skin around the eyes to sag and turn pale from the effect of discoloration. Dermatologists recommend eyelid surgery to such patients wherein the excess fat is removed by making an incision in the upper or the lower eyelid. The skin is then stitched back to ensure a tightened effect. However, this is an outpatient procedure and must be carried out under the guidance of an expert.

Why choose ClearSkin?

Eye bags or puffiness is nothing to worry about as they pose no major health concern. Often getting more sleep or spending less time in front of the computer screens can help resolve the issues on its own. However, if the issue is persistent and is affecting your self-confidence, you must seek treatment. 

While sometimes home remedies can remove or help reduce the appearance of dark circles and eye puffiness, it helps if you consult an expert or physician to know the exact diagnosis. There are multiple surgical and nonsurgical treatments which are scientifically proven, safe and effective in treatment of eyebags and puffiness

ClearSkin is India’s premier skincare and aesthetics clinic since 2006. We are equipped with more than 100 skincare experts and dermatology surgeons, making our name synonymous with safe, modern, and effective skin and cosmetic treatments. Our mission is to help you regain confidence and put forth the best version of yourself. Consult with us for a permanent solution to your dark circles and eye puffiness problem.

Eye Puffiness: Your medical queries answered

What causes eye bags?

Getting eye bags or feeling puffiness around the eyes is common with growing age. Stress and lack of sleep are also factors that may contribute to bags under your eyes. However, in some people, the reasons for puffy eyes may include allergies or genetic problems.

Should you use hemorrhoid cream under your eyes?

Refrain from using hemorrhoid cream always. Even if you are using it for reserved occasions, you must be careful against the cream getting into the inner layers of your eyes, lest it causes irritation. Also, you must allow the cream to dry before applying makeup to conceal those eye bags.

Can I permanently remove eye bags at home?

You may try home remedies for puffy eyes or lightening the bags under your eyes. However, a permanent solution to these problems is difficult unless you continue to apply these solutions consistently. If you are dissatisfied with the results of your home-made remedies or suffer from eye bags due to allergies or genetic problems, you may consult a skin expert for prescription-based retinoid creams or eyelid surgery.

Are fillers effective for eye bag removal?

This is an easy and safe way advised by doctors to get rid of the bags under the eyes. This treatment involves placing a filler material in the under-eye area and cheek region to create a smooth surface. The result lasts for as long as six months to a year and is performed under the guidance of a skin expert.