Dark Circles - The dark patch on your facial beauty
Dark Circles are one of the most common problems when it comes to facial beauty. They are typically not a severe problem but might indicate or are a symptom of what you are going through in terms of sleep and tiredness. In this article, we discuss the causes and the ways to prevent the onset and also methods to treat this cause.
What are dark circles?
Infraorbital dark circle refers to conditions that present with relative darkness of the infraorbital eyelids. It can be a significant cosmetic problem, and many individuals seek treatment for this condition. Still, there hasn’t been enough evidence regarding the cause and little research into the potential treatment of this condition. This condition affects individuals with a wide range of age, both sexes and all races. Moreover, it worsens with the ageing process of skin sagging and altered subcutaneous fat distribution. Dark circle is a condition that can be a significant cosmetic concern for female patients as having infraorbital dark circles makes you look tired, sad, or hungover. General fatigue, especially lack of sleep, worsens dark circles under the eyes. While fatigue may seem like the most logical explanation for this condition, several factors can contribute to dark circles under the eyes. In most cases, they are no cause for concern and do not require medical attention.
Causes of Dark Circles under Eyes
Several factors contribute to the occurrence of dark circles. Some of them are:
Eye strain: When you look at one constant thing without moving your eyes, it tends to strain the muscles of the eye that help to maintain focus. This leads to the enlargement of the blood vessels(which run from under the eye) to these muscles for better functioning, hence leading to dark spots under the eyes.
Age: As we age, our skin naturally becomes a little thinner. About one-third of dark circles under the eyes conditions are caused by this thinning skin which allows the fine capillaries under the skin to lend a bluish tint to the skin. This is known as a vascular cause of dark circles.
Genetics: Lack of pigment of fair skin toned people makes the bluish tone more apparent. For those people with olive-based skin tones, the vascular cause lends a brown or yellowish colour to the dark circles. It can be an inherited trait seen early in childhood and may worsen as you age or slowly disappear. Predispositions to other medical conditions — such as thyroid— can also result in dark circles beneath your eyes.
Edema/Oedema: Swelling of the area under the eyes – due to allergies and sensitivities, dehydration, inadequate nutrition, and not enough sleep can exacerbate the problem. The bagginess casts a shadow that accentuates dark circles under the eyes.
Excessive Sun Exposure: Sunlight causes the production of Melanin, which is a pigment that produces your skin colour. When excessive amounts of Melanin is created, it can cause pigmentation, which leads to a darker skin tone.
Allergies: Year-round allergies like those to dust or mold, or seasonal allergies many of us experience in the spring trigger the release of histamines, which cause an inflammatory response. That means our blood vessels become inflamed and swell – including those under our eyes. This means, if you try to reduce all the above causes, you prevent yourself from getting them. If you still, unfortunately, get them, fret not, we’ve got you covered.
How can you treat Dark Circles?
There are quite a few ways you can treat dark circles. We are listing down a few homemade remedies here.
Cold Compress: They reduce swelling of blood vessels which makes them dilated and reduce the appearance of dark circles. Make a compress out of ice cubes. Apply it twice a day to the spot. Keep the ice around the spot for 15-20 mins.
Tomatoes: Tomatoes are high in lycopene, a substance that’s excellent for your cardiovascular health, vision, and your skin. Lycopene can help create softer, more supple skin, as well as decrease the appearance of dark under-eye circles. They perform best with lemon juice. Make sure that you add the same quantity of lemon juice and tomato juice and mix well. Use cotton to apply it to your under-eye skin. Make sure you don’t let the lemon juice into your eye as this may cause irritation and also may lead to serious injury.
Sleep: Recent studies have shown that getting enough sleep is necessary for the body to function normally. As sleep deprivation can cause your skin to appear pale, making the dark circles more prominent.
Cucumbers: Cucumbers contain Vitamin C and have very high water content. They also tend to have skin-lightening and mild astringent properties. It helps reduce the dark patches. Try this method at most twice a day. Chop a fresh cucumber into thick slices. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Leave the slices on your eyes for 10 minutes. Rinse your eye area with warm water after using it.
Vitamin E Oil and Almond Oil: Vitamin E helps fight the effect of free radicals that cause signs of ageing like wrinkles. Before bed at night, apply a drop of oil to your dark under-eye circles. Gently massage it into the skin. Leave this on your skin overnight Rinse with warm water in the morning.
Cold Tea Bags: Applying cold tea bags to your eyes can improve their appearance. Tea contains caffeine and antioxidants that can help in stimulating blood circulation, shrink your blood vessels, and reduce liquid retention beneath your skin. They also have anti-inflammatory properties that help soothe strained capillaries in your under-eye area. Soak a tea bag in clean water. Then place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Place the tea bags on your eyes. Leave for 10 minutes or so. Do this twice a day before removing. Rinse the area with warm water.
You can also treat the dark circles with chemical (cosmetic) products, but we highly advise you to follow this only if the condition is worse than it usually gets. Here we mention some of the other ways to reduce dark spots.
Skin-lightening cream: Under eye pigmentation can be treated with creams products that have kojic acid, glycolic acid, hydroquinone etc. About which you can read more about here.
Blepharoplasty: Blepharoplasty is the plastic surgery operation for correcting defects, deformities, and disfigurations of the eyelids; and for aesthetically modifying the eye region of the face. The fat from the under-eye area is removed to remove the dark spots.
Laser Treatment: Laser therapy vaporizes the dead cells with the help of heat, thus reducing the more coloured pigment and increasing collagen production. We see that dark circles affect people of all creeds and ages. There are many reasons as to why you get them some including, lifestyle practices, genetics and ageing. Getting enough sleep is essential, and using home remedies, maintaining a healthy lifestyle to keep your skin healthy is necessary as well. If you have any reason to check yourself for the unusual occurrences of dark circles, we recommend you see your dermatologist.