The under-eye area is made up of some of thinnest skin on your entire body. As such, it is much more vulnerable to signs of aging like crow’s feet or things like one too many late nights or a high sodium diet, which can show up as dark circles and puffiness around the eye. There are a number of products and in-office dermatologist procedures that are formulated and designed to address eye skin concerns, but it can be a challenge figuring out what works and what’s hype.
Ever wonder what eye doctors have to say about eye bags and puffiness?
Here are Dr. Allen from Doctor Eye Health’s top tips on handling puffy eyes and bags.
Avoid High-Sodium Foods
Diet is a key component in good skincare outcomes. And a diet filled with salty foods like potato chips or processed foods can lead to swollen, puffy eyes. Salt retains water, plain and simple. The less hydrated the under-eye area, the more your symptoms of swollen, puffy eyes are exacerbated.
Use Cold Compresses
A cold compress helps shrink the blood vessels around the eye, which in turn helps reduce puffiness. You can simply relax with a cold compress held to your eye for a few minutes and it should work its magic rather quickly. If you’ve seen the hype around placing cucumbers on the eyes, Dr. Allen says he doesn’t have any studies to prove its the cucumber itself (or its antioxidants) that help, and is likely just the coldness. You can use anything like eye masks, a cold spoon, or even a bag of peas.
Take Care of Your Allergies
Eye allergies can make your eyes red, puffy, and watery. If you tend to suffer from these types of allergies, it’s important to get a handle on them. Visit an allergist or eye doctor to find out about oral histamines and eye allergy drops that can help. Cold compresses can also make a difference. Most importantly: don’t rub your eyes — this will only make things worse.
Surgical Interventions
Some baggy eye skin could be the result of aging — and if that is the case, cold compresses and a low-sodium diet aren’t likely going to be enough to make significant changes to your eye area. This is where surgical interventions come in. A lower lid blepharoplasty (or lower eyelid lift) is where a surgeon makes an incision beneath your eyelid and remove some puffy orbital fat to make the area look smoother. The incision is made under the eyelid (not on the skin’s surface) so that when it heals you aren’t left with an obvious scar.
An Ounce of Prevention
Surgery may not be for everyone and some of these solutions may work better than others for you, but Dr. Allen is adamant about one thing: an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to skin issues like puffy eyes and eye bags. In this case, he stresses that wearing sunglass with UV protection can help ward off the damaging effects of UV light, which breaks down the skin’s cells faster and can lead to fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, and more.
Puffy eyes can be the result of aging, allergies, or genetics. Visit an opthamologist to get a personal assessment of the cause of your skin concerns so that you can come up with solutions that work for you.
