Do dark eye circles have you looking like a sleep-deprived panda? Annoying as dark circles can be, there are some key causes. Knowing what causes your own dark under eyes can help you plan the best treatment regime.
Read on to learn about some of the most common causes and how to get your bright, energetic eyes back!
Causes of Dark Eye Circles
There are several different causes of dark eye circles and it’s possible for yours to be due to only one cause or a combination of different causes. Some of the most common contributing factors include:
- Sleep deprivation
- Dehydration
- Medical conditions
- Dry skin
- Sun exposure
- Aging
- Genetics
- Eyestrain
- Allergies
- Smoking
- Alcohol
Sleep Deprivation
Dark eye circles are the most classic sign of a lack of sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep, this can affect the appearance of the skin under your eyes in several ways. Lack of sleep can cause:
- Reduced skin hydration
- Reduced skin plumpness
- Increased sagging
- Greater visibility of blood vessels under skin
All of this contributes to making your eyes look tired and stressed. It can also exacerbate dark circles that are being caused by other reasons too.
Treatment
It’s easier said than done but the best treatment for dark eye circles caused by sleep deprivation is to get more sleep. The quality of your sleep is just as important as the time spent asleep, however, and you should also prioritize improving your consistency.
Go to bed at a similar time each night and try to maintain this schedule as much as possible. When you follow a schedule, it stops your body from having to try to adjust to sudden changes all the time and your sleep quality improves greatly so that you can get the most rest out of a moderate time span.
Dehydration
Your skin contains a lot of water and it is this water that helps it to maintain the correct elasticity and appear plump and healthy. Dehydration wreaks havoc on the skin because it draws water out of your skin and this can cause it to temporarily look saggier and thinner.
It also has another more sinister effect on your skin, however. Water is absolutely crucial for reactions to occur and enzymes to function. Dehydration not only makes the skin under your eyes more transparent but also reduces the synthesis of collagen and elastin—proteins that give your skin its youthful, healthy appearance.
Treatment
The best way to deal with dark circles caused by dehydration is to drink more water and never go long periods of time without any hydration. You can also improve the way your body uses water by avoiding the consumption of large amounts of caffeine, alcohol, and salt.
These substances make you excrete more water or draw it out of cells and other important areas where it can actually have a beneficial effect. You need a certain amount of salt (sodium) every day but too much has several negative side effects and can leave you functionally dehydrated.
Medical Conditions and Medication Use
Several medical conditions contribute to dark eye circles including:
- Thyroid issues
- Diabetes
- Anemia
- Dermatitis
- Autoimmunity
- Cushing’s syndrome
Any condition that affects your skin’s health or collagen synthesis can affect the appearance of the skin under your eyes and this isn’t an exhaustive list of conditions by any means. The medications used to treat certain conditions are also potential causes of dark eye circles though.
Some of the medications most likely to cause dark circles include:
- Blood thinners
- Vasodilators (blood pressure medication mainly)
- Corticosteroids
- Immunosuppressants
- Diuretics
- Anti-depressants
In addition, some medications and conditions that can increase your skin’s sensitivity to the sun can also cause dark circles indirectly by causing more sun damage unless you use sunscreen. Topical benzoyl peroxide or retinoids can have this effect, as can oral medications like tetracycline antibiotics.
Treatment
In most cases, you won’t be able to simply change the way you treat an illness or magically remove it from your life. You should, however, consult with your doctor about any possible changes that can be made to your treatment or lifestyle to improve your skin’s health.
Dry Skin
Skin dryness has a similar effect to dehydration but in this case, the dryness is external in nature. It’s usually caused by washing your skin too often or with harsh cleansers but it can also be genetic and you may have dry skin regardless of other factors.
Treatment
Keep your skin hydrated and healthy using a high-quality moisturizer regularly. The benefits of moisturizing can even go well beyond treating dry skin because many contain ingredients that fight aging or produce other beneficial effects.
Some moisturizers are even formulated to help reduce dark eye circles using key ingredients to plump up your skin and reduce the appearance of blood flow beneath it.
Sun Exposure
Sun exposure causes pigment changes in your skin that can make dark areas appear darker. It also damages collagen and elastin, leading to thinner, saggier skin that is more likely to show the blood vessels under your eyes.
Treatment
Avoid the sun where possible. Sun exposure is never a good thing. Any amount is damaging to your skin so if you must be exposed to it for more than a brief period, use a reliable sunscreen to protect yourself from its damaging effects.
However, do be aware that ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun is the primary source of vitamin D. Unless you’re getting your levels checked and supplementing it when required, you do need at least a few minutes of sun exposure to ensure adequate production because UV rays convert cholesterol into vitamin D in your skin.
Aging
As your skin ages, it loses some of its youthful vigor because hyaluronic acid and collagen levels decrease. Levels of antioxidants within your skin also decrease and this makes it more likely for the free radicals from an unhealthy lifestyle, sun exposure, and ordinary metabolism to have more of a damaging effect on the appearance of your skin.
Treatment
You can’t stop the clock but you can rewind its effects or at least slow them down in many cases. Anti-aging skin care ingredients like hyaluronic acid or retinoids are incredibly effective at reducing age-related changes in your skin but you need to use them consistently over a long period of time to see results.
Genetics
Your genetics are another factor that plays a part in whether you will suffer from dark eye circles and how severe their appearance is. This is because your genetics determine the thickness and collagen content of your skin, how much pigment is present and where it’s located, and the vascularity underneath your skin.
Treatment
There’s no easy or accessible way to change your genes yet because scientists still don’t understand enough about the process to put it to practical use. The human body is a strange contraption and many of your characteristics like the quality of your skin or color of your hair arise from complex interactions with many different genes.
Changing a single gene often proves ineffective at best, or leads to catastrophic results because the gene ends up also having involvement in something unexpected like blood vessel function. It could be decades before real progress is made in this field.
As such, the best way to deal with dark eye circles from a genetic cause is to treat them with general treatments like skin-plumping products, a healthy diet, or eye care products like caffeine creams to minimize the appearance of blood vessels that lead to the dark appearance.
A more extreme kind of treatment is to have a dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon inject dermal fillers or fat in the skin under your eyes to temporarily treat the problem at its root cause. Filling out that area decreases the appearance of thin skin there and reduces the appearance of dark blood vessels.
These treatments can have side effects though and aren’t an ideal option for everyone.
Eyestrain
Tired, strained eyes cause dark circles to appear under your eyes due to the dilation of blood vessels. If you’re constantly staring at screens, you’re also more likely to feel fatigued and this can affect your skin too.
Treatment
Eyestrain is easily avoided by avoiding focusing on screens too often or straining to see things in low light settings. Sometimes this may not be possible though, in which case you should at least try to take a break to rest your eyes and the muscles that help them focus and move around.
This will reduce the risk of dark eye circles but not eliminate it. If you can’t avoid eyestrain, you should also consider generalized treatment using skincare products in addition to scheduled eye rests.
Allergies
Allergic reactions can lead to swelling in the eye area that makes bags and dark circles look more prominent. They can also cause dark eye circles directly, however, by dilating blood vessels and making capillaries more permeable.
Treatment
If you suffer from regular hay fever you probably can’t just avoid exposure to your allergen. In this case, an antihistamine may be an effective treatment because it’s histamine that causes the swelling and blood vessel prominence that allergies produce.
Smoking and Alcohol Consumption
Finally, smoking and alcohol consumption both contribute to dark circles too but for different reasons. Smoking decreases collagen synthesis and increases concentrations of damaging free radicals in your skin. It also makes your skin less elastic so that it tends to become looser.
Alcohol, on the other hand, dilates blood vessels and dehydrates you. This can temporarily thin skin and make darkness under the eyes more visible. If you’re staying up late drinking a lot, then this has an even greater potential to cause dark circles because it combines dehydration, fatigue, and increased blood flow together into one big problem.
Treatment
Smoking is never healthy for your skin and it’s wise to cut down and eventually stop if possible. Alcohol use, however, is something that’s okay on occasion as long as it’s not done too frequently or to an extreme. It’s ideal to avoid both as much as possible though.
Generalized Treatment
There are also several generalized treatments that will reduce the appearance of dark eye circles regardless of cause. Stopping the cause is most important, but sometimes that’s not enough on its own or it’s something you can’t change and that’s where skin products are beneficial.
Some of the best products for reducing dark circles include:
- Caffeine under-eye creams/rollers
- Hyaluronic acid
- Retinol (only low concentration and if your skin can handle it)
- Vitamin E
- Niacinamide
- Vitamin C
- Moisturizer
- Salicyclic acid (low concentration)
- Makeup
Some ingredients like caffeine are well-known for reducing the appearance of dark circles and this is why it’s used in so many eye creams. It constricts blood vessels, helping to eliminate the dark color.
Other ingredients like retinol, vitamin C, and hyaluronic acid work to increase collagen to make the skin under your eyes less thin and translucent. Moisturizer can also produce a similar plumping effect and niacinamide or salicyclic acid products can reduce the puffiness and redness that often occurs with dark circles.
Finally, makeup is often the best, albeit temporary, treatment for dark circles. Highlighter or concealer used appropriately can help to completely vanish dark eye circles but the effect will wear off when you wash it off. It’s no substitute for a healthy lifestyle and targeted treatment but it can be used to instantly reduce the appearance of the problem whenever necessary.
Covering up your dark circles or eliminating them with products can only go so far and it’s best to address the root cause whenever possible or use a combination of generalized treatment and fighting the cause. This will ensure that your eyes look fresh, youthful, and bright by keeping dark eye circles at bay.