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Are people with allergies destined to have dark circles? Dark circles make you look tired and listless, and even after eight hours of sleep every night, you still wake up looking like a panda... Is there a simple solution to this problem? Today's fast-paced people often go straight to an aesthetic clinic for collagen-stimulating or hyaluronic acid filler injections. The advantage is that results show up quickly and collagen production is stimulated. But before that, we need to understand how dark circles actually form. And what other ways are there to avoid them? Keep reading! You may be able to solve your dark circle problem without injectable fillers!
How Do Dark Circles Form?
Dark circles, also called "eyelid dark spots," refer to darkening of the skin under and around the eyes due to melanin deposits caused by high eye pressure or poor blood circulation around the eyes. Put simply, the skin under and around the eyes looks dull and dark. There are many causes of this darkening:
1. Staying up late over the long term
2. Eye strain
3. Swelling around the eyes
4. Genetics
5. Hollowed skin around the eyes
6. Dryness and aging around the eyes
7. Excessive skin friction (rubbing the eyes, removing makeup too roughly)
8. Excessive sun exposure / poor sun protection
9. Conditions such as eczema, dermatitis, and allergic rhinitis
Are Eye Bags the Same as Dark Circles?
Many people equate eye bags with dark circles, but they are actually two completely different things!
Eye bags:
They sit below the aegyo sal (the soft bulge under the lower lashes), are about 2 to 3 times as thick, and are obvious when you are not smiling but become fainter when you smile.
Eye bags are divided into congenital and acquired types. Congenital eye bags are mostly hereditary, with naturally thick fat under the eyes; acquired eye bags are mostly caused by aging, eye strain, long-term pulling around the eyes, and the like, which cause the orbicularis oculi muscle to atrophy and the orbital bone to recede, leading to protruding orbital fat.
Dark circles:
Dark circles are the darkening in the triangular area under the eyes caused by pigment deposits, friction, or poor blood circulation. They can generally be concealed, and in severe cases they occur together with tear troughs.
Since the two are different things, they are handled differently. For eye bags, we can choose surgery to remove the excess fat under the eyes.
Eye bag surgery comes in two types: inner (transconjunctival) and outer (external). The outer approach is more complex than the inner approach and suits middle-aged and older people and those with laxity around the eyes, while the inner approach uses a smaller incision but cannot address laxity around the eyes, so it suits younger people.
Aegyo Sal or Eye Bags? Secrets About Eye Bag Surgery
The Most Complete Guide to Eye Bag Surgery Aftercare
Are People with Allergies Destined to Have Dark Circles? Is There a Fix for Allergic Dark Circles?
I have had nasal allergies since I was a child! I get dark circles even without staying up late, so is there a solution for allergic dark circles? Of course there is! As everyone knows, these dark circles are caused by "allergies," so we recommend first removing allergens, treating the allergic rhinitis, exercising more, and taking health supplements over the long term to adjust your allergic constitution, and things will gradually improve!
In recent years, many people have also opted for "nasal septum surgery" to improve their allergy problems, but this type of procedure is invasive, so we still recommend having a professional doctor assess your situation before deciding which approach to take!
What Types of Dark Circles Are There?
Although we know many things can cause dark circles, different factors produce different kinds of dark circles. To improve dark circles and clear away the dullness around the eyes, you first need to know which type you have so that you can treat it appropriately!
(1) Pigmented Dark Circles
Cause of pigmented dark circles: mainly melanin deposits in the dermis, which darken the skin around the eyes. Besides heredity, excessive sun exposure, frequent eye rubbing, wrong or incomplete makeup removal, and conditions such as dermatitis, urticaria, and eczema can all cause chronic melanin deposition and form chronic dark circles.
To improve pigmented dark circles, you can use skin-clearing lasers, StarWalker PQX, or Discovery Pico to destroy melanin cells and resolve pigment deposits, or choose high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid filler, which, because hyaluronic acid retains water and has a bouncy quality, can fade dark circles while also improving fine lines under the eyes.
(2) Vascular Dark Circles
The skin around our eyes is very thin but rich in blood vessels, so the color of the blood flow around the eyes easily shows through beneath the eyelids. When blood circulation around the eyes is poor and the veins dilate, vascular dark circles appear bluish-red on the inner side and bluish-purple on the outer side.
Because the skin around the eyes shares blood circulation with the nose, people with nasal allergies are also prone to vascular dark circles. In addition, eye strain, late nights, and crying hard can raise eye pressure and lead to poor circulation around the eyes, which likewise forms vascular dark circles, but vascular dark circles are acute dark circles and can be eased simply by improving circulation around the eyes.
For dark circles caused by allergies, we recommend treating the allergy first, then seeing how much the dark circles fade, and if needed, improving them afterward with lasers or fillers.
(3) Structural Dark Circles
Structural dark circles are not true dark circles, but rather shadows cast by the structure of the face, creating a visual effect. Examples include naturally prominent tear troughs and sunken eye sockets from genetics, or, with aging and insufficient collagen, loss of orbital bone, protruding eye bag fat, and sunken, uneven skin under the eyes. If fine lines from dry skin are added, the shadows become deeper and the dark circles look even more obvious.
They can be improved with hyaluronic acid or collagen stimulator injections (the so-called "panda needle") as fillers, such as using small-molecule hyaluronic acid, which has an immediate effect, improves hollows, lifts the eye area, and lasts effectively for 18 to 24 months. Of course, you can also choose eye bag surgery to address the problems caused by structural dark circles!
(4) Mixed Dark Circles
As the name suggests, mixed dark circles are not purely one type, whether pigmented, vascular, or structural, but a combination of two or even all three occurring together. For example, if your job involves frequent late nights and lack of sleep, and you have no time to remove makeup properly or moisturize, you can easily end up with both melanin deposits and poor circulation around the eyes, resulting in mixed dark circles!
Mixed dark circles can be treated with a two-pronged approach of high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid filler and picosecond laser. A course of small amounts over several sessions will gradually show improvement.
Dark Circle Solutions: How to Avoid Dark Circles
To improve dark circles, start with your daily habits!
1. Massage around the eyes:
Massaging the acupoints around the eyes can help blood circulation. Use your knuckles to press gently in five clockwise circles, repeated 15 to 20 times, press the central point between the eyebrows gently with your fingertips, and give extra massage to the inner brows, the bridge of the nose, the center of the brows, and the area between the eye sockets and eyebrows. It can ease vascular dark circles or nasal allergy problems somewhat but cannot fully resolve dark circles.
2. Use eye cream:
Eye cream has some effect on pigmented dark circles, because melanin tends to accumulate around the eyes and cause dullness. We can use the brightening ingredients in eye cream to improve the dullness. However, eye cream only works on the surface layer of the skin, so its effect on fading dark circles is limited; the more noticeable effect may be moisturizing the skin so it looks a little finer.
Do Whitening Eye Creams Treat Dark Circles Only on the Surface? How to Rescue Panda Eyes
3. Don't stay up late:
Usually, staying up late overtires the eyes, especially when you stare at a TV or computer for long periods. When the eyes are overtired, the blood vessels around them dilate and the skin around the eyes darkens, making blood vessels and melanin show through more easily.
To avoid dark circles, besides adjusting your basic diet and routine, you can also observe your own body, find the cause of your dark circles, and improve from there to prevent them in the future!
This article is for general information only. Results vary from person to person; please consult a doctor in person before deciding on any treatment.
