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Eye Bags

Description

Having eye bags – or puffiness or mild swelling under your eyes – becomes common as you grow older. This is because when you age, the tissues that surround your eyes gradually weaken. This includes the muscles that support your eyelids. The fat that helps support your eyes would then drop into the lower eyelids, which makes it to look puffy and swollen. Fluid could also accumulate in the gap between your eyes to further exacerbate the swollen appearance.

Eye bags are usually an aesthetic and cosmetic concern, and are very rarely a sign of a serious medical condition. Cold compresses and other home remedies usually improve the problem.

Causes

Several factors contribute to eye bags. One example is fluid retention that is caused by either the weather (such as during humid and hot days), or eating too much salty foods, or changes in hormone levels. Surprisingly, another cause can be your sleeping position. If you sleep flat on your back, you could wake up with eye bags the next day. Not getting enough sleep is another culprit. Also, dermatitis or allergies could also cause eye bags, especially when the puffiness comes with itching and redness.

Prevention

Although eye bags are not painful or serious in the medical sense, they are unsightly. Here are some things you can do to prevent them from afflicting you.

• First, use a cool compress on the skin under and around the eyes. You can use a damp washcloth for this. Press the washcloth gently on the skin, using very mild pressure.

• Second, you should make sure you get enough sleep at night. And when you do sleep, make sure your head is slightly raised. Use a pillow or elevate the head of the bed to prevent fluids from pooling around your eyes while you sleep.

If the cause of the eye bags is allergy, make sure you avoid allergens as much as possible. Of course, you’ll have to know first what your allergens are in order to do this.

Cure And Treatment

If you’re serious about getting rid of the under-eye swelling, you can go for various possible treatments to deal with the problem. There are skin treatments such as chemical peels and laser resurfacing that are traditionally used in order to treat wrinkles. These treatments can also reduce the swelling under the eyes and even remove discoloration.

There is also a special eyelid surgery called blepharoplasty which can remove eye bags permanently. During this procedure, the surgeon will cut below the lashes in the crease of the lower lid, and remove the excess fat as well as the sagging skin. The stitches are barely noticeable since they will follow the lid’s natural crease.

Blepharoplasty is used in order to repair puffy or droopy eyelids as well as remove excess skin either in the upper or lower lid, especially if it affects your vision. However, since this is an invasive surgery, you need to make sure you understand the risks involved before you sign up with your doctor.

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