Eye bags can be attributed to a wide range of factors. These pouches under the eyes have diverse origins, from genetics, lack of sleep and lifestyle choices to water retention and allergies. However, the most prevalent reason behind their appearance is the natural aging process, which weakens eye tissues and muscles, leading to sagging skin and bulging fat deposits. In this article we we look at different methods to reduce or eliminate eye bags.
What Causes Eye Bags?
Eye bags can be the result of a wide-range of causes, from genetics to dehydration and more. Water retention is one reason one can get eye bags, as happens when one consumes a high-salt diet. Allergies can cause puffy eyes, as with some medical conditions like thyroid disorders. A lack of sleep often exacerbates eye bags, as inadequate rest can cause fluid to accumulate and make them more prominent.
But the biggest and main reason for eye bags is the aging process. During aging, the tissues and muscles around the eye become weaker and thinner. This leads to more skin sagging under the eye, and the fat that surrounds the eye to bulge out more, contributing to eye bags.
Top 3 Tips to Improve Eye Bags
Luckily, there are many ways to reduce or even remove eye bags. For the biggest improvement, start with these three tips.
- Improve your sleep quality and make sure you sleep enough. Find more than 50 tips here to improve your sleep.
- Eye Bags can be a sign of iron deficiency. This is one of the most common deficiencies, which occurs most often in women. Learn more about other common deficiencies here.
- Take supplements that improve aging and skin health, like NOVOS Core.
Additional Tips
- Avoid a high-salt diet.
- Increase potassium in your diet to counterbalance your salt intake. Fruits and vegetables are great sources of potassium.
- Eat a healthy diet with lots of vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, healthy oils, white meat and fish. Learn more about the best longevity diet here.
- Don’t smoke.
- Drink very little alcohol. This means a maximum of one glass per day, including alcohol-free days.
- Stay hydrated: drink at least 1.5 liters (8 glasses of fluid) daily.
- Drink green tea: this tea contains substances like EGCG which is very healthy for the skin and blood vessels.
- Apply green tea bags under your eyes. Steep 2 tea bags for 3 to 5 minutes in non-hot water, let them then chill in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. Then squeeze out the extra liquid and put them on your eyebags for about 15 to 30 minutes.
- Apply a cold compress on your eye bags. Make sure it’s not freezing, which can cause cold burns. You can also use a cool cucumber or even a cooled metal teaspoon.
- Make sure you are not suffering from liver or kidney disorders. These can sometimes cause or exacerbate eyebags.
- Check for allergies, these can also cause eye bags. The same goes for food allergies: these cause inflammation in the body, which can contribute to eye bags.
- A tretinoin (retinoic acid) cream can not only reduce wrinkles, but also eye bags. These creams are prescription-based.
- Apply a high-concentration vitamin C skin cream.
- Use a skin cream with caffeine to activate the skin and blood vessels under the eye.
- Perform a gentle massage under the eyes to stimulate lymphatic drainage from the facial area.
- Make sure you remove makeup before bedtime, as prolonged use of makeup can lead to skin irritation.
- Consider eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty): when you get older, your eyelids will sag anyhow. Eyelid surgery can partially fix this.
- Laser resurfacing can improve the skin firmness under the eyes.
- Microneedling uses fine needles to punch holes in the skin. The little wounds will heal and create extra collagen in the process, which can make the skin under the eyes more firm. Microneedling should be performed by a trained professional (even if home devices exist).
Learn more about the anti-aging supplement NOVOS Core
