Dark Circles & Eye Bags
Dark Circles
Dark rings or “panda eyes” is a common complaint. Depending on each individual, dark rings can be due to one or a combination of various reasons:
- Extra pigment on the skin under the eye, made worse with aging
- Thin skin under the eye, allowing the bluish colour of blood vessels to show through the skin surface, and hence giving the panda eye appearance
- Puffy eye bags due to poor circulation, causing shadows to be cast on the area below the eyes, causing the dark ring effect
- Sinking of the cheek fat due to aging and gravity, causing a gap and shadow to form between the eye and cheek, resulting in dark rings.
There is a range of pigment-reducing strategies to decrease this effect, using either over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription-only formulations. The doctor may advise one or a combination of treatments including:
- Spectra laser or/and IPL: to target melanin and lighten pigmentation
- Indiba: to improve circulation and to increase collagen and skin thickness of the skin.
- Fillers: to fill up the gap between the eye and the cheek, and hence removing the shadows causing the dark rings.
- Medical-grade whitening agents: to remove pigmentation
Puffy Eyes and Eye Bags
Puffy eyes and eye bags are a common condition that distresses many individuals. Puffy eyes can be due to various reasons including fluid retention and allergies.
Puffy eyes due to hypertrophy (large) under-eyelid muscles known as orbicularis oculi can be improved with Botox.
Puffy eyes resulting from true eye bags are essentially due to eye fat pads bulging out on an area of overlying weakened muscles, ligaments and skin. The gold standard treatment is blepharoplasty, a surgical procedure. Non- surgical treatments that can improve eye bags may include:
