Dr. Deepak Bhadra

Beautiful eyes speak a thousand words. They play a pivotal role in shaping up your overall personality. Your eyes can make or break things in life. But appearance of dark patches under eyes may play a spoilsport. They foil the beauty of your innocent eyes. It is not just lack of sleep or rest that causes these unwanted dark circles. Researchers have found out that a number of factors are responsible for under eye dark circles. Here are the common reasons behind dark circles:

Aging: There are numerous blood vessels passing through the under eye region. As blood cells get clogged in these vessels, they give a blue black tinge to the region. Aging leads to the thinning of the skin under the eye. This makes the blood vessels more prominent and appears as dark circles.
Hereditary factors: You can sometimes blame the bad genes for occurrence of dark circles. Nutritional deficiency: If you are not taking balanced diet, you may end up developing dark circles. Your body must get adequate supply of vitamins A, C, K and E to prevent dark circles.
Insufficient Sleep: Lack of proper rest and sleep turns the skin under the eyes pale. Therefore, the blood in the veins becomes more prominent, causing dark circles.

Smoking and alcohol: The intake of alcohol or indulging in smoking can lead to dehydration of the body and thus lead to dark circles.

Long hours under the sun: Your skin under the eyes gets damaged by the UV rays from sunlight. Moreover, spending long hours under sun triggers the excess production of melanin pigment. This gives a darker shade to the region beneath your eyes.

Pregnancy and menstruation: A woman's skin is largely affected by the hormonal influences at the time of pregnancy or menstruation. The hormonal changes during these periods lead to darkening of the under-eye area

Diseases: Researchers have found that certain diseases linked to the liver or anaemia often causes dark circles under the eye.

Allergies: The colour of the under eye region often changes due to certain allergic reactions and subsequent scratching or rubbing of the area.

A holistic approach to remove dark circles combines chemical peels, microcurrent therapy and homecare solutions. Chemical peels break apart the dead cell layer and bring fresher skin to the surface, reducing pigmentation around the eyes. Microcurrent makes the under-eye area firmer while also supplying it with additional hydration. To maximize these results, a customized homecare regime is drawn up to suit your skin's specific needs.

Further, under guidance of a Cosmetic physician or dermatologist, changes in lifestyle and homecare regime ensure that you enjoy long-lasting results. With this approach, your eyes lose their tired look and are completely refreshed. This effectively reduces pigmentation around eyes and ensures that your eyes remain sparkling fresh as long as you want.

Bloodshot eyes indicate the reddening of the eye vessels. They can cause irritation and make the eye swollen. The condition may arise due to allergies, eye infections, allergies, fatigue and other illness of the eye. It does not signify a disease but indicates an eye condition which might have caused the eye to redden. Bloodshot eyes can be encountered in one or both the eyes.

Causes of Bloodshot Eyes:

One of the frequent causes of bloodshot eyes is irritants such as dry air, pollen, pet dander, dust and UV rays of the sun. Shortage of sleep also tends to make the eyes red. Inflammations of the eye can also make them red giving a bloodshot appearance. It can even happen with people who wear contact lens for more than 16 hours without soaking it in the disinfectant. At times excessive dryness can make the eyes red. Some other reasons for the eye to become red include conjunctivitis, blepharitis, glaucoma and corneal ulcer. Another concerning reason of bloodshot eyes is a subconjunctival haemorrhage. While the latter is not dangerous in nature, it can cause significant trouble if proper care is not taken on time.

Symptoms of Red Eyes:

Some of the common signs of bloodshot eyes include watery eyes, foreign sensation, burning feeling, dermatitis, falling of eye lashes, light sensitivity, swollen eyelid, itching of the eye and feeling of irritation of the eye.

The Complications Involved:

In most of the cases, bloodshot eyes do not imply serious complications. In case it happens from conjunctivitis, a person may not be able to go to work, wear cosmetics and come in public places since it is a communicable disease. If bloodshot eyes arise from a serious condition such as glaucoma and trauma, some of the possible complications may involve the following:

1. Eye scarring

2. Vision loss due to complete blindness

3. Spreading of the existing condition to other persons

4. Eye loss in severe cases

Preventive Measures:

Bloodshot eyes might arise from an array of reasons. While it cannot be totally dodged, some general preventive measures can ensure that such a condition does not arise:

1. Keeping hands clean by thoroughly washing them with liquid soap

2. Not sharing personal belongings such as washcloths, linen, and cosmetics

3. Get immediate medical attention in case of any eye injuries

4. Stay away from an environment that is full of allergens

5. Staying away from people who are suffering from infectious eye diseases such as conjunctivitis

6. Taking a shower immediately after getting in touch with an infected person suffering from conjunctivitis

7. Wearing eye glasses in a dusty environment