Under Eye Dark Circles And Its Treatment

Causes:

• Poor lifestyle choices and stress: Late nights can give you under eye dark circles. When we sleep, our body starts to repair the wear and tear that occurs in our bodies through the day. Certain substances are released into the blood stream that our involved in building the immune system to enable our body to deal with the stress. Late nights can slow this process of repair and contribute to darkening around the eyes. 
• Anaemia: Iron deficiency is the most common cause of dark circles. 
• Chemicals: Chemicals such as mercury and silver can lead to increase pigmentation around eyes. 
• Allergies, asthma and eczema: Any condition that leads to itching around the eyes, can lead to skin darkening. 
• Heredity: Dark circles in most cases are genetically influenced and run in the family. Skin transparency around the eyes is inherited. Deep set eyes can also contribute to dark circles. 
• Acute Illness: Some illness like viral hepatitis, typhoid and sinusities could contribute to dark circles. 
• Age: Prominence of dark circles increases with age because of collagen loss which leads to the thinning of skin around the eyes.

Treatment Procedures:

Chemical peels: different type of peeling agents (lactic peel, glycolic peel, arginine peels) are in use. Resistant under eye pigmentation response to a mixture of alpha and betahydroxy acids followed by a mild retinol cream but this may cause some visible peeling of skin post treatment. Hence, it is important to apply moisturisers frequently after this peel with sunscreen.

Jet Peel Technology: In this procedure, specific technology is used to cleanse the skin with saline water under pressure through very fine nozzles (jet technology). The same technology can be used to enhance lymphatic drainage, which would help reduce the puffiness around the eyes.

Lasers: Lasers around the eyes after using protective eye shields followed by sunscreen application regularly. 

PRP (Platelet-Rich-Plasma): The procedure is gaining popularity as an enhancement treatment. Your own blood is used to extract growth factors used in the treatment. The growth factors help in collagen and elastin generation, which leads to tautness of the skin and wrinkle reduction. 

Skin Care and Under eye creams 

Over the counter creams: Creams containing Vitamin C or K, elastin, collagen, AHAs and kinetin. 

Prescription creams containing dilute glycolic acid, kojic acid, arbutin, nicotinic acid, mild low potency cortison creams.

Eye care tips:

• Drink lots of water
• Sunscreen around eyes
• Sunglasses when outdoors