How do I get rid of the bags under my eyes?
I am 23 years old. I do not smoke or drink, I go to bed as early as 9pm and wake up at 8am. My day-to-day schedules are not that tight. I try to feed well and hardly ever eat junk. So I don’t understand why I’m getting bags under my eyes. People look at me and think I’m older than my actual age. One guy thought I was 33! What can I do to get rid of them? And what brings them anyway, because I thought bags are for old people. Please help. Shanita
Thursday, August 07, 2014
I am 23 years old. I do not smoke or drink, I go to bed as early as 9pm and wake up at 8am. My day-to-day schedules are not that tight. I try to feed well and hardly ever eat junk. So I don’t understand why I’m getting bags under my eyes. People look at me and think I’m older than my actual age. One guy thought I was 33! What can I do to get rid of them? And what brings them anyway, because I thought bags are for old people. Please help.
Shanita
Dear Shanita
Bags under the eyes are in no way related to age. Young people can get them, although the frequency increases with age.
There are many reasons that cause puffiness or bags below the eyes. The skin below the eyes is very thin, hence extremely vulnerable to allergies, irritation and salt retention. After taking a salty meal in the night, one can have bags under the eyes in the morning, as the extra salt in the body can accumulate there.
It is said that even if somebody cries for any reason, salt from the tears can also accumulate there resulting in bags in the morning. It can also occur due to stress of any kind. Of course loosening of skin elasticity with advancing age is a common reason.
Infections of the urinary tract can cause puffiness over and also below the eyes.
Sleeping with make up on can cause irritation and bags under the eyes. Oversleeping (if sleeping hours are mentioned correctly in your query), or sleeping on one side can lead to this problem also.
Apart from this, swelling below the eyes can also occur due to an allergy to some substance eaten or applied. Diseases like hypothyroidism, chronic renal failure have this as one of the manifestations. But then in such cases the other features of the underlying disease would be dominating.
Try to observe if there is an allergy to some substance being used or exposed to. If an allergy is suspected, use of an anti-allergy medicine for a week or so should help cure this problem.
Avoid direct exposure to dust of any kind. This can be done by using masks while working around dust or travelling on rough roads.
Drink plenty of water. This will help removing extra salt from the body and also infectious germs, thus avoiding urinary tract infections. Make sure you clean your face and remove any make up before sleeping.
Avoid sleeping on one side continuously and be up as soon as your eyes open in the morning.
Keeping cucumber slices or cool tea bags under the eyes is useful to remove the puffiness and give a fresh look to the face. Potato slices and use of ice cubes also serve the same function.
Use of egg whites around the eyes helps to tighten the skin around there, thus reducing puffiness. Cosmetics like concealers can help to conceal the bags. If the problem is severe, one can consult a trained beautician who can do laser therapy or Botox treatment to reduce sagging of the skin and reduce the bags.
Dr. Rachna is a specialist in internal medicine at Ruhengeri Hospital.