Dark Circles or Bags Under the Eyes

The skin below your eye is quite thin and in some people is very transparent. As blood moves through the blood vessels near the skin's surface a bluish tint may be produced, and the degree of darkness, in part depends upon the degree of transparency.

Possible Causes:

Black or dark rings or circles around or under your eyes can be caused by fatigue, diet, stress, and genetic inheritance.

• Fatigue, lack of sleep: Tiredness, not getting enough sleep, not sleeping well - these can all can cause your skin to be more pale and translucent - allowing the blood underneath the skin to be more visible and look darker.
• Nutrition: A poorly balanced diet, lack of nutrients, poor quality of food can can contribute to the darkened skin under the eyes.
• Stress: A too fast-paced lifestyle, especially if you spend long hours on the computer can contribute to black bags under your eyes - perhaps mostly because you don't get enough sleep.
• Heredity: Dark areas under the eyes are frequently an inherited genetic trait. If you have them, probably your siblings or parents have them. Skin transparency is an inherited trait - the more transparent - the darker the skin's appearance.
• Exposure to the Sun causes an increased level of melanin, a skin pigmentation, below the eyes. Sun exposure draws natural pigmentation to the surface of the skin making it look darker. The same is true of the skin below your eyes.
• Allergies, Asthma and Eczema: Anything that makes your eyes itch can contribute to dark circles under your eyes. This is because there is a tendency to rub or scratch itchy eyes, which in turn can make the skin darker. People who suffer from hay fever may be particularly prone to increased darkness under the eyes during allergy season. Some food allergens may also make the skin under the eyes look darker.
• Medications that you are take that cause dilation of blood vessels (ie, hypertension medications) can cause the thin skin under the eyes to darken due to the increased blood flow under the skin's surface.
• Pregnancy and Menstruation: For some women, the skin becomes more transparent during menstruation and pregnancy, which again allows the underlying blood vessels to be more visible.
• Age: People with a tendency towards dark rings under the eyes will find that they become more noticeable as one ages. In addition, skin folds or puffy bags under the eyes will make them more noticeable.
• Adrenal exhaustion
• Kidney energetic deficiency - recognized in Chinese medicine.

Natural Remedies

• Traditional Chinese medicine indicates that dark rings under one's eyes are often caused by "kidney deficiency." When discussing organ deficiencies in Chinese medicine, we are referring to the meridian (energy flow) of the organ, not the organ itself, through sometimes they overlap. VisionTone is an excellent tonic for this TCM kidney imbalance. TCM Kidney "deficiency" can be caused by many factors such as inadequate sleep, stress, not enough exercise, poor diet, or too much alcohol, smoking, drugs, etc.
• Eight hours of sleep is generally recommended for those with dark circles under the eyes. This will vary from individual to individual.
• Diet: Enjoy a diet of mostly fruits and vegetables and non-processed whole grains. Drink lots of water (as much as eight glasses a day), and limit alcohol, tea, coffee, and caffeinated soft drinks. This will help your overall health and also help prevent puffy bags and wrinkles as well as dark circles under your eyes.
• Acupressure is a simple treatment you can do yourself which helps boost blood circulation flushing out accumulated toxins from the delicate skin under your eyes. This is also helpful for bags under the eyes. Do this simple exercise daily.
  • Close your eyes
  • Using your ring finger, gently press/release, press/release, moving from the inside corner to the outside corner.
  • Repeat 10 - 15 times.
  • Then the exercise below the other eye.
• More natural remedies