10 tips against bags under the eyes

Below are 10 practical tips against under-eye bags.

1. Sufficient Sleep

It's an obvious one, but good sleep has a significant effect on your skin's health. Ideal sleep is between 7 and 8 hours. Too much sleep can, in turn, lead to fluid retention, so you need to find the right balance.

2. Eat Less Salt

Salt promotes fluid retention in the body. Excessive salt intake can lead to a fluid pocket forming under your eyes.

3. Cool the Skin

Under-eye bags can visibly reduce by cooling them. This can be done, for example, with cold cucumber slices or ice packs. Always ensure there's a tissue in between.

4. Drink Enough Water

It might sound contradictory, as under-eye bags are often caused by fluid retention, but drinking enough actually helps against them. A well-hydrated body is less prone to retaining fluid.

5. Use Sunscreen Under Your Eyes

The skin under your eyes is very thin and therefore very susceptible to sun damage. By using sunscreen, you can protect the skin against pigmentation and skin aging.

6. Avoid Allergies

Allergies are known to cause swollen eyes. Try to investigate whether you might have an allergy to, for example, pollen or pets.

7. Collagen Intake

The collagen level in your skin decreases by 1% each year. The collagen balance in your body can be influenced by collagen intake in combination with vitamin C. Think of collagen powders combined with, for example, oranges, kiwi, and broccoli.

8. Eye Creams for Under-Eye Bags

There are many creams for under-eye bags. It's wise to hydrate and keep the delicate skin under your eyes supple. This will make fine lines less visible.

9. Fillers for Under-Eye Bags

If your under-eye bags don't retain excessive fluid and there isn't too much loose skin under your eyes, a treatment with hyaluronic acid fillers can offer a solution. By filling the area under your eyes, your under-eye bags will disappear.

10. Lower Eyelid Correction

If there is a lot of loose skin under your eyes and the under-eye bags cannot be minimized with fillers, then lower eyelid correction is a last alternative. During a lower eyelid correction, a small incision is made in the lash line under your eye, and the excess skin and fatty tissue are removed.

Different Types of Under-Eye Bags

---

It is important to distinguish between under-eye bags caused by thickening and those caused by dark circles. A combination of the two is also possible.

• Under-Eye Bags Due to Thickening

  Firstly, I will discuss under-eye bags caused by thickening and how they can best be remedied.

• Swelling due to fluid - Under-eye bags caused by fluid swelling are often visible in the morning after lying in a horizontal position for hours. The tissue under your eyes then retains a lot of fluid.
• Excess fat - Under-eye bags can also be caused by an excess of fat. As you age, the muscles under your eyes weaken, so fat can no longer be contained. The excess fatty tissue can create a thickening under your eyes.
• Skin thickening - Under-eye bags caused by excess skin often arise because the collagen content in the skin decreases. This causes the skin to loosen, creating a skin thickening under your eyes.

• Dark Circles

  The skin under your eyes is the thinnest skin on your body. This allows blood vessels to quickly show through the skin, resulting in dark circles.

• Lack of sleep - Everyone experiences under-eye bags due to lack of sleep at some point. During sleep, all sorts of processes take place in your body. Your body cleans out waste products and is busy with fluid distribution. A lack of sleep disrupts this process. Additionally, your body produces cortisol to compensate for fatigue, which widens the blood vessels under your eyes when you're tired. Because the eyelid skin is very thin, it's immediately noticeable when you're tired. These under-eye bags often disappear after a good night's rest.
• Age - Unfortunately, age-related under-eye bags cannot be erased with a night's sleep. As you age, the collagen and elastin content in the skin decreases. This happens all over the face, but due to the thin skin under your eyes, it's visible there first. Furthermore, with age, the skin increasingly loses bone support, which can create a sunken effect under your eyes. A dark circle forms under your eyes; this is essentially a shadow.
• Sun damage - Sun damage, resulting in pigmentation spots, can also cause dark circles. It is therefore important to use sunscreen with an extra high SPF around your eyes.

Free Consultation for Filler Treatment for Under-Eye Bags

---

During a free and non-binding consultation, you will review certain aspects of the under-eye bag treatment with one of our doctors, such as: the type of under-eye bags, the side effects, the expected result, and the longevity of the result. You can book an appointment today.

Bibliography:

[1] Amnuaikit, T., Maneeuan, D. & Boonme, P. (2010). Evaluation of Caffeine Gels on Physicochemical Characteristics and In Vivo Efficacy in Reducing Puffy Eyes. Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science, 01(02), 56-59. [2] Goel, A. (2019). How to get rid of under eye bags. https://www.myupchar.com/en/disease/swollen-eyes/under-eye-bags#what-causes-bags-under-eyes [3] Vleggaar, D. & Fitzgerald, R. (2008). Dermatological implications of skeletal aging: A focus on supraperiosteal volumization for perioral rejuvenation. Journal of drugs in dermatology, 7 (3), 209-220.