What’s Making Your Eyes Look Tired?

While lack of sleep is the common culprit for tired-looking eyes, it isn’t the only one to blame. In fact, there are cases where the quantity and quality of your slumber has nothing to do with why your eyes look tired. You may still look exhausted and less energetic even with a solid seven to nine hours of sleep.

So what is the reason for this? Continue reading to find out the things or lifestyle habits that can make your eyes look tired, as well as the things that can help.

Dehydration

Apart from making you feel tired and less productive, dehydration can also ruin your skin and make your eyes look exhausted. It decreases your blood volume and strains your heart, resulting in exhaustion. You should also know that the skin around your eyes is vulnerable to the effects of dehydration. 

What can you do: Drink lots of water daily, especially when you’re sweating out or when the weather is hot. You may also want to keep a glass of water by your bed to stay hydrated and avoid nighttime thirst.

Allergies

Allergy symptoms can cause you to rub the area around your eyes, which can then make it start to look darker. This is due to a chemical called histamine, which is released when you have allergies. This can increase the blood flow under your eyes, as well as cause itchiness, swelling, and fluid accumulation.

What can you do: Resist the temptation to scratch your eyes, as these symptoms can lead to under-eye darkness, puffiness, and tired appearance. The good news is allergy-related puffiness can be easily treated with over-the-counter antihistamine medicines.

Your Genes and Natural Aging

If you usually get enough sleep, but still have under eye darkness, your genes may be the culprit.  As it is often hereditary, you are likely to have dark circles if your mom had them. It is also common for those with darker skin tone to genetically have dark circles under their eyes.

The thing with under-eye darkness is that it tends to get more noticeable with age. This is because the skin under the eyes is fragile and gets thinner as you get older. Also, the blood that is accumulated beneath the area becomes more visible. This can then make the skin look dark and hollow, contributing to an overall tired appearance.

What can you do: In such cases, skin care are not enough to improve the appearance of your eyes. However, you can turn to safe aesthetic procedures like dermal fillers and Botulinum toxin injections which provide effective results if done by an experienced aesthetic doctor. 

Dermal Fillers 

These are safe and FDA-cleared injectable treatments can help reduce the appearance of dark circles and eye bags by restoring volume in tear trough. Most fillers today are made from hyaluronic acid (HA), which is a naturally occurring substance in the body.

Juvederm is a popular brand of HA-based fillers that is safely used to improve eye bags, including fine lines and nasolabial folds. It can also restore volume in your cheeks, plump up the lips and increase the height of the nose bridge. It offers immediate and natural results, making you look well rested.

Here is an in-depth look on how fillers can help reduce your dark circles and eye bags.

Botulinum toxin (commonly known by the brand BOTOX)

This US FDA cleared injectable treatment is commonly used for treating dynamic wrinkles or those that are formed due to muscle contractions. Well known for the brand  BOTOX, this procedure reduces the appearance of wrinkles in the corners of the eyes (crow’s feet) as well as frown lines (angry 11s or glabella lines) and horizontal forehead lines.

Botox works by temporarily blocking the signal from nerve to muscles to relax and soften the wrinkles. The entire procedure takes less than 30 minutes and may involve the use of topical anesthetic cream to make the treatment more comfortable. 

You can check out our previous post to find out the things you need to know before getting a Botox in Singapore.

Eye Strain

You may not realize it, but you are likely straining your eyes every day. Habits that can cause this include squinting your eyes (while reading or to recognize things far away), staring at a computer screen throughout the day, and resisting wearing or getting glasses when you need them.

All these strain-causing habits can cause the blood vessels around your eyes to dilate and increase blood flow. This can then worsen the appearance of tired eyes and under-eye circles.

What can you do: It is best to let your eyes take a break, especially from screen usage, by following the 20/20/20 rule. This suggests that for every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, you should look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. You should also consider wearing computer glasses to reduce eyestrain.

Don’t let tired looking eyes affect how you look and feel. Take note of the things mentioned above and don’t hesitate to consider aesthetic treatments that can give you a more rested and rejuvenated appearance. 

Contact Cutis Laser Clinics today and schedule a consultation with our Harvard-trained aesthetic doctor, Dr. Sylvia Ramirez, to find out if you are a good candidate for Botox, dermal fillers, and other aesthetic treatments.

Tags: Dermal Fillers, Botulinum Toxin, Laser Clinics