Reducing Puffy Eyes & Dark Circles.

Allergies – Allergies can commonly cause a discoloration and puffiness under your eyes. If this is the main cause, remove the allergen or treat the allergy. You can treat seasonal allergies with over-the-counter or prescription medicines. Other times, you may simply need to avoid the allergen. If your condition is persistent, there may be something in your home or work that is affecting you, such as a chemical or food allergy you are unaware of. If this is the case, speak with a dermatologist for help in finding the allergen. Also, taking a multivitamin can help as well, since many people with allergies are deficient in folic acid, B6 and B12.

On another note, intolerance to gluten could be causing your allergies. This could even be as severe as celiac disease, and a blood test will show whether or not you are suffering from this.

Getting Enough Sleep – Make sure to get plenty of sleep each night, as lack of sleep will cause your skin to become paler, which will in turn increase the look of darkness under your eyes as well as under eye bags. Before bed you can also have removed all of your eye makeup. If you don’t your eyes will look a lot more tired as you get older.

Nasal Congestion – Dark circles and puffiness can appear under your eyes due to nasal congestion because the veins around your sinuses will be dilated and darkened. Check with your doctor or pharmacist to recommend a product or remedy which will help with this.

Kick the Habit – If you are a smoker, not only will it cause you a host of other health problems, but it will also make your blood vessels appear bluer and a lot more prominent because smoking causes vascular, or blood vessel problems in your body.

Eating Healthy – Eating a balanced, healthy diet, plus taking vitamins and drinking plenty of water is the basis to overall good health. There are all kinds of physical problems that can be attributed to vitamin deficiencies. Puffiness and dark circles are linked to a lack of vitamin K or not enough antioxidants. Plus a B12 deficiency can also result in dark circles.

Reduce your salt intake. This will cause your body to retain water, causing swelling, puffy eyes and yes, dark circles. Too much salt will impair your circulation as well and make the blood vessels under your skin look bluer. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, especially spinach, cabbage and other leafy green vegetables. If you need to, take a vitamin supplement daily and drink plenty of water to improve your circulation.

Take Time to Relax – If you are too stressed out to sleep, rest properly or eat, relaxing can help to remove some of these stressors. Plus, when you relax enough you will be helping your skin under your eyes to look better as you are feeling more at ease. Your skin will tend to reflect all kinds of physical and emotional ailments, so relaxing is very important.

Some Things You Can’t Change – Unfortunately, there are some causes of under eye circles that you can’t do much about.

Skin thinning – As your skin ages, it thins, which will make the vessels and veins more obvious.

Sun exposure – Exposure to the sun can increase the production of melanin.

Irregularities in Pigmentation – This can cause the appearance of dark circles under your eyes.

Heredity – If this condition runs in your family, it could be something you suffer from as well. It doesn’t mean you can’t treat them, but you might have minimal success in doing so.

Facial Features – Dark circles could simply be from your own facial features casting shadows. Except for the careful use of cosmetics, there is not much you can do in this case.