Dark circles and puffy eyes are common and happen to nearly everyone from time to time. You can get dark circles and puffy eyes from dehydration, crying and exhaustion. Dark circles can be hereditary. As you get older, the skin underneath your eyes becomes thinner and breaks down. When your skin thins, it reduces the elasticity and making your blood vessels more visible. Dark circles and puffy eyes make you look much older than you are. While surgeons claim they can fix the dark circles and puffiness, you can get the same results in the comfort of you own home with natural remedies. The key to reducing the dark circles and puffy eyes is to rest, eat a healthy diet and stop bad habits that damage your skin.
Step 1
Get plenty of rest. If you are sleep-deprived, you ruin your body's ability to recover from the stress it goes through every day. You need a certain amount of sleep so that your skin cells can recharge their batteries and keep your skin looking healthy. The Mayo Clinic recommends getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night. If you don't have enough time, take a nap during the day. Make sure your feet are higher than your heart, so your heart pumps blood through out your body.
Step 2
Quit smoking. Smoking is one of the worst things to do for your skin. Smoking kills the vitamin C in your skin, which makes the dark circles under your eyes and your puffy eyes worse.
Step 3
Eat fruits and vegetables. Many fruits and veggies contain vitamin C, which increases the rate at which your cells reproduce. The faster your cells reproduce, the faster the dark circles under your eyes will go away. Eat food like spinach, oranges, bananas and grapefruit. Cut out foods like cheese, french fries and salty foods. These will make you retain water and your puffy eyes will get worse. The Mayo Clinic says you shouldn't consume more than 2,000 milligrams of salt every day.
Step 4
Hydrate your body. If you body is dehydrated, your body retains the remaining water because it fears it may not get water again for a long time. This causes your puffy eyes to get much worse. The Mayo Clinic recommends drinking at least eight eight ounce glasses of water every day. Avoid drinks that contain a lot of sugar or caffeine. These ingredients, even though they contain water, will make the bags under your eyes worse.
Step 5
Use tea bags. Brew two tea bags, drain and cool. Lie down on your couch and place the tea bags over your eyes. There is an anti-inflammatory agent in tea called EGCG that will help reduce the swelling and dark circles under your eyes.
Step 6
Use an ice pack. Buy an ice pack at the grocery store or pharmacy, chill, and cover with a towel. Lie down on the coach and place the ice pack over your eyes. Leave on for about 20 minutes. The cold temperature will reduce the puffiness in your eyes. Be aware, the effect of the ice pack is only for a short period of time. Repeat several times every day.
Member Comments
rancherswifecw June 12
Preparation H. Works old remedy really works pat on with finger let it sit over night, wala!