Tired-looking eyes are a common condition that can result from excess skin, double vision, lack of sleep, and medical conditions. Eye circles and puffiness around the eyes often make people look more tired than they feel. Fortunately, there are surgical procedures available to help reduce the signs of fatigue in your eyes. This article will discuss the causes of tired-looking eyes, how to reduce eye fatigue using surgery, as well as other ways to keep your eyes looking rested and refreshed.
What’s the Reason for Tired-Looking Eyes?
There are numerous reasons you might have tired-looking eyes. If your eyes look puffy with dark circles, one of the following issues might be the culprit:
You’re Not Drinking Enough Water
Dehydration is one of the most common causes of tired-looking eyes. When your body becomes dehydrated, it can affect your skin’s elasticity and cause it to appear lax and saggy. This can lead to dark circles, puffiness, and other signs of fatigue around your eyes. To reduce these signs, make sure you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day—eight glasses a day is ideal for proper hydration.
Excessive Salt Intake
If you eat a lot of salt in your diet, it can make your eyes look tired. Salt in large amounts can cause water retention in the body, making your eyes and the skin around them look tired and feel heavier.
Long Hours of Screen Time
Long hours of screen time can cause blurred vision, eye strain, and a condition known as digital eye strain or computer vision syndrome. This occurs when the eyes are exposed to bright lights and blue light emitted from screens. It can lead to tired-looking eyes and is a common cause of puffiness around the eyes. To reduce the effects of digital eye strain, look away from your screen every 20 minutes and take regular breaks throughout the day.
Allergies
Allergies are a common cause of tired-looking eyes. Allergic reactions can irritate the eyes, leading to redness, swelling, and blurry vision. Symptoms of eye allergies include itchy eyes, watery eyes, swollen eyelids, and dark circles under the eyes. When allergies flare up, they can cause eye fatigue and make your eyes look tired.
For allergic-related eye fatigue, there are several treatment options available that can help alleviate symptoms and reduce signs of fatigue in your eyes. These treatments may include antihistamines and allergy shots to help control the allergic reaction and reduce symptoms; lubricating drops or ointments to relieve dryness in the eyes; topical steroids to reduce inflammation; or even immunotherapy for severe cases.
Excess Skin or Loose Skin Around the Eyes
Excess skin or loose skin around the eyes can cause a tired-looking appearance. Eye strain and droopy eyelids are common conditions that arise from aging. As we age, the upper eyelid skin loses its elasticity, causing the lids to droop and sag. This can cause eye strain, which leads to an overall look of tiredness. Additionally, excess skin or loose skin around the eyes can cause a tired appearance due to the lack of support for underlying structures such as fat pads and muscle tissue. The loss of this support results in sagging facial tissues, creating a hollowed-out look under the eyes and furthering heavy-looking eyelids. To address this issue, plastic surgeons may recommend treatments such as blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery) or fillers to restore volume to reduce the appearance of eye fatigue caused by excess skin or loose skin around the eyes.
Quick Fix Options for Tired Eyes
Sometimes, you wake up in the morning with dark shadows under your eyes or with large bags beneath your eyes. Quick-fix options aren’t permanent, or even very long-lasting solutions to puffy, tired eyes. But they can be enough to help you look presentable and ready to take on your day.
Cooling Eye Mask
A quick fix for puffiness beneath the eyes is to apply something cold to the area. Your options include the convex side of a chilled spoon, cucumber slices, or even ice cubes. Some people like to keep their eye cream in the refrigerator. Doing so not only helps it “depuff” the under-eye area, but it can also prolong the shelf life of the eye cream.
Concealer
If dark circles are bringing you down, a quick fix treatment for them is to cover them up with concealer. For some people, using concealer is easier said than done. It’s all about getting the color right. Stick with a product that matches your skin tone, rather than choosing one that’s a shade or two lighter. When you apply the concealer, pat it to blend it in, rather than rubbing it. Rubbing can cause more irritation in the under-eye area, making dark circles even worse.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil can help certain skin issues due to its anti-inflammatory elements. It’s also an effective alternative to dark circles under the eyes while also preventing further aging signs from developing like fine lines & wrinkles. You can rub coconut oil on the problem area, leave it on through the night, and wash it off in the morning as part of your daily routine.
Injectables for Tired Eyes
Quick fixes are great when you’re on the go or when you only have to deal with dark circles or under-eye puffiness sporadically. But what should you do if you’re waking up with dark circles daily?
Odds are, you’re going to want something a little longer-lasting. If your dark circles are due to a hollowing in the under-eye area, often caused by a loss of fat and bone from that area, an injectable filler can help to minimize their appearance.
Fillers such as Juvederm Volbella or Restylane can help to reduce the appearance of dark circles and hollows under the eyes for up to nine months. They are made from a smooth hyaluronic acid, so it’s less likely to form bumps beneath the delicate eye skin. The smoothness of the filler also allows for better control during the injection process.
Surgery for Tired Eyes
If you’re looking for a longer-lasting solution, or if you have signs of aging on the upper and lower eyelids that make you look tired, a surgical treatment might be your best bet. Blepharoplasty, or eyelid surgery, can help to pep up tired eyes in a few ways.
The surgery can be performed on the upper or lower lids, or on both at the same time. Upper eyelid blepharoplasty is performed to reduce drooping or hooding of the upper lids. As you get older, the eyelids can get heavier and start to sag. The sagging can give you a sleepy look. In some cases, heavy, drooping upper eyelids can also interfere with your vision.
In the lower eyelid area, blepharoplasty can help to reduce puffiness and the bags that develop as a result of a build-up of fatty tissue. A lower eyelid lift can also help to smooth deep creases that form in the area under the eyes.
Non-Surgical Treatments
Non-surgical treatments for tired-looking eyes can be a great way to improve facial appearance without resorting to medical treatment. Dark spots, under-eye circles, and puffiness around the eyes can be caused by intense focus, lack of sleep, or simply spending too much time on the computer or phone.
The first step to improving the appearance of tired eyes is making sure you’re getting enough rest and taking breaks from screens and other forms of intense focus. An eye exam is also essential to make sure there are no underlying causes that need medical treatment.
In addition to proper sleep hygiene, a cold compress can help reduce puffiness beneath the eyes. Applying something cold to the area for periods—such as chilled cucumber slices or ice cubes–can help depuff and brighten up the area quickly. Similarly, keeping your eye cream in the refrigerator will not only help it “depuff,” but it can also prolong its shelf life.
Using a concealer designed specifically for dark circles can also help cover them up quickly and give you a more natural look. However, stick with a product that matches your skin tone rather than one that’s lighter; rubbing in concealer could cause more irritation in this delicate area and make dark circles worse.
Coconut oil is another great remedy for tired-looking eyes due to its anti-inflammatory properties; massaging coconut oil around the problem areas before bedtime will not only reduce dark circles but also prevent signs of aging like fine lines & wrinkles from developing.
Finally, artificial tears are an excellent way to keep your eyes hydrated throughout the day so they don’t dry out and appear more tired than they are!
Schedule Your Consultation Today
To learn more about your options for tired looking eyes, contact the Aesthetic Surgery Center to book an appointment with Dr. Anurag Agarwal. He has been featured on many of the major news networks, including ABC, NBC, and FOX, as a recognized expert on a variety of plastic surgery topics. Dr. Agarwal believes that educating and communicating with patients are the keys to helping them achieve successful, natural-looking results. Book your appointment at the Aesthetic Surgery Center, located at 1175 Creekside Pkwy, Suite 100, Naples, FL, by calling 239-420-8141.