How to get rid of my DARK EYE CIRCLES?

Tell me, what is the first thing you notice when first meeting someone? For me, its their eyes. Urban legend runs that dark circles are caused by late nights partying, working and just plain fatigue. The truth is, this is large determined by your genes.

So what causes dark eye circles?

It represents the visible veins, under the thin layer of lower eyelid skin. Just for comparison, the skin around the rest of your body is 2mm, but its only 0.5mm thick covering your eyelids.

1. Skin becomes thinner with age. It loses collagen and elastin with age. So the older you get, the more obvious your dark eye circles.
2. Gentically, some people have thinner eyelids.
3. Darker skin ethnicity tend to have dark eye circles due to hyperpigmentation. In Asia, we see this commonly in our Indian friends.

So question is, how can we treat dark eye circles?

1. Increase skin thickness. The can be addressed with collagen stimulation via Plasma skin resurfacing and skinboosters.
2. Introduce a layer between your skin and the underlying veins. This can be solved with dermal fillers and threads.
3. Repair the skin. This can be addressed with Rejuran

What is the cost of dark eye circle treatment in Singapore?

In experienced hands, depending on the severity of your dark eye circle, the programme can include

1. HIFU
2. Fillers
3. Rejuran +/- Lasers

Cost starts from $800.

How do fillers help dark eye circles?

Fillers can be used to volumize your cheeks and tear trough, hence reducing the shadow effect. So looking at the diagram above, your dermatologist can fill the grooves under the eye to correct the defect and improve the reflection of light.

It’s important to find a doctor who isnt just fixated on filling the defects, but one with an artistic eye to correct and enhance your best features.

​How is undereye fillers done?

Tear trough hollowness occurs due to loss of underlying soft tissue. Severity is graded as mild, moderate and severe.

An expert injector would be able to correct your hollowness with minimal risk, especially using a micro-cannula technique.

What are the risks of undereye filler?

Bruises, swelling. The undereye is a delicate area with thin skin. Hence there is a risk of swelling and bruising. Bruising and swelling in the undereye from fillers is very normal, and in general take 2 weeks to resolve. This is of course an average, some people taking longer, some people shorter.

Rare cases, a risk of blindness.

More than 100 million filler treatments performed worldwide, with 100 + reported cases of blindness, of which most were due to nose fillers.

The above risks are minimised with micro-cannula technique.

Which is the best filler for under eyes?

I would suggest Restylane Vital Light, and Teosyal Redensity 2. Both are ultra soft hylaronic acid fillers, so results will be most natural as the undereye skin is extremely thin. And from a safety perspective, this can be reversed if needed.

That wraps it up. IMHO, the eyes are one of the most vital areas for facial rejuvenation. It provides the foundation for a beautiful face. Treating the eye area is extremely challenging, but performed correctly, the results can be natural, yet dramatic.

Dr Daniel Chang

References

1. Roh, Mi Ryung, and Kee Yang Chung. “Infraorbital dark circles: definition, causes, and treatment options.” Dermatologic surgery 35.8 (2009): 1163-1171.
2. Freitag, Fernanda Magagnin, and Tania Ferreira Cestari. “What causes dark circles under the eyes?.” Journal of cosmetic dermatology 6.3 (2007): 211-215.
3. XU, TIAN‐HUA, et al. “Treatment of Infraorbital Dark Circles Using a Low‐Fluence Q‐Switched 1,064‐nm Laser.” Dermatologic Surgery 37.6 (2011): 797-803.

For more information on DARK EYE CIRCLES, Feelfree to refer to this link.