Do puffy eyes make you upset when you wake up to notice the first thing in the morning?
Puffy eyes may occur due to many reasons. It may include your inherited facial features, fatigue, stress, tiredness, sleep deprivation.
Under-eye swelling or puffy eyes are usually common and there is nothing to be much concerned about this. However, “Bags” under the eyes or puffy eyes may be a sign of a health concern. Under-eye “bags” have also a relation to aging and genetics which might cause the tissue around your eyes to weaken and, swollen.
Reasons For Puffy Eyes
Swelling around your eyes means you have an excessive accumulation of fluids, in surrounding skin tissue. Because the skin around your eyes is the thinnest and delicate in your body, swelling or puffiness can be prominent.
Here are some causes of puffy eyes or swelling under the eyes and what you can do to prevent and treat them.
Not Sleeping Well
You might have already observed, you wake up with swollen eyes, when you had a troubled sleep last night. When you are not sleeping enough, it can cause you under-eye swelling, red eyes, droopy eyelids, and pale skin.
And especially when you are stressed, your body produces a hormone called cortisol, which might disturb the salt balance in your body.
Inadequate sleep will lead to retention of fluids, thereby causing swelling under and around the eyes.
Taking Too Much Of Salt
Eating too much salt can be detrimental to your health. High sodium content in the salt can cause health issues like heart problems, high blood pressure, and stroke.
Besides, excess sodium causes your body to retain fluid, resulting in puffiness in your body and face. The delicate skin around your eye develops into under-eye bags due to water retention.
To reduce your salt intake, stay away from bread, cheese, processed, and junked foods.
Instead, keep yourself motivated to eat whole grain food, fresh vegetables, and fruits.
You Have Allergies
Puffy eyes can sometimes be a sign of an underlying medical condition.
Puffy eyes can be associated with some seasonal allergies. Allergies can cause fluid build-up around your eyes and in your sinuses, resulting in the under-eye to swell. It can also make your eyes red, itchy, and watery.
Allergies can get triggered due to any of the following reasons:
- Dust
- Pollution
- Smoke
- Certain foods
- Chemicals
- Pollen
- Animal fur
- Perfume
During the allergic reaction, your body starts releasing a chemical called histamine, causing a hive-like reaction. This causes adverse effects on the tissues of your body and leads to retention of fluids beneath your eyes.
Over-the-counter anti-allergic medication or eye drops can help you ease the puffy eyes. But be sure to consult your doctor before taking any such medication on your own.
Crying
Crying can sometimes cause fluid to collect around your eyes, making it puffy. But you don’t need to be concerned about it, as it is likely to fade away on its own after some time.
Smoking
Besides health concerns, now you have one more reason to quit smoking. Smoking can cause the skin on your face to weaken. This will result in a wrinkled and droopy face.
Smoking cigarettes and cigars can irritate your eyes and can also trigger an allergic reaction if you are around people who smoke.
So, say not to smoke and save yourself from adverse health effects, wrinkled face and puffy eyes.
Blocked Tear Duct
A blockage in tear ducts is common in babies, but it can happen to adults too. It can happen due to an infection, dirt or makeup particle, or an eye injury.
A blocked tear duct will obstruct the draining away of tears and water from your eyes. This will cause the fluid to collect around your eyes, causing puffines to it.
In most, it clears on its own, otherwise a warm compress or washing your eye with sterile water will help in clearing the blockage.
Eye Infection
An infection in the eye or eyelid can cause swelling in one or both the eyes. Though initially, it may start with one eye, later the infection may spread to the other eye or eyelid.
Eye infection that can cause swelling or puffiness of eyes may be due to:
- Conjunctivitis caused by bacteria, viruses, or chemicals.
- A stye is an infection in the follicle of the eyelash or tear gland. It emerges as a tiny boil or pimple along your lash line causing swelling, redness, and pus in the eyelid or eye.
- An infection or inflammation spreads around your eyes through the sinuses. Such an eye infection often requires medical attention for treatment.
A cool compress, with a damp towel, may help you relieve tenderness and swelling, but you may need antibiotics to get rid of the pain.
Eye Injury
An injury to the eye or the surrounding area of an eye can also cause puffy eyes. A scratch from a fingernail, or by any other object like a makeup brush, can cause a fluid rush into the eye area.
This trigger swelling or bruising beneath the eye.
You Are Menstruating
You must have often noticed; due to PMS (Pre-Menstrual Symptoms), you feel bloated during your monthly cycle. Like your body, your eyes can also retain fluids due to hormonal fluctuations.
The good thing about such a puffiness of eyes is, that it generally goes away after a few days on its own.
You Have A Thyroid Disease
Most of the time, puffy eyes are not a huge concern, but sometimes it may be a side effect of a medical condition. “Grave’s Disease”, also called thyroid eye disease, is one such health condition that happens due to an imbalance of thyroid hormones.
You are likely to have to bulge and under-eye swelling, if you are suffering from Grave’s Disease. The symptoms may include redness, pain, blurry vision, double vision, and sensitivity to light. You will require immediate medical treatment. Your doctor may recommend the medication for the treatment.
What Causes Puffy Eyes In The Morning
While you sleep, you do not blink. The closed eyelids during sleep potentially cause the eyes to swell in certain people. The skin around the eyelids can retain some fluid resulting in puffy eyes. The fluid retention is known as edema.
How To Get Rid Of Puffy Eyes In The Morning
So, as I said earlier, the fluid retention around the eyelids is the reason, you might wake up in the morning with swollen eyelids. Once you wake up, open your eyes, and start blinking, the fluid retained, are released back into circulation and the puffiness of the eyes gets reduced in an hour or so.
How To Get Rid Of Puffy Eyes
To remove puffy eyes, here are some effective home remedies that might help you.
1. Drink Plenty Of Water
Dehydration can cause puffy eyes. Make sure you drink plenty of water to keep your skin and body hydrated. It is recommended to consume at least 8 -10 glasses of water daily.
Set an hourly reminder on your phone and keep a track to ensure you are hydrated throughout the day.
2. Sleep Well
Inadequate sleep can weaken the muscles around your eyes and may lead to a loss of collagen – under the eyes. This causes fluid retention, turning the area beneath your eyes puffy.
Maintain a bedtime routine, to ensure you are sleeping enough. You must sleep around 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. A regular good night’s sleep will help you get rid of puffy eyes.
3. Adjust Your Position
Keeping your head elevated while sleeping and sleeping on your back may help you reduce the under-eye swelling. Gravity causes the fluids to collect under your eyes which explains the reason for those bags.
Prop yourself with some pillows if you are unable to sleep in one direction and try to keep your head of your bed raised.
4. Take Your Make-Up Off Before Bed
Don’t forget to remove your makeup before sleeping as the harmful chemicals may accidentally enter into your eyes while you are sleeping. It may make your eyes watery and cause morning puffiness.
5. Try Using Tea Bags
Tea and coffee are natural antioxidants and are known to reduce inflammation. A green or black tea bag, compress, may help you constrict the blood vessels and reduce puffiness.
Take 2 tea bags and soak them in warm water. Then chill the tea bags in the refrigerator. Place those cool tea bags on your eyelids for 5 minutes. You will be refreshed as well as the swelling beneath your eyes will also be reduced.
6. Use Cucumber Slices
Cucumbers are handy when it comes to thinking of a home remedy for puffy eyes and dark circles. Cucumbers are high in antioxidants. Its coolness will not only give your eyes a refreshed feeling but also help reduce puffiness.
Cut a few pieces of cucumber slices and place it over your eyes for about 30 minutes to get the results.
7. Reduce Alcohol
Do you know, that though alcohol is a liquid, can still cause you dehydration? Yes, alcohol can make you so. Limit or avoid alcohol, as dehydration can result in the retention of fluids and puffy eyes.
A glass of wine is fine but overdoing is an absolute no. Instead, adding fresh fruit juice in your diet is an excellent blend of taste and nutrition to keep yourself hydrated.
Not to mention drinking, a glass of plain water is always beneficial for your body and helps in keeping the puffiness of your eyes at bay too.
8. Give A Cool Compress
You can reduce the puffiness by placing a cool washcloth on your eyelids for about 5 -10 minutes. This will help drain excess fluid and reduce puffy.
Or you can simply rub an ice cube and on the swollen area for some time. This will help shrink the swollen vessels and make your face look fresh and eyes alert.
9. Use Concealer To Hide
While home remedies for dark circles and puffy eyes can be helpful and can give better results, using a concealer can help you hide the puffy eyes instantly, but only to an extent.
A concealer will not remove puffy eyes and dark circles, but if you have a sudden occasion to attend, it can make a world of difference in minimizing the appearance of puffiness.
Choose the concealer matching to your skin tone and which is light in texture. Apply it by lightly patting on the swollen area of the eyes, to blend it with your natural skin tone.
10. Cream For Puffy Eyes
There are many eye creams and lotions available these days, that can help get rid of puffy eyes under the eyes, but you need to look for the right ingredients before choosing the cream.
Look for the creams with anti-inflammatory properties that can improve blood circulation. Cream formulas with cucumber, arnica, glycerine, vitamin C, and shea butter as ingredients can help you a lot in curing the problem of swollen eyes and tighten the skin.
You can also try a retinol eye cream, which helps in reducing wrinkles and lines as well as, tightens the skin. It increases collagen and elastin production and helps even out the skin tone. Retinol creams are usually available as night creams and should be applied under and around the sides of the eyes in a tiny amount.
Also, be sure to check if you are allergic to any of the ingredients of the cream before applying.
11. Protect Your Eyes From UV Rays
Exposing yourself too much to the sunlight, it will cause harm to the skin around your eyes as it does it to your body. Too much sun can cause wrinkles and sagging of the skin. Do not forget to use sunscreen and carry sunglasses and hats to protect your face from harmful ultraviolet rays before stepping out of the house.
12. Eat Potassium Rich Diet
A potassium-rich diet can help you reduce fluid retention in your body which causes puffy eyes. By adding foods like beans, bananas, yogurt, and green leafy vegetables in your daily diet, you can increase your potassium intake.
13. Cut Back On Salt & Sugar
How cutting back sodium from your daily diet is important to avoid fluid retention and other health problems, it equally important is to avoid sugar too. Eating foods high in sugar can trigger inflammation in your body. Since the skin under your eyes is thin and delicate, it is prone to swelling and inflammation.
Thus, to witness the immediate effect on the reduction of puffiness of eyes, try to cut the sugar as much as possible from your diet.
14. Consider Cosmetic Surgery, If Required
If your problem is severe, and lifestyle changes or other home treatments for puffy eyes are not helping, then consult your doctor, about treatment options like cosmetic surgery.
Conclusion
As you age, you may notice puffy eyes for several temporary reasons like insufficient sleep, seasonal allergies, or poor diet. Adopting a healthy lifestyle will help you reduce puffy eyes significantly.
Puffy eyes or bags under the eyes are usually normal and there is nothing to be much concerned about and to be embarrassed about. Treatment of puffy eyes and dark circles using home remedies can help you remarkably.
However, in some instances, it may be a sign or linked to a serious health condition. If you suspect, that it is abnormally severe or you have a thyroid hormonal imbalance, then you should seek medical help immediately.
Krishna is a Management graduate in Human Resource. She is an avid reader, knowledge seeker, and an adoring mother of two lovely kids.