What Causes Dark Circles Under The Eyes

What causes dark circles under the eyes? Most people assume you have them because you didn't get enough sleep. Yes, fatigue can make the skin look dull; but the truth is, you could have had a full eight hours of sleep and still wake up with that unsightly discoloration. So you have to wonder, what causes dark circles under the eyes?


Before we dive into the answer of what causes dark circles under the eyes, do not discredit getting enough sleep. Although there are other reasons we get them, what causes dark circles under the eyes may still just be a lack of sleep which causes one to look even paler and make these more pronounced. Even if sleep is not the main reason you get them, not getting enough sleep can aggravate the situation. Your best bet is to make sure you get your six to eight hours of sleep for your body's well being.

This is the thinnest and most delicate area in our bodies. It is easy to see the bluish tint that can be produced when our blood vessels run through that area. If your surface is more transparent, which is also an inherited trait, these will be more noticeable. Excess pigmentation, another inherited trait in the skin, can add to this tint, making them look worse and adds to what causes dark circles under the eyes. As we age, the skin becomes even thinner, exaggerating the look of bags. Other aggressors may include sun damage and certain medications such as birth control which can dilate blood vessels as well as a deficiency in iron which adds to what causes dark circles under the eyes.
 

What causes dark circles under the eyes can also be due to eating foods with a lot of salts. Blood vessels in that area can become dilated and engorged due to fluid retention. Smoking is also another aggressor, and the act of smoking decreases your oxygen supply by thirty percent. This means that your body is no longer working at a hundred percent and can be a factor in what causes dark circles under the eyes. Smoking, along with drinking a lot of caffeine and not drinking enough water, also produces dehydration. A result of dehydration is what causes dark circles under the eyes. A simple way to treat this is by drinking your eight cups of water a day; and for every coffee or soda or other dehydrating substance you drink, add a cup of water per item.

Overall, bags make you look tired and aged. In order to fully understand how to treat them, we must understand what causes dark circles under the eyes. Only when we understand the reason or reasons we have these blemishes, we can figure out how to treat them and prevent them in the future with our knowledge of what causes dark circles under the eyes.