Almost nothing makes you look old before your time - not to mention tired, haggard, and as though you've been burning the candle at both ends - like dark circles or bags under your eyes.

What Causes Bags Under Your Eyes

Mostly - like so many unpleasant things about our health and beauty - age.

Time passes. The tissues surrounding your eyes weaken. The muscles supporting your eyes weaken - it's not like you can exercise them.

Fat around your eyes to support them moves into the lower eyelids, making them appear puffy. Fluid can also accumulates there.

The tissue just below your eyes is much thinner and more delicate than the rest. It's the thinnest skin of your body, so it is most vulnerable to loss of moisture, loss of collagen, and loss of elastin.

This deterioration in the structure of your skin happens everywhere, but shows up first and most clearly in the thin skin below your eyes. 

Undereye problems show up differently for people. Some have saggy or loose skin, some dark circles that look sort of hollow, and some are mildly swollen.

Although the main villain is aging, other factors can also cause them or make them worse, including:

* Lack of sleep

* Smoking

* Fluid retention from consuming too much sodium

* Allergies

* Overexposure to sunlight

* Genetics

* Too much stress

* Various medical conditions ranging from dermatitis to renal disease (obviously, if you believe your bags are caused by a medical condition, you should see your doctor)

The List Above Suggests Some Obvious Ways to Treat Your Bags:

* Get 7-9 hours of sleep every night, but not more - oversleeping can make your eyes puffy

* Keep your head high on a pillow to encourage drainage of excess fluid

* Eat less salt and more potassium (also good for your blood pressure)

* Stop smoking

* Taking antihistamines might help with allergies. You might take oral antihistamine tablets or antihistamine allergy eye drops.

* If you have allergies, don't rub your eyes. It feels good but makes your eyes appear worse.

* Stay out of the sunlight, or wear a wide-brimmed hat to shade your face - or use a facial sunscreen to block UV radiation

Noninvasive Ways to Deal With Undereye Bags

* Apply cold compresses. Use ice cubes or anything cold. Place on your eyes gently. This is not a long-term solution, but it helps if you've been crying or didn't get enough sleep last night.

* Some people swear by applying pieces of cucumber under their eyes - others say that's just because the cucumber slices are cold.

* Apply compresses of extra-strong chamomile tea.

* Try a skin cream with niacinamide - but stay away from commercial products with harmful non-natural ingredients, fragrances, and preservatives

Other ingredients that may help moisturize or strengthen your under-eye skin:

* Panthenol

* Glycerin

* Gigartina Stellata Extract - an algae extract

* Coffea Arabica seed extract - the caffeine tightens your skin

* Sodium Hyaluronate - concentrated hyaluronic acid

* Licorice root extract

* Camellia Sinensis extract - green tea

* Squalane

* Vitamin C

Any natural ingredient that benefits your skin by improving/strengthening/increasing collagen and elastin could also work.

But always be wary of potentially irritating and harmful ingredients in commercial products. Look for something from a small company that puts out only natural, harmless, and proven products.

And, of course, watch out for products that are just too strong. They may work fine for your arms and legs, but shouldn't go on the sensitive skin below your eyes.

And, of course, keep everything out of your eye itself.

What About Creams for Bags Under the Eyes?

There're many such products. Most of them are serum albumin. They tighten your skin, but only temporarily.

Also, they're not regulated. You don't really know what's in them - and they use preservatives that have been found to cause permanent damage to the oil glands in your lower eyelids. That means you could wind up with severe dry eye disease.

That's also why most eye doctors do NOT recommend using retinol face creams on your eyelids.

Plastic Surgery or Other Medical Procedures May Be an Option

A plastic surgeon for the eyes is an oculoplastic surgeon.

Depending on your eyes, you may want bleaching creams, laser treatment, chemical peels or injectable fillers.

Or an oculoplastic surgeon may perform a lower eyelid blepharoplasty - a lower eyelid lift. That removes excess skin from the lower eyelid. The surgeon may also remove or re-arrange excess fat there.

Of course, all of these come with medical risks. And most people cannot afford them. Medical insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and ACA don't cover cosmetic medical procedures.

Therefore, most people want to focus on natural ways to reduce the bags under their eyes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hql6k88BKP8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXLV7OvB7SE

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bags-under-eyes/symptoms-causes/syc-20369927

https://www.scripps.org/news_items/4583-what-are-the-best-ways-to-remove-dark-circles-under-the-eyes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow9l7kh4qrU