Why Do We Get Bags Under Our Eyes?

We all get bags under our eyes that make us look tired. Here's how it inevitably happens and some remedies to look your best.​

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hello there,
I'm Christian Seger and this is brain stuff. When I
was growing up, I had a science teacher named Mr. Thair.
He had these really deep set eyes with dark circles
around them and loose, baggy skin underneath. At the time,

(00:24):
I thought his eyes were really cool, like they made
him look wise and knowledgeable. And now I'm probably the
same age Mr Fair was then, and I've got bags
under my eyes, but they don't seem as cool now.
They just make me look tired all the time. But
here's the thing. Sooner or later, all of us are
going to have them. We all get bags under our eyes.

(00:46):
So what causes them anyways, and how should we treat them? Well,
there are lots of possible causes for what scientifically known
as para orbital hyperchromia, but the most obvious one is aging.
See we may not like to talk about this in
certain circles, but we all have fat above, below, and
behind our eyes for cushioning. This is in case something

(01:09):
slams into your eye, like say a fist, the fat
will take most of the blow and save your skull
from some damage. But as we get older, the septum,
orbital ligaments in our skin decompose, and all that gooey
fat pushes down and out, and the skin loosens into swollen,
puffy bags. And this thin, weak skin exposes the tiny

(01:33):
blood vessels underneath, making our fat eye bags look darker. Also,
as we lose volume around our eyes, our orbital bones
are exposed, creating a kind of depressed gutter revealing our
eye sockets. If you've already got forward set eyes and
receding cheekbones, those gutters are going to look even deeper.

(01:55):
And there are reasons other than aging that contribute to
these lovely dark fat bags eggs under our eyes. Genetics
don't help. If your mother or father have eyebags, you
probably will too. Also, any kind of fluid build up
around the eyes is going to make the bags worse,
because fat cells are mainly made of water. Sinus infections

(02:15):
from allergies, for instance, which I often get, stretch the
skin under your eyes even more. Also, crying right before bed,
which I often do, has the same effect. When you
get bags under your eyes from fluid retention like this,
they're most noticeable in the morning. Other causes of water
retention under your eyes can include salty food and pre

(02:37):
menstrual hormonal changes. And let's face it, if you're up
late burning the candle at both ends, that doesn't help either.
Neither does a lack of exercise. But if you're really
looking for something else to blame, those dark circles are
sometimes caused by an excess of melanin pigmentation deposits in
the skin. So I know you're all out there wondering,

(02:59):
but chrisin, what's your secret? How do you treat your eyebags? Well?
Of course, you can always cover them up with makeup,
or you can turn to your friendly neighborhood doctor for
needles and scalpels. For instance, dermatologists often inject wrinkle fillers
with awesome names like Juva, Derm and Wrestle in under
people's eye muscles to reduce their baggage. Mix that with

(03:21):
some botox and you'll look years younger. It's only a
couple thousand dollars every eight months, or you can spend
big and go under the knife for surgery. The official
name is blafferoplasty, and how it works is the doctor
makes a few incisions in your eyelid, melts the fat
inside of there, and either removes it or repositions it.

(03:43):
Sometimes they even add more with fat grafts. Then they
tuck in the remaining loose skin and use lasers to
firm it up. Sounds cool, right, And if pigment is
your problem, they can blast it with intense pulse lights
to destroy yourselves and smooth out your skin. Okay, so
maybe you're thinking, now, Christian, I don't want someone to

(04:05):
stab me in the eyes, or Christian, I'm cool with
the stabbing and the burning, but that surgery sounds awfully expensive. Well,
here's a couple home remedies I can share with you.
If the bags under your eyes are from fluid retention
rather than aging, you can cool something like a cucumber
slice or tea bags and place them on your eyes.
The cold will restrict your blood vessels and reduce the swelling.

(04:26):
Some people apply a cream made of fish cartilage compounds
to keep the vessels from expanding in the first place.
You can also try sleeping with an extra pillow to
elevate your head so the fluid just drains out of
your face while you're sleeping, or change the position you're
sleeping in, like if you have one of those weird
one droopy eyelids. That's probably because you sleep on your

(04:49):
side and gravity is taking effect. People put all kinds
of stuff on their eyelids to reduce swelling, everything from
vitamins to henroid cream, and some recommend that you quit
cigarette and put sunscreen around your eyes, because both smoking
and sunlight can weaken the collagen in your face and
cause premature fat bag sagging. So here's the deal. We

(05:11):
may not like the bags under our eyes, but they're
usually harmless. But if you've got swollen, red, itching, painful eyes,
you should probably go see a doctor. Check out the
brainstuff channel on YouTube, and for more on this and
thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com