Staggered past a mirror after another dose of the day and to your horror, found bags under your tired eyes? Learn how to de-puff your eyes using natural home remedies.
As the great Bard himself once said, the eyes are the window to the soul. As such, they can often teach us a lot about our lifestyles and how time itself can catch up with us. Before we begin though, we should mark the distinction between puffy eyes and baggy eyes.
What Causes Puffy Eyes? As we grow older, the muscles around our eyes become a little weaker and as a result, fat forms in this area of our face and can create bags under our eyes. As you may be aware, the marching of time is unfortunately inevitable, and there are few things that one can do to prevent these genetic changes short of having cosmetic surgery, which we wouldn’t recommend.
De-puff Your Eyes by Changing Your Habits
On the other hand, puffy eyes are related more to daily habits and can be remarkably reduced by reforming our habits and routines. If you’re experiencing puffy eyes regularly, this could be a result of some of these well-established common causes:
- Lack of sleep
- Stress
- Allergies
- Too much salt in diet (causes fluid retention)
- Eczema
- Fatigue
- Rubbing your eyes too much
- Sun exposure
To make matters worse, the omnipresent pressure to look youthful has seen a rise in the cosmetics markets of a lot of ‘snake oil’ products that promise to remedy those tired eyes. Not only will these drain your bank account, but a lot of them are also in fact useless.
Therefore, without further ado, we’d like to now list ten of the most simple yet surprisingly effective natural remedies that have been shown to reduce puffy eyes, with solutions that are both temporary and long-lasting. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Dry Skin Remedies: 9 Ways to Soothe Dry Skin Naturally
10 Natural Remedies that Reduce Puffy Eyes
(Foto: CC0 / Pixabay / fuzzyrescue)
- Cold Compress: This is a great way of tackling inflammation and swelling by reducing blood flow around the affected area. Simply grab a cold bag of vegetables, an ice pack, chilled spoons, or even soak a towel or washcloth in cold water and apply it to the eye for five to ten minutes at a time.
- Cucumber: Speaking of vegetables, this is a great way of treating puffy eyes. As cucumbers retain a lot of water, they hydrate the skin which reduces puffiness and swelling in the process. Cucumbers themselves also reportedly contain antioxidants and vitamin K which further contribute to their anti-inflammatory properties, a great method for reducing black rings under tired eyes.
- Teabags: Perhaps one of the most famous treatments for puffy eyes, tea bags often contain tannins which help constrict body tissue around the swollen area. The most common home remedies for eye bags and puffy eyes often involve green, black, or chamomile tea. Green tea is renowned for its anti-inflammatory properties, while chamomile contains potent antioxidants and is often used to treat conjunctivitis. Simply steep the tea in water, and place a tea bag on each eye for a few minutes to reduce redness.
- Aloe Vera Gel: An amazing natural remedy whose praises we’ll tire of singing about, aloe vera gel contains an abundance of antioxidants. It also has a bunch of powerful healing properties that aid in all matters antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal. Simply reduce puffy eyes by moisturizing the skin around the affected area.
- Turmeric: Turmeric is another great natural home remedy that reduces bags under the eyes due to its anti-inflammatory properties. A great way to apply it to the face is to make a turmeric eye mask. To make, simply combine a tablespoon of ground turmeric with 1 tablespoon of milk in a bowl and apply under your eyes with a cotton ball. Leave this mixture to work its magic for 15 minutes before rinsing off.
- Essential Oils: Another great natural remedy with anti-inflammation properties, essential oils can easily assist when you need to reduce the appearance of dark circles and bags under the eyes. You can use argan, almond, chamomile, or lavender essential oils by dapping one drop on a cotton ball and very carefully apply it to the area where the under-eye meets your check. Be very careful when doing so, and avoid the eyes completely or cuts. If you have super sensitive skin, you may want to give this method a miss.
- Rose Water: As we’ve mentioned many times on this site, rose water contains many rejuvenating properties thanks to its high vitamin A and C content. As a result, this is a wonderful natural treatment for puffy eyes and inflammation. Simply simmer rose petals in distilled water and let them cool before pouring into a jar or bottle. Next, dab a clean cotton ball in rose water and apply it gently to the bags under your eyes.
- Dietary Change: Puffy eyes occasionally occur as a result of not eating a healthy diet, consumption of too much salt, and even dehydration. By drinking more water, avoiding liquids that easily dehydrate such as alcohol, and cutting back on salty processed foods, you can reduce the size of puffy eyes.
- Washing Your Face with Cold Water: By improving your routine before bed and your overall sleep hygiene, you can easily reduce the bags and puffiness under your eyes. We recommend that you wash your face every night before hitting the sack, especially if you wear makeup. By washing your face with cold water every night before bed and when you wake up in the morning, you can limit blood flow in the swollen area, as well as stave off any potential infections that can prolongate your irritated eyes.
- Massage: If you find that you don’t have any of these previous natural remedies available, you can always work around the swollen eye tissue by gently massaging the skin around it. By gently massaging the face, you can flush toxins and circulate lymph around your puffy eyes which will help encourage the fluid retained near the eyes to drain. Be careful not to tug or pull on the skin as it can exacerbate the situation.
https://utopia.org/guide/how-to-get-rid-of-dry-cough-natural-home-remedies/
When to Consult a Doctor
These puffy eyes home remedies, like all home remedies, are not a one-size-fits-all solution, and there may come a time when you should seek the advice and guidance of a medicinal professional.
Several instances where it may be wise to seek the professional consultation of a doctor include:
- Swelling: Any instances of swelling can respond well to natural home treatments, however, if the puffiness persists or becomes painful and swelling travels to other areas, seek help immediately.
- Extended Puffiness: If you have puffy eyes for a prolonged period of time, it’s worth visiting a doctor for advice. If puffiness lingers with one eye bag be sure to get it checked out as it could potentially be infected.
- Pain or Itching: If the swelling of your puffy eye is accompanied by redness, pain or itching, it’s a good idea to get it looked at.
- Red Eyes/ Discoloration: Red eyes can be caused by rubbing your eye, dust particles or even allergies, however if this persists a consultation never hurts.
Just as with most health conditions, it’s best to err on the side of caution by staying vigilant and monitor the situation closely. By seeing a doctor, long-term treatments or remedies such as prescription creams may be a better tool to reduce swelling and discolored puffy eyes.
However, if you find yourself suffering from dry eyes, we cordially invite you to check out our feature on natural methods that combat dry eyes and offer effective and quick relief. Stay safe out there!
Read more:
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