What to do about Dark Circles?

Dark circles under your eyes can make you look haggard, sick or tired. While makeup can conceal your dark circles, you may also seek a dermatologist to learn about treatments which can help remove them. Although there may be other reasons for dark circles like not sleeping well or underlying medical problems like anemia, dark circles are often a skin care issue, and a board-certified dermatologist is your best bet to eliminate them.

At Etre Cosmetic Dermatology and Laser Center, we offer an arsenal of treatment options for under-eye dark circles. They include:

Blepharoplasty

As we age, our eyelids stretch causing supporting muscles to loosen and excess fat to migrate either below or above the eyelids. The results are drooping eyebrows as well as baggy under eyes. Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) is designed to remove excess skin, muscle and fat to reduce eye puffiness and under-eye bags. The outcome leaves the patient with a rested, more alert appearance which will last a lifetime.

Laser Therapy

Lasers can be used to treat both the pigmentation of the lower eyelid and the laxity of the lower eyelids that leads to dark circles. Depending on the degree of dark circles and skin laxity, multiple lasers may be used.   Vascular lasers can be used if there is some pigmentation; while, fraxel and co2 lasers may be used to improve skin quality and tighten the skin of the lower lid.

Depending on the lasers used, there may be a small amount of down time.  For some patients, these may be combined with other treatments like fillers or fat grafting for best results.

Chemical Peels

By exfoliating the skin surface to reveal healthy underlying skin, chemical peels can be an effective treatment in reducing dark circles under your eyes. A series of medium-depth TCA (trichloroacetic acid) peels are recommended for dark circle reduction.

. Prior to these types of peels, a topical anesthetic is applied. After this takes effect, we apply the TCA solution under your eyes.  After the peel, aquaphor or vasoline is applied and used for a few days.

Within days, superficial layers of skin will begin to peel away revealing a healthy layer of underlying skin. This peeling process should end after a week leaving a reduction of dark circles to enjoy.

Dark Circle Correction (Injectables)

Fat Grafting

Facial fat grafting is effective in adding volume to hollow under-eye areas to eliminate dark circles from resulting shadows. Fat from a donor site like the abdomen can be a natural filler to eliminate sunken voids under each eye.    The procedure is performed in the office with local anesthesia.

Recovery is very easy with swelling and potential for some minor bruising over a few days…

Soft Tissue Fillers

Restylane^® and Juvéderm^®, two highly effective hyaluronic acid injectables can eliminate dark circles as well by filling hollow under-eye areas, stimulating collagen production and enhancing skin health in this delicate area around the eyes. Restylane^® is unique because it differs from other fillers with its ability to adhere to the water molecules in the skin to produce natural-looking, subtle improvements to the under-eye voids.

For more information contact Être Cosmetic Dermatology & Laser Center at 504.227.3873