my under-eyes look like hell

I'm 26 and the skin under my eyes makes me look like I'm 46. Four years ago I developed chronic dark circles and they've never gone away. I've tried various things but nothing's ever really helped. There have been a couple other things that have bothered me, such as a porous nose, oily nose/forehead, and lately I've developed expression lines around my eyes. Now, the dark circle areas are looking worse, with lots of tiny little expression wrinkles and really faint little whitish bumps. It looks worse under certain lightings than others, but it's far from perfect. Looks worse when I have a light below head level, probably because all the imperfections case little shadows. The past month or so I've been using different stuff on my face to try to combat some of this. This is my regimen: - Nivea extra gentle face wash once a day - Humphrey's oil-conrolling witch hazel toner once or twice a day - Avalon Organics Vitamin C lotion 15spf once every one or two days, kinda burns when it gets into my eyes - L'Oreal Men's Expert Stop Lines anti-lines moisturizer 15spf, on days I don't use the above moisturizer - a few times a week I put emu oil around my nose/eyes (done that for months now) - exfoliate once a week with some fancy oatmeal-based exfoliater I got from Whole Foods I can't really remember when my eyes started looking worse, with the little faint bumps and expression wrinkling, but I think that's gotten worse recently. Could using all of this stuff, so many chemicals etc, be making it worse? Could it be something that'll get worse for a little while before it gets better? I've read of both happening, but not necessarily with the products I'm using. And my face is still pretty oily. Anything else I can use? I used to pride myself on looking younger than I really am (even if that's not the best when you're in your early 20s), and now my eyes look way more aged than they should look at 26.

I have the same problem and it has been like this since I was in my teens. I think it's caused by insecurity regarding my future - in effect, worrying too much. Related to the worrying, I think I also drink a little too much. Since you have been so thorough in exploring remedies, I suspect you are quite organized and on-track, meaning that it is probably not caused by worrying. Perhaps you genuinely just need more sleep? In addition to worrying too much, I also don't sleep enough (the worrying tends to keep me up) and feel tired all the time. It's hard not to feel that the dark circles are related to my chronic sleepiness. Of course, slowing down the pace of my life is also difficult when I am so insecure regarding the future.

I'm sure that you are more healthy and less neurotic than I am, but in general, when products don't work, the cause is most likely to be something a little deeper.

Since I don't want to be nervous about yet another thing, I've pretty much just accepted that I'm gonna look like this. Keep in mind that looking older is not such a horrible thing for men.

Funny that I haven't really tried all these remedies, but I have considered using make-up.

First, stop using topical solutions. You are probably beating the heck out of the tender skin and making things worse.

Second, address the problem internally, nutritionally. Dark circles can be caused by allergies or anemia or low grade subclinical inflammation. Start on a good men's multiple vitamin. Make sure it has zinc. Get, take, and, stay on a good pro biotic. Add 100 mg CoQ10 and some turmeric. The sales person at Whole Foods can help you find these things. They won't hurt you, they will all help you in general, and they might improve the eyes. Additionally, you can get, separately, some iron supplements. You probably don't need these, but you can try them. If they improve the circles, you can stay on them as needed. But if they don't, throw them away. Men usually don't need iron unless they are vegetarians and too much iron can be bad.

Originally Posted by Liberty Ship

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First, stop using topical solutions. You are probably beating the heck out of the tender skin and making things worse.

Second, address the problem internally, nutritionally. Dark circles can be caused by allergies or anemia or low grade subclinical inflammation. Start on a good men's multiple vitamin. Make sure it has zinc. Get, take, and, stay on a good pro biotic. Add 100 mg CoQ10 and some turmeric. The sales person at Whole Foods can help you find these things. They won't hurt you, they will all help you in general, and they might improve the eyes. Additionally, you can get, separately, some iron supplements. You probably don't need these, but you can try them. If they improve the circles, you can stay on them as needed. But if they don't, throw them away. Men usually don't need iron unless they are vegetarians and too much iron can be bad.

My same advice. Also, add a high quality fish oil like Carlson's. I used to have horrible dark circles even when I was 4 years old. They are much better now that I am more healthy. The circles aren't so much a problem now as bags.

To improve the bags I moisturize every few days with high quality emu oil. I also quit rubbing my eyes, that skin is very thin and stretches easily. Even during allergy season I try not to rub. I'll also take an ice cold spoon and press upwards to kind of re-distribute the fat a little bit some times. I also put copper peptides over the emu oil sometimes as it will regenerate and tighten the skin.

What does the Turmeric do? I take it actually but I take it for hair loss related issues.

Turmeric has many benefits, but I mentioned it here for its role as an anti-inflammatory. Actually, many of its secondary benefits are rooted in its role as an anti-inflammatory. http://www.new-chapter.com/product/p...&-KeyValue=144 I was thinking that one thing that *could* cause the dark circles would be a syndrome of poor micro circulation causing inflammation resulting in poor (blocked) micro circulation. So CoQ10 plus an anti inflammatory might break the cycle and allow the cells of the tissue to be restored to health. In any case, I think that constant battering with topical solutions might tend to aggravate the situation.

try menaji 911 eye gel treatment (good for puffiness and dark circles)
try menscience eye rescue formula (good for dark circles and puffiness)

note that your condition may be hereditary and if so, consult with a dermatologist

Originally Posted by Liberty Ship

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Second, address the problem internally, nutritionally.

Your recent threads certainly make the point that you should correct your diet.

Alright. So if I should drop some topicals which ones? I assume the face wash can stay, since it's "alcohol, soap, fragrance and dye free". And I want to use a moisturizer with spf, so should I just only start using one of them (probably the l'oreal)?

Also, drink plenty of fluids.

yeah, I try.

btw, if I'm taking iron supplements but I don't really need them, can it do any harm?

Originally Posted by Liberty Ship

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Turmeric has many benefits, but I mentioned it here for its role as an anti-inflammatory. Actually, many of its secondary benefits are rooted in its role as an anti-inflammatory. http://www.new-chapter.com/product/p...&-KeyValue=144 I was thinking that one thing that *could* cause the dark circles would be a syndrome of poor micro circulation causing inflammation resulting in poor (blocked) micro circulation. So CoQ10 plus an anti inflammatory might break the cycle and allow the cells of the tissue to be restored to health. In any case, I think that constant battering with topical solutions might tend to aggravate the situation.
Inflammation causes so many problems these days. IMO, most causes of hairloss are a result of inflammation. I remember Turmeric has activating a different pathway for hairloss, but it certainly could be based off its anti-inflammatory properties. The best way I've found to cut down on inflammation is to stay away from processed foods, sugar and the like especially. Got anything for chronically cold hands and feet?

Originally Posted by hermes

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note that your condition may be hereditary and if so, consult with a dermatologist
+1. My ex had a similar problem with bags and dark circles, starting in her mid-20s. Her mother has the bags. Consultations w/ doctors have told them both it's likely hereditary. If so, then what's happening is your body is depositing fat in those little patches. Cosmetic surgery would simply remove the fat, tighten up the skin and bleach out the darkness, though it's possible you'd re-develop the same appearance down the road. At your age, you might consider it as a decent, long-term investment (perhaps equaling the cost of all the creams and palliatives over time). Oh, one trick my ex used to use, also: hemorrhoid cream. It's another anti-inflammatory and mild and formulated to treat some very sensitive skin tissue. It worked decently, she said.

Originally Posted by Sartorian

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Oh, one trick my ex used to use, also: hemorrhoid cream. It's another anti-inflammatory and mild and formulated to treat some very sensitive skin tissue. It worked decently, she said.

Better to work from the inside out. It may be hereditary, but the root cause is most likely hereditary, like inflammation, and not dark circles themselves. Maybe all the relatives could be improved if they took turmeric, etc.? I just don't like it when doctors blame whatever they can't explain on genetics... what a cop out.

+1 on the sleep. I get dark circles and bags if I haven't been sleeping well for a while. Disappears after long periods of sufficient sleep.

I would see your Dermatologist. There is a new topical drug that helps people with dark circles under their eyes. The lines might be helped with something like Renova. Your Dermatologist can discuss options with you.