Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey,
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today's episode is a
Speaker 1: classic from our previous host, Christian Sagar. This is one
Speaker 1: that Christian was personally curious about, but that many of
Speaker 1: us have wondered. Why is it that we get bags
Speaker 1: under our eyes? And if we want to prevent it,
Speaker 1: how can we do that without expensive creams, cosmetics or
Speaker 1: elective surgeries. Hello there, I'm Christian Sager and this is
Speaker 1: brain Stuff. When I was growing up, I had a
Speaker 1: science teacher named Mr. Thayer. He had these really deep
Speaker 1: set eyes with dark circles around them and loose, baggy
Speaker 1: skin underneath. At the time, I thought his eyes were
Speaker 1: really cool, like they made him look wise and knowledgeable.
Speaker 1: And now I'm probably the same age Mr Thair was then,
Speaker 1: and I've got bags under my eyes, but they don't
Speaker 1: seem as cool now. They just make me look tired
Speaker 1: all the time. But here's the thing, sooner or later,
Speaker 1: all of us are going to have them. We all
Speaker 1: get bags under our eyes. So what causes them anyways,
Speaker 1: and how should we treat them? Well, there are lots
Speaker 1: of possible causes for what's scientifically known as para orbital hyperchromia,
Speaker 1: but the most obvious one is aging. See we may
Speaker 1: not like to talk about this in certain circles, but
Speaker 1: we all have fat above, below, and behind our eyes
Speaker 1: for cushioning. This is in case something slams into your eye,
Speaker 1: like say a fist, the fat will take most of
Speaker 1: the blow and save your skull from some damage. But
Speaker 1: as we get older, the septum orbital ligaments in our
Speaker 1: skin decompose and all that gooey fat pushes down and out,
Speaker 1: and the skin loosens into swollen, puffy bags. And this thin,
Speaker 1: weak skin exposes the tiny blood vessels underneath, making our
Speaker 1: fat eye bags look darker. Also, as we lose volume
Speaker 1: around our eyes, our orbital bones are exposed, creating a
Speaker 1: kind of depressed gutter revealing our eye sockets. If you've
Speaker 1: already got forward set eyes and receding cheekbones, those gutters
Speaker 1: are going to look even deeper. And there are reasons
Speaker 1: other than aging that contribute to these lovely dark fat
Speaker 1: bags under our eyes. Genetics don't help. If your mother
Speaker 1: or father have eyebags, you probably will too. Also, any
Speaker 1: kind of fluid build up around the eyes is going
Speaker 1: to make the bags worse because fat cells are mainly
Speaker 1: made of water. Sinus infections from allergies, for instance, which
Speaker 1: I often get, stretch the skin under your eyes even more. Also,
Speaker 1: crying right before bed, which I often do, has the
Speaker 1: same effect. When you get bags under your eyes from
Speaker 1: fluid retention like this, they're most noticeable in the morning.
Speaker 1: Other causes of water retention under your eyes can include
Speaker 1: salty food and pre menstrual hormonal chains. And let's face it,
Speaker 1: if you're up late burning the candle at both ends.
Speaker 1: That doesn't help either. Neither does a lack of exercise.
Speaker 1: But if you're really looking for something else to blame,
Speaker 1: those dark circles are sometimes caused by an excess of
Speaker 1: melanin pigmentation deposits in the skin. So I know you're
Speaker 1: all out there wondering, but Christian, what's your secret? How
Speaker 1: do you treat your eyebags? Well? Of course, you can
Speaker 1: always cover them up with makeup, or you can turn
Speaker 1: to your friendly neighborhood doctor for needles and scalpels. For instance,
Speaker 1: dermatologists often inject wrinkle fillers with awesome names like Juva,
Speaker 1: derm and rest ale in under people's eye muscles to
Speaker 1: reduce their baggage. Mix that with some botox and you'll
Speaker 1: look years younger. It's only a couple thousand dollars every
Speaker 1: eight months, or you can spend big and go under
Speaker 1: the knife for surgery. The official name is bluffero plasty,
Speaker 1: and how it works is the doctor makes a few
Speaker 1: incisions in your eyelid, melts the fat inside of there,
Speaker 1: and either removes it or repositions it. Sometimes they even
Speaker 1: add more with fat grafts. Then they tuck in the
Speaker 1: remaining loose skin and use lasers to firm it up.
Speaker 1: Sounds cool, right, And if pigment is your problem, they
Speaker 1: can blast it with intense pulse lights to destroy yourselves
Speaker 1: and smooth out your skin. Okay, so maybe you're thinking, now, Christian,
Speaker 1: I don't want someone to stab me in the eyes,
Speaker 1: or Christian, I'm cool with the stabbing and the burning,
Speaker 1: but that surgery sounds awfully expensive. Well, here's a couple
Speaker 1: home remedies I can share with you. If the bags
Speaker 1: under your eyes are from fluid retention rather than aging,
Speaker 1: you can cool something like a cucumber slice or tea
Speaker 1: bags and place them on your eyes. The cold will
Speaker 1: restrict your blood vessels and reduce the swelling. Some people
Speaker 1: apply a cream made of fish cartilage compounds to keep
Speaker 1: the vessels from expanding in the first place. You can
Speaker 1: also try sleeping with an extra pillow to elevate your
Speaker 1: head so the fluid just d rains out of your
Speaker 1: face while you're sleeping, or change the position you're sleeping in,
Speaker 1: like if you have one of those weird one droopy eyelids,
Speaker 1: that's probably because you sleep on your side and gravity
Speaker 1: is taking effect. People put all kinds of stuff on
Speaker 1: their eyelids to reduce swelling, everything from vitamins to henroid cream,
Speaker 1: and some recommend that you quit cigarettes and put sunscreen
Speaker 1: around your eyes because both smoking and sunlight can weaken
Speaker 1: the collagen in your face and cause premature fat bags sagging.
Speaker 1: So here's the deal. We may not like the bags
Speaker 1: under our eyes, but they're usually harmless. But if you've
Speaker 1: got swollen, red, itching, painful eyes, you should probably go
Speaker 1: see a doctor. Day's episode was written by Christian and
Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Clang. For more in this and lots
Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how Stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts of
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