No one wants to wake up to the sight of bags under their eyes!

Looking young and beautiful is key, and those eye bags do not help to achieve that. Anyways, they are not a big deal, and can easily be a thing of the past.

Every skin irritation is caused by something, and eye bags are not different.

The first step to treating this is to understand what exactly caused the eye bags in the first place.

Eye bags are caused by different factors, such as stress, eating too much salty foods, iron deficiency, smoking, too much alcohol intake, heredity, age, food allergies and skin allergies-like eczema.

Those eye bags are formed when the collagen level in your body reduces. The lesser the collagen in your body, the weaker the tissues guiding your skin becomes. When this happens, your skin becomes weak and begins to sag. Water and fat, which normally should be around your eyes, fill up the sagging skin. At this point, your under-eyes look swollen and puffy.

To identify eye bags, watch out for dark circles around your eyes, mild swelling under your eyes and loose skin. Some appear with mild discoloration.

Eye bags are not really a big deal; with one or two home remedies, they disappear. However, if the swelling is accompanied by constant itching and pain, please see a doctor. It could be an infection that needs medical attention.

Now that we know what causes eye bags, the next question is: what can you do about it?

It’s very easy. These tips should help you out.

Start With a Lifestyle Change

Oftentimes, what we do on a daily basis affects our skin. To make those eye bags go, you need to stop some of those habits and start new ones.

1. Exercise

Facial exercises are very important. They help to reduce aging signs and make you look young again. So immediately you notice those eye bags, exercise the areas around your eyes.

You could massage your eyes,but do this gently because the skin around your eyes are extremely delicate.

Put some eyes cream on your fingers. Start massaging from left to right, from the inner part to the outer part with your finger tips. You could pinch your skin very gently while you do this to enhance circulation.

2. Change your sleeping position

The way you sleep actually matters. Since eye bags are caused by fluids building up in your eyes, you should try not to sleep facing down. Instead, sleep on your back. This helps to prevent fluid from storing up in your eyes.

You could use a pillow too. As long as your head is elevated, you are good to go.

3. Never go to bed with your make-up on

No matter how tired you are at night, clean off your make up before going to bed. If you leave it on, it might irritate your skin. You might get an allergic reaction or even worse, an infection. In the long run, sleeping with make-up makes you age prematurely.It also causes your skin to wrinkle.

4. Stay away from sunlight

Sun rays should be avoided, especially in climate zones that are intensely hot.

Sun rays could cause skin cancer, make you age fast and also cause discoloration of your skin. Basically, sun rays irritate your skin.

Try not to go out in hot afternoons. And if you must, wear sunglasses. Try to stay under a shade as much as you can.

You could also apply sunscreen on your face before you leave the house.

5. Get enough sleep

Yes! Sleep helps! You need to sleep long and sleep well.

When you don’t sleep well, those dark circles around your eyes become much more obvious because lack of good sleep makes your skin pale.

Make sure you sleep up to eight hours at night. This is a natural remedy. Be sure to wake up to a refreshed skin the next day.

Watch What You Eat

What we let into our body greatly affects our skin. Be sure to eat the right foods.

1. Eat less salt

Please run away from salty foods. If you must cook with salt, use little quantity.

If you like a lot of salt in your food, put it at the back of your mind that sodium in salt causes fluid retention in your eyes. And this is a major cause for the swelling under your eyes. The lesser the quantity of salt, the better your skin becomes.

2. Drink a lot of water

It is important that you stay hydrated because dehydration is one of the reasons for eye bags.

Nine to ten cups of water daily should do the trick. Keep a water bottle with you all day and make sure to refill it till you have drunk up to the stipulated amount of water daily.

3. Eat foods rich in collagen

Collagen is basically a form of protein found in our body. It makes sure your skin is strong, improves skin elasticity, and when your skin cells die, it replaces the dead cells.

However as we grow older, collagen in our body decreases and your skin begins to sag and wrinkle.

Try out collagen supplements. Eggs, sweet potatoes, salmon and tomatoes are examples of foods rich in collagen.

4. Eat foods rich in iron

When your body does not have enough iron to function, it reflects on your eyes. Dark rings begin to form round the eyes. This is because, at this point, your blood does not have enough red blood cells, which are supposed to provide oxygen to the tissues in your body.

Peas, red meat, pork, beans,vegetables are some examples of foods that give iron to the body

5. Quit drinking alcohol

If you can’t quit drinking alcohol, it is advisable you greatly reduce the amount of alcohol you consume.

Alcohol causes dehydration, which in turn causes tired eyes and make your eyes look dark.

If you really crave something to drink, you could drink water. Water hydrates your skin and keeps it refreshed. If you must take alcohol, a glass a day is enough.

Try Out Home Remedies

You can try out the following home remedies to reduce the appearance of eye bags:

1. Cucumbers

Cucumbers help to reduce skin irritation, and when they are applied cold, they reduce swelling. The anti-inflammatory properties in cucumbers help to reduce the tissues to their normal size.

Ingredients

• Two slices of cucumber

Procedure

• Refrigerate the Cucumber to make it cool
• Put it over your eyes
• Leave for 15 minutes

Do this daily, as many times as possible.

2. Tea bags

Tea bags contain caffeine, which helps to reduce swelling.

You could also use green tea bags. Green tea bags have herbal ingredients that do not only help to reduce swelling but clear off dark circles.

Ingredients

• Tea bags
• A bowl of warm water

Procedure

• Put the tea bags in the bowl of warm water
• Place them on your eyelids
• Leave for 30minutes

Do this several times daily.

3. Potatoes

Potatoes also help to reduce swelling. They contain anti-inflammatory properties. Using cold potatoes help to reduce the swelling immensely.

Ingredients

• Slices of potato

Procedure

• Refrigerate the slices of potato to make them cold
• Place them across your eyelids
• Leave for 15 minutes

Do this several times daily.

Worries about those eye bags can be a thing of the past. Once you try out these tips, your eyes will be back to normal.

As you try out the home remedies, make sure to try out the lifestyle changes as well as diet changes. Doing all these together would make the eye bags disappear faster.