What Are the Causes of Dark Eye Circles?

Dark under-eye circles can make you look fatigued and older than your years. These dark areas may be due to your genetic lottery. If your parents have them, you will probably have them as well. However, there are other factors that can make the dark under-eye circles worse and more frequent.

Sun Exposure

According to Darkcircles.net, spending a lot of time in the sun may cause your dark circles to be even more prevalent. Sun exposure will increase your skin's pigment (melanin) level and, as a result, the pigment (melanin) moves closer to the surface of your skin. The increase in melanin will make already existing dark circles even darker.

Skin Tone and Thickness

The color of the skin and its tone are inherited. If you have transparent skin, your dark circles will be more evident than someone who has more opaque skin.

Kids Get Them, Too

According to the Mayo Clinic, dark under-eye circles are described as round, uniform areas of pigmentation. Children can develop them as well as adults. The dark circles are, in fact, caused by weakened capillaries that lie beneath the skin.

The Kidney Link

Chinese medical practitioners believe that dark under-eye circles represent the condition of our kidneys. Kidneys are, according to the Chinese, the core of our vitality and if something is wrong with the kidneys it will be announced by dark under-eye circles, according to Naturaleyecare.com.

Adrenal Exhaustion

Everything in our body is connected, resulting in a very complicated maze and system of cause and effect. The adrenal glands are connected to the kidneys. When these glands get worn out, allergies can occur and, as a result, dark under-eye circles, which are a classic marker of allergies, can develop.

Other Causes

In addition to adrenal fatigue and kidney deficiency, edema (swelling) and extreme sleep deprivation can prompt the development of dark under-eye circles. Stress, which takes a toll on our bodies, including on our skin, can cause the development of dark circles particularly if it is compounded by a lousy diet and too much alcohol consumption. Being sleep deprived doesn't in and of itself cause the development of dark circles, according to Darkcircles.net, but it will cause your skin to be pale and therefore the circles that you have will look more prominent due to the paleness. Any time that you're sick, and your skin becomes pale as a result, your dark circles will become more noticeable.

Allergies

Darkcircles.net explains that the reason dark under-eye circles look worse if a person has allergies is because histamine reactions can cause the dark smudges to appear. When a person is suffering from allergies, he tends to rub at his itchy eyes and rubbing the skin around the eyes can make under-eye circles look darker.