How to Cure Puffy Eyes

In a perfect world everybody would eat properly, get great sleep every night, and wake up looking fabulous every morning. But this is the real world and puffy eyes are just one effect of the daily grind. Be it from lack of sleep, poor diet, dehydration, allergies, or any other of the many causes of puffy eyes, here are some real world quick fixes to get those peepers sparkling again.

Instructions

1. Try the traditional fix first. Chill some cucumber or potato slices in the fridge and then pop them over your eyes for 10 minutes or so to reduce redness and swelling. You could also substitute some used, chilled, green or black tea bags for the cucumbers.

2. Reduce inflammation in your body. This will reduce the puffiness around your eyes and all over your body in general. Try to get a little exercise, get a massage, or if you're strapped for time take an over the counter anti-inflammatory pain killer like Ibuprofen. Within a few hours, the fluid around your eyes will start melting away.

3. Stick your eye cream in the freezer for a few minutes and then apply it to your eyes. You could even buy a cooling eye gel to use specifically for this purpose.

4. Go on a daily homeopathic regimen of 1 tbsp. of blackstrap molasses, a ¼ tsp. of cayenne pepper, and 1 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar. It may not taste good, but it's a wonderful natural way to reduce inflammation especially around the face and the lymph nodes.

5. Take your vitamins. A, C and B vitamins are great for your eyes. Taking a daily multivitamin with a big glass of water each day can go a long way to keep you looking and feeling better even if you don't have time to eat right.

6. Use aloe. If you don't have one already, get a common aloe plant and take good care of it. Besides being wonderful for skin irritation, sun burn, blisters, and even poor digestion, the gel-like goo inside each spear of an aloe plant is wonderful for relieving swollen, puffy eyes. Just break off a spear, stick it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes, and then scoop out the insides and cover your eye area with it. Wash it off with cool water after about 10 minutes.

7. Get your allergies under control. Take an antihistamine if you believe that your puffy eyes might be the result of allergens in your environment.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not use hemorrhoid or hydrocortisone cream to cure puffy eyes. These creams can damage your eyes permanently, and their rumored benefit is actually a myth. Hemorrhoid cream formulations no longer even contain the ingredients that were believed to reduce eye puffiness.