Permanent Removal of Dark Circles Under the Eyes
Millions of people are bothered by dark circles under the eyes and spend millions of dollars on dark circle eye creams and other remedies that simply do not work. While cover up make up such as Dermablend can help, people with dark circles under the eyes complain that the make up looks unnatural and that the daily routine of cover up is a nuisance. (Contact Dr Seckel).
Interestingly, in my Boston Plastic Surgery Practice most patients who come to me complaining of dark circles under the eyes are younger people in their 20’s and 30’s who state that they have always had dark circles under their eyes since childhood. Dark circles under the eyes are not a complaint I hear from older patients. Older patients with aging changes of the eyelids complain of eyelid wrinkles, bags and dark circles under the eyes, loose skin and hooding of the upper eyelids.
Thus, in my opinion, dark circles under the eyes are less of an aging problem and more of an inherited structural problem of the lower eyelid which I call the arcus deformity. This structural problem, the arcus deformity, the true dark circle under the eye can be permanently corrected by a new modern blepharoplasty technique which is quick, effective, and leaves no visible scar on the eyelid and does not change lower eyelid shape.
People who have the arcus deformity or dark circles under the eyes do develop worsening of the dark circles under the eyes as they age, and in the late 40’s and 50’s develop a condition called the tear trough deformity or crescent deformity. In my experience, if patients have the dark circles under the eyes or arcus deformity corrected when they are younger, they will not develop the more severe tear trough deformity as they age.
To understand how to permanently remove dark circles under the eyes, it is important to differentiate the true dark circles under the eyes from other conditions which are mistakenly called dark circles under the eyes. All lower eyelid skin on every human being is darker than the other facial skin, often a purple color, because the eyelid skin is so thin you can see the purple color of the lower eyelid muscle through the skin. The purple eyelid color is not the true dark circle under the eye. Some people have brown pigment on the lower eyelids from sun damage, but this is also not a true dark circle under the eyelid. Some people have hollow eyes due to lack of normal fat beneath the eyeball or an abnormality of the eye socket, but this is hollow eye syndrome, not dark circles under the eyes.
The true dark circle under the eye is a depression or crease below the lower eyelid which is deepest and starts at the inside corner of the lower eyelid next to the nose, and runs out towards the side of the cheek. The dark circle crease lies on top of the bone of the eye socket, which is the bone you can feel with your finger at the top of your cheek just below the lower eyelid.
To understand how we can permanently remove dark circles under the eyes, we must understand how the dark circle is formed and what causes the dark circle under the eye. Dark circles under the eyes or the arcus deformity, are caused by the fact that the lower eyelid skin of the dark circle is attached to the underlying bone of the eye socket by a condensation of eyelid tissue called the arcus marginalis. Since the dark circle is tethered or attached to the bone, the dark circle cannot move freely with the rest of the eyelid. When the eyelid swells due to allergy or too much fluid retention, or when the lower eyelid becomes loose and sagging with eyelid aging, the dark circle stays tethered, and the eyelid skin above the dark circle falls over the tethered dark circle, creates a deep dark shadow, which is the true dark circle under the eye. All of us also have fat beneath the eyeball which pushes forward on the lower eyelid and creates a bulge above the dark circle under the eye and worsens the shadow which is the dark circle under the eye.
Permanent removal of the dark circles under the eyes requires that the arcus marginalis be released so that the dark circle skin is no longer tethered to the bone of the eye socket, so that the dark circle depression can “open up” or slide down with the rest of the eyelid skin. In addition the eyelid fat is repositioned or grafted beneath the dark circle or arcus deformity to plump the dark circle.
These techniques are part of what I call the modern lower eyelid blepharoplasty which is called the transconjunctival laser lower blepharoplasty with arcus marginalis release and fat repositioning or fat grafting. This operation is done through a small incision on the inside pink potion of the eyelid, called the conjunctiva, thus the term transconjunctival. By using this approach there is no visible incision on the outside of the lower eyelid. The additional benefit of the transconjunctival approach for removal of dark circles under the eyes is that the shape of the eyelid is not changed because the supporting structures of the lower eyelid are not damaged by an external incision.
Once the transconjunctival incision is made with the laser, the arcus marginalis is released, and the protruding lower eyelid fat is repositioned or grafted over the bone of the eye socket beneath the dark circle under the eye to plump the dark circle.
The transconjunctival laser blepharoplasty with arcus marginalis release and fat repositioning is a method for permanent removal of dark circles under the eyes. In addition, eye bags or puffy eyes are eliminated with this technique. An additional benefit is that further aging changes such as the development of the tear trough deformity are halted.
Dark circles under the eyes are a very common problem and are usually evident at a very young age. Permanent removal of true dark circles under the eyes, the arcus deformity, requires release of the arcus marginalis and fat repositioning or fat grafting. The transconjunctival approach for the correction of dark circles under the eyes provides the benefit of no visible scar and more importantly preserves lower eyelid shape.
To learn more about dark circles under the eyes and facial rejuvenation read Save Your Face or contact me.