Tear Trough: DO YOU SUFFER WITH BAGS UNDER THE EYES?

The eyes in general are one of the most common gripes people have about their face. The skin around the eyes is generally delicate and subject to a lot of movement owing to the underlying muscles. This area is one that tends to age first.

There are so many myths that get banded around in relation to eye bags such as ‘get a good nights sleep’ or ‘use cold tea bags’ or recommendations for multiple products which are little more than average moisturisers.

The fact of the matter is that eye bags or tear troughs as we like to call them in the ‘industry’, are a very common complaint and one that is not easily resolved with home remedies or rest alone. The most aesthetically pleasing appearance of the skin under the eye occurs when there is a smooth transition from under the eye to the mid face with no change skin tone, colour or texture.

Unfortunately this is often not the case. Problems in this area can be down to visible grooves, puffiness, discolouration or a combination of all three. The grooves can be caused by the natural downward movement of the fat pads under the eye as we age, however some people will have a groove which is not age related at all. Discolouration may be due to the presence of visible veins under the delicate skin or pigment or shadows created by the groove itself. Puffiness may result form allergy, sensitive eyes or sluggish lymphatic drainage. There are treatment options for this area but it is a complex one and identifying the actual problem and the cause is essential. So simply getting a good nights sleep is not the answer and advice such as this can sometimes lead to increased negative feelings for those who are diligently following all of the advice on offer.

So what are the options? There are creams and serums available from medical skin care ranges that have been formulated to improve skin texture and reduce the appearance of darkness under the eyes. However for those who actually do have a visible groove/ trough, a very carefully placed dermal filler treatment may be used to smooth over that 'groove' and create an illusion of the smooth transition.

This procedure involves injecting a low density dermal filler into the area under the eye known as the tear trough, often also described as the under eye bags, or sunken area under the eyes. This area with the natural ageing process has orbital fat pad thinning and loss of surrounding bone structure causing the appearance of the hollowed appearance under the eyes. Filling the Sub-orbicularis occuli orbital fat pad (SOOF) with dermal filler leads to immediate results with rejuvenated, fresh looking eyes and facial appearance.

Results last for 1-2 years following this procedure. The procedure itself takes 20-30mins to perform. With local anesthetic cream applied to the under eyes prior to treatment. It is very minimally painful as the approach is very minimally invasive.

At Refresh London Medical Aesthetics we avoid the use of needles and instead use the latest microcannula techniques for tear trough filler to minimise the risks of vessel damage around the eye (aka bruising).  The micro cannula is a blunt tipped instrument meaning it is not sharp and hence not as painful, it glides through the tissue layers of the skin to avoid puncturing any vessels in the area. This treatment although it sounds very invasive and 'scary' to most of our clients is extremely safe and out clients report experiencing the least discomfort whilst having this treatment in comparison to other dermal filler treatments.