How to Control Signs of Aging around the Eyes
Signs of aging: The first place that most people will get visible wrinkles and other signs of aging are around their eyes. Crow’s feet and dark, sagging or puffy skin around your eyes are all visible indications of aging. Those people will develop at some point in their lives. Thankfully, there are some tips, products, routines, and treatments. Which you can use to control any signs of aging around your eyes for as long as possible.
Get Enough Sleep!
Getting the proper amount of sleep on a regular basis has a significant impact on the health of your skin. Both in general and for the skin around your eyes. While you are sleeping, your skin naturally generates a structural protein called collagen. And uses it to renew and repair your skin cells. When you don’t consistently get good, quality sleep, you interrupt your body’s collagen production. That’s why it’s pretty easy to notice when someone you know is it not sleeping well. Their skin will look duller, looser, and maybe develop new wrinkles.
Signs of Aging around the Eyes
Aside from getting enough sleep, there are also some good habits you can get into to further control signs of aging around your eyes:
- Use a thicker pillow, or two pillows, to further elevate your head and avoid fluids from accumulating around your eyes
- Use adhesive sleep masks that prevent you from frowning and contracting the muscles around your eyes in your sleep
- Avoid sleeping in a way that causes anything to press against the skin around your eye
- Massage cooled aloe vera gel into the skin under your eyes to reduce inflammation from morning swelling
Sleep well Signs of Aging around the Eyes
With proper sleep, and using some of these tips, you’ll start noticing that you don’t have dark circles under your eyes. And the skin around them looks brighter, tauter and less puffy. Maintaining healthy, well-rested skin around your eyes goes a long way in holding off other visible signs of aging.
Keep Your Skin Hydrated
Like sleep, it is essential for the health of your skin that you stay consistently hydrated. When you get dehydrated, the cells in your skin start to decay, breakdown and lose the ability to generate healthy new cells. Unfortunately, when you get dehydrated your skin is usually the organ that feels it first. As it is what is exposed to the outside elements like sunlight, dry air, and so on. Dehydrated skin will look dry, flaky, and wrinkled — remember how the skin around your eyes is the first area of skin to show signs of aging, like wrinkles?
So it is essential to drink water during the day to keep hydrated regularly. It is particularly necessary to stay hydrated while sleeping. As that is when your body renews and replenishes your skin the most. You can help stay hydrated overnight by drinking a little water right before bed. And using a humidifier if the air in your home is arid.
You can protect the hydration of the skin around your eyes with proper moisturizing. After you take a bath or shower, dry the area around your eyes by lightly pressing a towel against the skin. Even just splash water on your face and eyes. Within two minutes of when the skin was wet, apply a moisturizer containing hyaluronic acid. It helps seal in any moisture to the area around your eyes before bed.
Follow a Proper Skincare Routine
In addition to proper sleep habits, it is also essential to have an appropriate skin care routines to help stave off signs of aging. First, it is crucial to understand that the skin around your eyes is much different from any other part of your face or body. It is much thinner, more delicate, and also incredibly absorbent. Those are all reasons why people show visible signs of aging around the eyes before any other parts of their body.
Skin hydrated
You should avoid any skincare products or routines that irritate or inflame the skin around your eyes because the ingredients are too harsh. You should also avoid using too much product around your eyes, as the skin will absorb much more of the chemicals than you realize. Overusing creams and other products can cause itchiness, irritation, and inflammation that cause damage and increasing signs of aging rather than helping control them.
Proper skincare routines for your eyes mostly involves being very gentle:
- Use products that have mild chemicals and compounds
- Apply products with gentle massage to the area
- Apply a soft cold compress to reduce the inflammation
- Wash and dry the area around your eyes very gently
For products, look for anti-aging creams that contain retinol — it is an essential ingredient that helps increase collagen production, that critical protein your skin generates naturally to keep your skin healthy. It helps reduce wrinkles and loose, sagging skin around your eyes.
Products that have retinol are best in aluminum tubes or solid pump bottles to best preserve and maintain the strength of the retinol. Products with cucumber, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, or hyaluronic acid are also quality ingredients with anti-aging properties.
Protect Yourself from the Sun
One of the most significant factors for worn, dry and aged skin is frequent and unprotected exposure to the sun. This is particularly true for the skin around your eyes due to it being thinner and more sensitive. It is crucial to have a good routine in place for the times your face will be exposed to sunlight, even if you are inside and the light is coming through the window.
Now you might think this means you can glob on a bunch of high SPF sunscreen around your eyes and you’ll find, but that would cause more problems. Remember what we said earlier that the skin around your eyes is also highly absorbent and prone to irritation from chemicals in skincare products?
Protect from Sun
Regular sunscreen contains a lot of chemicals that will irritate and damage the skin around your eyes. That’s why there are so many eye creams rated for SPF and particular sunscreen that is made especially for the area.
It’s a good idea to get an eye cream with antioxidants and an SPF of 20 or higher and lightly apply a proper amount to your eyes to prevent sun damage. It would be even more useful if you also wear big sunglasses to avoid your eyes from forming new wrinkles due to squinting in the sun. You can also wear hats with broad brims to keep your eyes shaded and avoid direct sunlight as much as possible to limit any potential damage.
Use At-Home Treatments
In addition to a proper skincare routine for the area around your eyes, there are some anti-aging treatments you can use at home to help control signs of aging. That the skin around your eyes is so absorbent can be a positive thing when it comes to treating it with positive and healthy products and ingredients. Here’s a list of some of our favorite treatments:
Cucumber mask — this is a classic for a reason, as they are high in antioxidants, hydrating compounds, and increase the production of elastin and collagen in your skin. Apply the mask and leave it for around 20 minutes before washing it off with cold water. You can do this once a week.
Green tea compress — green tea is also full of antioxidants and other positive compounds for your skin. You need to soak a cloth in the cooled green tea and let it rest against your eyes with your head tilted back for around 10 minutes. You can re-soak and re-apply the towel for another 10 minutes and repeat, with 10 minute periods between each compress.
Light oils massage — some natural oils come with great compounds and chemicals for your skin. Coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil and aloe vera can all be lightly massaged into the skin around your eyes. Massage for a few minutes and washed away with lukewarm water.
For any products you use for at-home treatments, just make sure the ingredients included are natural. And you know they’re okay to use around your eyes. Avoid any chemicals you can’t read or don’t recognize.
Get Clinical Treatments
If you have the money for it, you can further hold off visible signs of aging around your eyes with clinical anti-aging treatments. Here are some of the most effective anti-aging treatments you can get in a clinic:
Laser resurfacing — helps firm up and regenerate the skin under your eyes with lasers to promote new and healthy skin cell growth.
Collagen stimulation ultrasounds — this is a treatment that uses ultrasound to encourage collagen generation in the skin around your eyes to renew the cells, smooth out wrinkles, and make the skin look bright and healthy.
Collagen stimulating injections — a treatment that also encourages collagen generation by injecting types of compounds into the area around your eyes.
Thermage skin tightening — uses radiofrequency waves in the target area to reduce tighten the skin and reduce wrinkles around your eyes.
Botox — whether through injections or small drops to the area around your eyes, Botox is probably the best-known treatment that makes your skin look smoother and more taut. Some of the typical effects can be seen in these before/after photos
Make sure you talk with your doctor or specialist before undertaking any of these treatments to make sure they will be effective for your type of skin.
About the Author
Dr Crippen
Born and raised in Ottawa Ontario, Dr Crippen has attended three Canadian Universities and obtained four educational titles including his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.). After receiving his M.D. from the University of Western Ontario in 2001, Dr. Crippen then completed his specialty training at the University of Manitoba over the next two years. He has worked extensively in public and private medicine since 2003, but in response to rising demand, Dr Crippen has devoted his practice exclusively to both medical & cosmetic skin care procedures/treatments at his clinic.
A Fellow of the American Society of Laser Medicine and Surgery, and a diplomate of the American Board of Laser Surgery in Cosmetic Procedures, Dr. Crippen has trained with physicians who are at the forefront of laser & aesthetic medicine. He has made many educational visits to medical laser clinics throughout North America and Europe.