Bags under your eyes
Bags come from fluid, a fat pad or shadow from a groove. With fluid and with thin skin around the eyes we can do something, with targeted care and treatments that make the skin firmer.
At the intake we establish where it comes from in your case.
With under-eye bags caused by fluid or thin skin around the eyes, we can do something at Diba Clinics in Rotterdam: with RRS Eyes, active ingredients around the eye area from € 130, with SmoothEye, laser around the eyes from € 150, or with an eye peel from € 30. If it is a fat pad or a shadow from a groove, a skin treatment does not help, and we tell you so.
What we look at
The skin therapist looks at how the skin under your eye sits, at how it runs across the day and at how thick the skin is there.
How it runs across the day
Fluid drains away across the day; a fat pad and a groove stay the same. That is where the assessment starts.
The thickness of the skin
Under your eye the skin is the thinnest on your body. Exactly how thin decides what a treatment can add.
How the bone beneath sits
If the eye socket sits deeper, a shadow falls. That looks like a bag and asks for something other than fluid.
What sits under
your eyes
Bags come from fluid, a fat pad or shadow from a groove. Which of the three it is decides what a skin treatment can add. And sometimes it is not a bag but a yellow patch on the eyelid.
Moisture
periorbital oedema- How you recognise it yourself
- Is it worst on getting up and a good deal less by midday? And does it differ from night to night, after salty food or a glass too many?
- What it is
- Fluid that gathers overnight in the loose tissue under your eyes and drains away during the day. This is the only one of the three that changes from day to day.
- What we do
- Here there is something to do. Stimulate drainage, make the skin firmer, and look at what in your routine or your nights plays a part. If there is brown colour under the eye as well, a pigment bag, the eye peel belongs with it, often together with RRS Eyes.
Of the three causes this is the only one a skin treatment can influence, and the only one that changes from day to day.
Slipped fat
prolapse of the orbital fat pad- How you recognise it yourself
- Is the bulge just as big in the evening as in the morning, and does it become clearer when you look up?
- What it is
- The fat pad behind your eye pushes forward because the membrane holding it in place has weakened. There is nothing extra there; it is simply in a different place.
- What we do
- Here we say no. This is surgery and not a skin treatment; a cosmetic doctor or eye doctor can do something about it.
A skin clinic changes nothing about this. We would rather say that now than after a course, even if you came here to book something.
Shadow, not swelling
tear trough- How you recognise it yourself
- Does it almost disappear when you let light fall on your face from below, or when you push the skin up slightly with your finger?
- What it is
- Not a bag and not a circle, but a hollow. Volume loss at the edge of your eye socket casts a shadow, and you read that as dark.
- What we do
- We do not fill with fillers. What we can do is make the skin around it firmer, and sometimes that is enough to soften the shadow.
A skin clinic changes nothing about this. We would rather say that now than after a course, even if you came here to book something.
Yellow patches on the eyelid
xanthelasma- How you recognise it yourself
- Are they yellowish, slightly raised patches, usually on the nose side of your eyelids, that look the same morning and evening?
- What it is
- Not a bag but a build-up of fat (lipids) in the skin of the eyelid. It is often linked to raised cholesterol, which is why it is also something for your GP.
- What we do
- People ask us about it regularly and we do treat it. What suits you depends on how large and how deep the patches are, so the therapist decides that in the consultation. Also have your cholesterol checked, because that is often where it comes from.
Not a bag, but something we do treat. In the consultation we establish whether it is xanthelasma and what suits you; the cholesterol check belongs with your GP.
Then you are not looking for a bag but a circle.
A bag is volume: there is something there. A dark circle is colour: pigment or vessels showing through. They often occur together and ask for different things.
What helps and what we advise against
The skin under your eye is the thinnest on your body. That decides both what is possible and how carefully we work.
This works
- Establishing first whether it is fluid, fat or shadow, because two of those we do not solve here
- With fluid: stimulating drainage and firming the skin around the eye, in a series
- With a pigment bag, a brown colour under the eye: the eye peel, often together with RRS Eyes
- Sun protection around the eyes, because thinner skin shows everything beneath it more clearly
- Weighing what else is going on: sleep, salt, alcohol, allergy
- Referring you to a doctor when the answer lies there, even when you were already sitting here
We advise against this
- Fillers under the eye. We do not do that, and with a real bag it is rarely the solution either
- Aggressive treatments on the thinnest skin of your face
- Recommending a cream for a fat pad. A cream cannot move a slipped fat pad under the eye.
- Promising it will go when it does not change from day to day
What we use for this
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between bags and dark circles?
A bag is volume: there is something there, whether fluid or fat. A dark circle is colour: pigment or vessels showing through thin skin. They often occur together and ask for different things. If it is mostly colour for you, read on at the page about dark circles.
Does sleeping better help?
With fluid it makes a difference, as do less salt and less alcohol before bed. With fat or shadow nothing changes, however well you sleep. That is exactly why we want to know first what you have.
What is the best remedy for under-eye bags?
Sleeping with your head slightly raised and cooling in the morning helps against fluid, temporarily. Rubbing your eyes is the one thing you really must stop: the skin there is the thinnest on your body and stretches easily.
What is the best treatment for eye bags?
That depends on what sits under your eye. With fluid: stimulating drainage and making the skin firmer, in a series. With a pigment bag, the eye peel, often together with RRS Eyes. With a sagging fat pad: that is surgery, not a skin treatment; a cosmetic doctor or eye doctor can do something about it. We don't do fillers.
What does an under-eye bag treatment cost?
RRS Eyes starts at 130 euros and SmoothEye at 150 euros. An eye peel as an add-on to a treatment costs 30 euros. Which approach suits your under-eye bags, you hear during the consultation. It costs 50 euros; if you have a treatment in the same appointment, that amount comes off again. We do not do fillers or eyelid surgery.
Book a consultation at Diba Clinics
At the skin consultation we establish whether it is fluid, fat or shadow. With two of the three our advice is to start somewhere else, and you hear that straight away.
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