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Hello,
I've always had them, so this isn't something recent or that just occured.

I'm 50, in good health, but have always had them, at least as far back as I can remember,

Is there any treatment for this?
Cause ?

Dark circles usually indicate an allergy to something. You might want to pursue this with a naturopathic physician.

there are two types of under eye circles - those that are showing the blood vessels through and those that are from pigmentation. the pigmentation can be treated by a derm. and this happens with olive-skinned people, not someone fair skinned. (also using sunscreen is recommended for those prone to this type as a preventative measure.)

the other type can be from allergies, anemia, lack of sleep, other stuff maybe, AND can NOT be treated by a derm. treating the second type is finding the cause and eliminating it.

-There is a laser called Vasculite that is supposed to help treat undereye circles caused by dilated capillaries, but it is painful and expensive. Am not sure what the longterm success is, either.-

Yes I'm aware of the allergy issue, but I don't think it's that, since I've always had them ....

Or, can you have an allergy, for years?

Yes, all your life. That is possible.

I too have these dark circles and am olive skinned. I have not found anything to really help them other than good sleep as they are exacerbated from lack of. I haven't noticed any correlation between allergy season (which I also have) and them getting worse. I do notice when my skin gets extremely dry they also worsen and find that a good eye cream helps minimize them too as it keeps the moisture in.

I could see that people who don't normally have this could get this from allergies.

I've always thought dark circles could indicate deficiency of iron or allergies that were 'ingested'/food source. Also some think it reflects kidney problems. Circles and darkness have varied a lot through my life with exhaustion [over worked, lack of sleep and nerves] aggravating the situation. I wonder after learning about the "Eat right 4 your bloodtype" if it might come into this since that would reflect a food related problem. I don't totally agree or follow that info as yet. Cutting the sugar and milk isn't that hard, but potatoes and some other vegetables mentioned for type O are darn hard since I "like" most all vegetables and "looove" potatoes.

The bloodtype diet is not supported by any scientific evidence.

According to some chinese practitioners, dark circles indicate sluggish liver. I do regular Hulda Clarke liver flushes and my previous dark circles have gone. If they reappear and I know lack of sleep isn't the cause, I liver flush again. It's great overall, irrespective, to do this a few times a year to improve overall bile/liver/gall bladder function.

I'm curious about your allergies. You say you've had them for years. You *can* have them all your life. I have. (Low grade allergies, food reactivity, high IgE level.) You wanna tell us about what your allergies/reactivity are ?

I'm fair skinned and have dark circles that look like I have black eyes all the time. about 4 years ago before I got married, I went to a makeup consultant who said that she'd never seen someone with such a deep dark pigment under their eyes in contrast to their facial tones. She did tell me sometimes olive skinned people have this problem as well. Anyway, believe it or not, green and yellow makeup colors help - at least for that one day. I've never worn them since.

Anyway, I have severe problems with my histamines not shutting down. I have environmental allergies to pets, dust, molds, trees, grasses, etc. Also, food allergies -testing revealed legumes and clams. Recently my lip swelled after I ate a peach. I wonder about the skin - a pesticide or something it came into contact with, rather than the peach? Drug allergies - a long list of pain medications (about 17) as well as bactrum and iodine contrast.

I also have anemia badly enough right now that I'm getting iron injections every 2 weeks.

I have a feeling I must be a category "2" under eye circle person, but if anyone has ideas, I'm open to suggestions!! Thanks!

my guess is that a lot of your problems, including anemia, come from lack of stomach acid. I was always anemic, even when taking iron pills. about 20 years ago a Dr said that he thought my problem was low stomach acid. He said to start very slowly and try different types of digestive enzymes to see what worked best.

I found that 400 mg of betaine HCL worked wonders. Not only was my blood good but my nails grew for the first time in my life. I have had to increase over the years and now take 1200 with each meal. I also take a pancreatic enzyme.

The other interesting thing is that my son also needs digestives. He was too young to take anything but chewables and they didn't seem to do much. Once he started taking the 400 of betaine HCL he started growing and growing. Before then he was the shortest kid in his class. He is an adult now and is 6'1" and in very good health.

If you try this, start very slowly with a low dosage of 100 or 200 mg of the betaine HCL with each meal. After a few days you can increase another and then stay at that dose another few days etc. Once you reach the point of an "acid stomach" then take a couple glasses of water to put out the "fire" and then back off to the last good dose. You might want to get a multienzyme combination to start. I've tried various types and still find the separate HCL and pancreatic work best for me.

This will also help your allergies.

Thanks - what you said makes sense! I had Roux En Y Gastric ByPass so I don't have the usual stomach acid - they cut 90 percent of your acid producers in that surgery. The surgery was not done correctly and now I'm having a lot of residual problems. I saw a new PCP yesterday who told me (a) she thinks something is terribly wrong with me in anunderlying sense and (B) that I should sue this surgeon for malpractice. And, (c) that I may have familial Lou Gehrig's (my Mom died of ALS 6 years ago) .... this has all added greatly to my dark circles.

Treatment for Dark Under Eye Circles

Grated potatoes can lighten under-eye circles. Potatoes contain an enzyme called catecholase, which is used in cosmetics as a human skin lightener.

Run one spud through your food processor and stuff the raw mash into a piece of cheesecloth.
Apply to the area directly beneath your eye โ€” don't let the potato juice come in contact with the eye itself โ€” and leave for 15 to 20 minutes.
Wipe away the starchy residue.

Sorry for any confusion.

In my earlier post, I said "I've always had them" that was a reference to the dark circles NOT allergies.

As far as I know, I don't have any allergies.