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Remedies for Puffy Face and Eyes

Waking up to a puffy face and puffy eyes may start your day on the wrong foot, especially when you have important plans. Edema, the Greek word for swelling, happens when abnormal fluids accumulate between the cells in your body, in this case your face and around your eyes. One remedy you may have heard of involves applying cucumber slices over puffy eyes to reduce swelling. Cucumbers contain caffeic acid, which helps prevent water retention. Puffy eyes include large bags under the eyes, which can be hereditary or preventable.

  1. Cold Compress

    • The University of Maryland Medical Center suggests you determine the cause of your puffy face and eyes if you can. Apply a cold compress to your face and eyes using ice and clean cloths or towels if the swelling is related to an injury, and sit upright. If the swelling does not go down, consult your doctor. Also, if a burn caused your face swelling, seek emergency help.

    Get Enough Sleep

    • Mehmet Oz, M.D., cardiovascular surgeon, author and television show host, says you can have short-term under-eye bags or long-term ones. About short-term bags, Dr. Oz says, \"If you haven't slept all that long, that means you're stressed out. You start to swell because your body feels stress. Your ankles swell, and so does the tissue under your eyes.\" Dr. Oz recommends applying cucumber slices to your eyes or using eye creams to reduce short-term puffy eyes, but he says long-term puffy eyes require plastic surgery.

    Elevate Your Head

    • Your facial swelling or edema will be reduced when you keep your head propped up and off your bed. Extra pillows will keep your head raised so fluid flows down and away from your face and eyes.

    Reduce Sodium

    • An excess of sodium or salt in your diet holds water in your body, which shows on your face, around your eyes and in your weight. Relieve the bloating by using more herbs and spices rather than salt to flavor your food. You can avoid purchasing and eating foods high in sodium by checking food labels for sodium content. This means avoiding processed food, which usually contains excessive salt.

    Drink Water

    • When you don't drink enough water, your body attempts to hold on to any and all water, causing bloating and resulting in a puffy face and eyes. An easy way to drink more water is to divide your weight by half and drink that much water in ounces daily. Spread this water amount throughout the day.

      As you drink more water, eliminate or cut back drinking all fluids that are dehydrating. This includes alcohol, coffee, tea and soft drinks, which cause your body to hold onto water when you do drink water.

    Herbal Remedies

    • Dandelion tea is a natural diuretic you can drink, or take dandelion capsules to relieve face and eye swelling. Eat dandelion roots, flowers and leaves to reduce or eliminate edema, too. Corn silk is a remedy used mainly by the Chinese to reduce edema or swelling in the body. A 2004 study at the University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, demonstrated how Maydis stigma (corn silk) significantly reduced sodium levels in rats and is a natural diuretic.

    Home Remedy

    • Tea bags used from making cups of black or green tea also reduce facial puffiness. When the tea has cooled, apply the tea bags to your eyes for about 10 minutes. Or steep the tea bags for five minutes, then place them in ice water for five to 10 minutes to cool them and apply to your eyes. The caffeine in the tea constricts the blood vessels, reducing fluids flowing to the eye area and eliminating dark circles under the eyes. The puffiness will eventually diminish.

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