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Surgical Ways to Treat Dark Eye Circles

Dark circles under the eyes can significantly affect a person's self-confidence and appearance. When over the counter and topical options fail, your doctor may suggest more invasive surgical methods. Depending on your situation and how dark the circles are, laser surgery, pulsing light procedures and fat transfer surgeries are all options that can greatly improve the appearance of the under-eye area.

  1. Laser Resurfacing

    • Resurfacing with lasers was originally intended to remove precancerous skin spots. However, it was soon found to be useful in reducing discolorations under the eyes. The laser passes over the under-eye area and takes away the darkened skin cells, one layer of skin at a time. Laser resurfacing also promotes new collagen formation, which also helps to reduce dark under-eye circles and wrinkles. Recovery time from this procedure is approximately one week. There is a minimal risk of damage to the eye from the laser.

    Intense Pulsed Light

    • Intense pulsed light most commonly works to remove hair from the body. It is useful on dark under-eye circles too and can help lighten the pigment in these areas. It does not employ a laser and is by far the safest light based treatment for dark circles. Light pulses are short in duration and therefore damage to the eye or surrounding tissue is almost nonexistent. Light pulses work on the top layer of the epidermis only, so results may not be as intense as those provided by laser resurfacing. Recovery time is a few hours as opposed to a few days with other methods.

    Fat Transfer

    • A fat transfer procedure treats dark circles that derive from sunken or hollow under-eye tissue. Fat is removed from a fleshy are of the body, usually the cheek area, and injected into the under-eye area. The result is a fuller, filled-out under-eye that gives a younger appearance and often greatly reduces or eliminates dark circles. It is essential that you consult a surgeon who is very experienced with this procedure, because the skin under the eye is very thin and a mistake with injection could cause eye damage or loss of sight. Recovery times for this procedure are generally between eight and ten days.

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