Aging Around the Eyes

Aging around the eyes is a slow but relentless process.  Patients interpret these changes as making them look “old” or “tired.”  It is no surprise that elimination of dark circles, fine lines, and puffiness around the eyes is one of the most commonly sought after aesthetic goals.  Many myths suggests easy solutions for aging around the eye. Here are just a few...

- Cucumbers decrease puffy eyes.  This is true only if they are cold since they are 90% water and contain no known active ingredients.

- Cleansing removes waste products from the skin allowing the skin to repair itself for the next day.  This is not true. Skin cells cannot tell time and assuming you look in the mirror at bedtime you will not look much different in the morning unless you used one of our new eye therapies or products the day before.

- Preparation H eliminates puffy eyes.  No clinical evidence to suggest hemorrhoid cream under the eyes decreases swelling and there are ingredients in preparation H that might irritate the skin around the eye area and cause a dermatitis.  If you think your hemorrhoids are the cause of your puffy eyes use the preparation H where the sun does not shine and at least one of your problems will improve.

Aging of skin around the eye includes dark circles, puffy eyes, fine lines, and crow’s feet.  Many factors cause these changes.  The most important include sun damage, cigarette smoking, and unhealthy lifestyle which include lack of sleep, significant alcohol ingestion, and poor diet.  It should be clear that for many patients the cause will be multifactorial.   Decreasing the appearance of bags under the eyes and dark circles requires elimination of as many precipitating factors as possible, in addition, to treatments, therapies, and products that can prevent and correct these problems.

The popularity of botox and filler materials suggests that many patients are interested in pursuing nonsurgical options to treat the aging facial skin and eye area.   Our unique, scientifically advanced products used together and in the appropriate  order will eliminate bags under the eyes, dark circles, fine lines, and crow’s feet.  These new protocols can be used as a standalone, non-invasive, eye therapy.  In addition, they can be used in preparation for or for follow-up care to improve the results with intense pulse light treatments called IPLs, laser treatments, resurfacing treatments, surgical intervention, and botox and filler material treatments.

Puffiness under the eyes is characterized by swelling under the eye along with fine horizontal lines.  Dark Circles are round uniform circles under the eyes (sometimes dark circles are confused with shadows cast by puffy eyes or hollows under the eyes).  It is important to remember that age related changes to the upper face present earlier than age-associated changes to the lower face.  I have one of the largest botox and filler practices in the country.  I am beginning to see younger and younger patients who want to treat and prevent the aging process in the eye area. These changes begin in the early to mid 30’s and persists throughout life.  The majority of the aging process in the eye area is related to genetics, sun damage, cigarette smoking, and lifestyle, that is, thinning skin along with rough skin texture due to a decrease in skin cell growth and exfoliation and volume loss secondary to a decrease in collagen production.

Restorative Eye Firming Therapy is designed to decrease puffy eyes, improve skin tone, and decrease the appearance of fine lines under the eye and crow’s feet.  Dark Circle Eye Therapy is designed specifically to address dark circles, rough skin texture, fine lines under the eye, and crow’s feet.  The name Rx Systemspf defines the value in a skin care system to address specific skin care problems.  It is important to use the specific product and appropriate sequence for the Restorative Eye Firming Therapy and the Dark Circle Eye Therapy in order to increase the penetration of each product and achieve the maximum benefit.  This is important because each product is pH adjusted. This enhances the penetration and effectiveness of each product in the protocol.  Using an alternative product with an inappropriate pH could decrease or even eliminate the benefits of the therapy.

Clients will notice instant results.  On the average normal skin exfoliation creates a new layer of skin every 30 days.  To take advantage of the normal skin cell growth cycle, initial eye therapies are recommended at 2-4 week intervals until the benefit plateaus.  At that point, results can be maintained with treatments at 1-3 month intervals.

Many clients suffer from both bags under the eyes and dark circles.  The initial eye therapy should address the primary problem and I then alternate the eye therapies at 2 week intervals.  You may have the client who thinks their puffy eyes and dark circles are equally disgusting.  At that point I let them pick the initial eye therapy and if all else fails I flip a coin.

Additional measures can be introduced to prevent and maintain treatment results. It centers on one’s home skincare care maintenance program and using other Rx Systempf custom, combination therapies and treatments.  We want our patients to look and feel their everyday fabulous with our new eye therapies.