In this age of social media, the importance of appearances seems to increase by the day and thankfully – so are the techniques and methods available to maintain these beauty standards.
Once considered quite a difficult area to treat, removing dark circles under the eyes has always been a huge focus of skin products, creams, and makeup techniques, but nowadays the solution has become ever so accessible with methods such as tear trough fillers.
What causes dark circles and puffiness under the eyes?
Dark circles under the eyes are extremely common in both men and women. They usually appear alongside puffiness under the eyes, and give an appearance that makes you look old, tired, or sleepy.
Dark circles under the eyes may have several causes such as:
- Old age
- Fatigue
- Genetic
- Dehydration
- Skin damage by the sun
- Natural pigmentation of the skin
Dark circles under the eyes are traditionally quite difficult to get rid off, but thankfully tear-trough fillers can address this issue very successfully.
What are tear-trough fillers?
Tear trough fillers (also known as under-eye fillers, or eye bag fillers) are dermal fillers injected into the area under the eyes in order to restore volume loss and reduce the appearance of dark circles or puffiness.
Under-eye fillers are injected just beneath the tear-trough, adding volume and tightness so that it becomes level with the nearby skin. This reduces the appearance of dark circles or puffiness under the eyes.
Depending on your doctor and the where you’re from, tear-trough fillers cost around $700-$1000 per syringe (1). Most people only require 1 syringe.
5 things to know about tear-trough fillers:
1. Not everyone is a candidate for tear-trough fillers
Tear-trough fillers are designed to target those who have been complaining of volume loss.
Certain people complaining of dark circles under the eyes may have a skin pigmentation or a skin or genetic disorder that may have caused the dark circles to form.
If this is the case, then tear-trough fillers unfortunately will not help as they will be unable to correct any dark-circles that have been caused by a pigmentation.
You can tell if you are a right candidate for tear-trough fillers by standing in front of a mirror and shining a bright light directly on the dark circle under your eye, if the darkness disappears then getting tear-trough fillers may be a wise decision.
2. Tear-trough filler results are instant
Similar to getting fillers in other parts of the face (e.g. nose, lip, or jaw fillers), the effects of dermal fillers can be seen almost immediately once they are injected.
Despite this, their appearance can also reduce or increase, even up to a week after the injections, due to bruising or collection of water and fluids.
Bruising is extremely common and should be expected, therefore the appearance directly after getting injected may be larger than the final result, but it’s only temporary and a result of the bruising and swelling.
3. Tear-trough filler risks
Like other dermal fillers, injection and penetration of skin is involved, and this carries several risks such as:
- Bruising and swelling
- Skin rashes and itching
- Asymmetry
- Acne-like eruptions
- Skin redness
- Necrosis
- Rarely and most serious – blindness
The area under the eyes is extremely sensitivity and is highly vascular, so getting injections in this area is tricky as the practitioner needs to avoid numerous important blood vessels.
The most important and significant side effect of getting under-eye fillers is blindness, and this can happen if dermal filler is mistakenly injected into a blood vessel (2), rather than under the skin.
For this reason it’s extremely important to only get this treatment done at a licensed and trusted board-certified specialist. Rather than beauty and medical spa’s, choose instead to get a consultation form a medical doctor, or better yet, a board-certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon.
Ensure that you’re only getting dermal fillers that include hyaluronic acid (e.g. Restylane, Juvederm), as this can be dissolved and reversed within 48 hours using a natural enzyme.
4. How long do under eye tear-trough fillers last?
Dermal fillers in general are not permanent, and so is the case with fillers that are injected under the eyes.
How long these fillers may last varies greatly, and depends on several factors such as the type of dermal filler used, and your metabolic rate.
In general, you can expect that tear-trough fillers can last around 15 months (3).
5. You’ll probably need to come back for a follow-up appointment
After your tear-trough filler session, your doctor or practitioner may advise you to return for a follow-up appointment in around 2 weeks.
This is to make sure that everything is fine and that there is no persistent bruising or other side-effects.
During this session it’s also likely for your practitioner to give you extra tear-trough filler touches concerning the circles under your eyes.
This means that you may need to get a little more tear-trough filler injections or even get some areas dissolved, to ensure adequate balance on both sides and that you are satisfied with the results.
Under eye fillers – Conclusion
If you’re complaining of under-eye puffiness and dark circles, then consider getting tear-trough fillers. They last a long time in comparison to other fillers and the effects are quite noticeable.
Having dark circles under the eyes can give the whole face an appearance of fatigue and with under eye fillers these can be reduced drastically.
Below are some transformations that were made possible through the use of tear-trough fillers:
Tear-trough fillers before and after
