Medically Reviewed by Poonam Sachdev on June 24, 2022
Try a washcloth soaked in warm water on your tired, achy eyes. Warm compresses can:
Wash your hands before you start so bacteria doesn’t get in your eyes. Dip your washcloth in water that you've boiled (to sterilize it) and cooled until lukewarm. Then put it on your eyes for 5-10 minutes, or as long as your doctor advises.
Different tasks call for different types of light. While you watch TV, it's easier on your eyes to keep the room softly lit. When you read, put the light where it's behind you and pointed toward the page, out of your eyes. On digital screens, adjust the brightness to match the level of light around you. Also, adjust the screen's contrast, so your eyes don't have to strain to see.
With these prescription eyeglasses, your eyes can focus at computer screen distance. That's about 20-26 inches from your face. Some have special lenses to help you quickly shift focus between close, middle, and far distances. Before you go shopping, understand that computer glasses are not the same as those that block blue light. Blue light-blocking specs may make you more comfortable, but they don't always prevent eyestrain.
Eye experts link this technique to an alternative therapy called The Bates Method, named for eye doctor William Bates. He questioned whether glasses were the only way to fix a person's vision. Research shows his method doesn't correct eyesight, but palming could help to ease eyestrain. Cup your palms over your closed eyes, putting no pressure on your eyeballs. The idea is that this can help to relax your eyes.
Small tweaks can make a big difference to your eyes. Make sure your screen is about arm's length (20-26 inches) away from your face. The center of the screen should be slightly below eye level (4-5 inches). It helps to have a chair you can move up and down.
Adjust the text size so you don't squint. And try a document holder next to your monitor for printed papers. This limits how much you move your eyes back and forth.
Tea bags are good for more than a hot drink. They also work as a relaxing cold compress for your eyes. After you've brewed chamomile or regular tea, put the bags in a clean container in the fridge. Once they've cooled, put them on your eyelids to help soothe your eyes and reduce swelling. Make sure you've washed your face and hands well and taken out your contacts. And don't get any tea in your eyes.
Your eyes have muscles, and they can benefit from a workout, too. Try this: Hold your finger a few inches from your eyes and focus on it. Then, focus far into the distance, then back on your finger. Repeat a few times. Or, close your eyes, roll them up toward the ceiling, then down toward the floor. Look to the right, then left. These exercises may help ease eye fatigue. But they won't actually make your eye muscles stronger.
Experts say that when you use a digital device, you should take regular screen breaks. They recommend the 20-20-20 rule. Take a 20-second break to look at something 20 feet away every 20 minutes. Another tip: for every 2 hours of screen time, rest your eyes for 15 minutes.
When your eyes are dry, they feel more tired. Use a humidifier to add moisture to the air and your eyes. A humidity level of at least 45% is best. Also, adjust your thermostat or move away from vents so dry air doesn't blow on your face. If you smoke, think hard about quitting.
Over-the-counter or prescription eye drops relieve dry, tired eyes. Use them even when your eyes feel fine to keep them moisturized and stop your symptoms from coming back. Or, if you prefer to make natural tears, remember to blink more often, especially when you're on a digital device. We usually blink 15 times in a minute. But when we're on a computer, that drops to 5-7 times.
IMAGES PROVIDED BY:
1) WebMD / Alexander Hadjidakis
2) Getty
3) Getty
4) Getty
5) Getty
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10) Getty
SOURCES:
UCLA Health: "Computer-Related Eye Fatigue.
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Mayo Clinic: "Mayo Clinic Q and A: Relief for your dry eyes," "Eyestrain," "A look inside your eyes."
University of Rochester Medical Center: "Ice Packs vs. Warm Compresses For Pain."
University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center: "Eyelid Spasms (Eye Twitching or Eye Twitch)."
All Wales Medicine Study Group: "Dry Eyes Syndrome."
Optometry and Vision Science: "Blue-blocking Filters and Digital Eyestrain."
Journal of Physical Therapy Science: "Effects of yogic eye exercises on eye fatigue in undergraduate nursing students."
Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics: The Journal of the College of Optometrists: "The Bates method, elixirs, potions and other cures for myopia: how do they work?"
Bates Method International: "Palming."
Molecular Medicine Reports: "Chamomile: A herbal medicine of the past with bright future."
Johns Hopkins Medicine: "How to Get Rid of Bags Under Your Eyes."
Harvard Medical School: "Most cases of pink eye (conjunctivitis) don’t require antibiotics.
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National Institutes of Health: "Exercises and Stretches."
University of Rochester Medical Center: "Don't Ignore Dry Eyes."
Prevent Blindness: "Computers and Your Sight."
American Academy of Ophthalmology: "Computers, Digital Devices and Eye Strain."
American Optometric Association: "Computer Vision Syndrome."
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We’ve heard it time and time again: the eyes are the window to the soul. That is, unless they’re puffy, sullen, and tired-looking.
Tired, swollen eyes with dark eyebags underneath is an issue that unnerves people of all ages, from stressed-out college kids to ladies in their golden years who try their best to keep up with their anti-aging routine.
Whether it’s a one-off side effect of a long night or from fine lines and wrinkles from old age, having tired-looking eyes can be a bust for your self-confidence.
Luckily, there are tons of ways to refresh your eyes when they’re looking a bit exhausted, both in the short-term or for the long run.
Let’s dissect what makes eyes look tired to begin with, and what you can do to restore that glimmer and youthful sparkle in your eyes.
What Makes Our Eyes Look Tired?“Tired” eyes is a bit vague, no? But you can’t really help but describe it that way when the appearance can differ from person to person. For some, it comes in the form of redness and puffiness, while for others, it’s the saggy skin by the lids and under-eyes that accentuate exhaustion and weariness.
While some people naturally have darker skin under their eyes, there are a bunch of circumstantial reasons why your eyes can look a bit tired, with many unique manifestations.
Here are some of the most common causes of tired-looking eyes and what really happens to your eyes when you fall prey to them:
Skin AgingThis is the most probable reason why your eyes look a bit tired and sullen if you’re in your fifties or beyond.
As you grow older, the tissues and muscles by your eye area weaken, so they sag a bit, making you look a bit sleepy.
As you mature, our skin’s elasticity weakens. Fats and fluids in the eye area can accumulate in your lower eyelids, making them look plumper, and in turn, a lot puffier. Saggy skin is just the cherry on top, making you look even more fatigued.
Another thing that happens when you age is a slowdown in collagen production. Your skin can look thinner and more see-through, making blood vessels more visible than they were before. This can make you look like you have dark circles under your eyes, even if you didn’t have a late night.
Fluid RetentionThis is a more temporary reason for eye swelling, and it usually occurs when you wake up after crying your eyes out watching a tearjerker movie the night before, or if you’ve just had a very salty meal.
When you’re dehydrated, your eyes can puff up and swell because they’re very sensitive to the lack of water.
If you find that your eyes get red and puffy to the point that you can’t open your eyes, try downing a glass of water and keeping yourself hydrated for the rest of the day.
When you’re stressed out and not getting enough sleep, your eyes are a dead giveaway. They can look darker and have bigger bags underneath when you’re more tired than usual or have a lot on your mind, like an unbearable workload or emotional anxiety.
SmokingVices like smoking is known to cause your skin to age faster, and your eyes are no exception to this. Saggy eyebags is just one effect of smoking too much.
If you suspect that your eyes have been looking darker and more sullen because of smoking, you should consider quitting. You’ll see a world of difference not just under your eyes but in your skin, hair, nails, and overall health.
AllergiesWhen triggered by allergies, your body produces a compound called histamine, which is an immune response to something foreign that comes into contact with the body—in this case, your eyes.
Histamine dilates the blood vessels under your eyes, which increases blood flow in the area. This gives you the appearance of darker circles and puffy, inflamed lids.
EyestrainLastly, we have a cause that’s very relevant to today’s digital age. Reading without your glasses on or staring into a laptop screen all day long can strain your eyes. This causes blood vessels in the area to dilate, allowing blood to rush through and making your under-eyes look dark and tired.
Easy Ways to Get Rid of Dull, Tired-Looking EyesHaving eye bags and puffy eyes isn’t usually enough of a concern to get you driving to the hospital. Tired-looking eyes are harmless and often don’t need any medical attention. Instead, you can fix it at home with natural remedies or a bit of cosmetic magic.
If you have a hunch that your redness, puffiness, or dark circles are from straining your eye in one way or another — including lack of sleep and crying your eyes out—you might want to try applying a cold compress in the eye area.
Soothing the eyes with something cool can reduce puffiness by a ton. It can also relax your blood vessels, allowing your under-eyes to look a bit lighter and brighter.
Another way to soothe your eye area is with caffeine. Try cooling the area with some cold tea bags or ice cubes made of coffee.
Tea soothes inflammation and irritation in the eyes. Meanwhile, the caffeine in tea and coffee can constrict your blood vessels, decreasing swelling and darkening in the area. Caffeine can also drain out any fluids that are making your eyes look swollen and bloated.
Caffeine is also a fantastic way to firm up the skin, which in turn makes your eyes look younger and more alive.
Another way to tackle tired-looking eyes on a more long-term basis is to incorporate a moisturizing eye cream into your nightly beauty routine. Keeping your skin nourished is a great way to delay the onset of fine lines and wrinkles, which can aggravate that exhausted look in your eyes.
Look for an eye cream with anti-aging ingredients like caffeine, peptides, and vitamin E. Retinol is another great vitamin for mature skin, as it amps up collagen production to help minimize fine lines and crow’s feet by your eyes. It also helps restore firmness in the skin to age you down a few years.
Using a good eye cream is a surefire way to improve your eye area’s elasticity and resilience against puffiness and darkening, making it a preventative measure too. Just remember that you have to be consistent with applying it each night to see the results you want.
When all else fails, you can always look to your trusty color corrector and concealer to put a band-aid over the wound, which in this case is your red, puffy, tired skin around the eyes.
Start by getting rid of redness and darkening around your eye by using color-correcting makeup. Use a green shade to cancel out redness, or a bright yellow and salmon to get rid of the blues and purples of your prominent dark eyebags.
Top it off with a high-coverage concealer to make the skin around your eyes look brighter, more flawless, and ten times more awake. This quick fix is perfect for college kids and office gals who need to look more presentable after a rough, stressful night.
Treatments to Reduce Lines and Wrinkles Around Your EyesIf your puffiness and swelling are persistent and keep you from doing your daily tasks, you can always ask your dermatologist about getting eyelid surgery to correct it. You should also consider this option if your swollen eyes are giving you high levels of stress and anxiety.
Your surgeon will likely conduct a blepharoplasty, an outpatient procedure wherein excess fat is drained from the lids, allowing for less bloating and more smoothness in the skin around your eyes.
But if you want something less invasive, you can always opt for treatments to tighten and pamper your skin, your eye area along with it.
Introlift Medical Spa offers treatments not just for your face and eyes, but also from head to toe.
Getting one of their facial treatments can rejuvenate the senses and bring back that glow to your skin and eyes.
If you want to tighten and give the skin around your eye area a boost without any downtime, try out the BTL Exilis Elite—a skin-tightening body sculpting treatment. This service uses radio frequencies to promote collagen and elastin production in your skin, keeping it strong, firm, and smooth.
It’s also great for keeping the skin around your eyes taut and wrinkle-free. This can make your eyes look younger and more awake in the long run.
Now, if you want to maximize your treatment and get skin-restoring benefits along with some action for your eyes, check out their Introlift Vitamin C Signature Facial. It uses vitamin C and retynyl palmitate to eliminate dark spots from hyperpigmentation, fine lines, and eye puffiness.
The treatment comes with a detoxifying mask, chemical peel, skin tightening, and LED therapy. It’s a terrific way to brighten up your skin and keep it luminous, from your brighter, more radiant eye area to your even-toned complexion.
The facial can be customized to target your personal skin issues, so give the team a heads up that you would love for them to focus on your tired-looking eyes. They’ll surely personalize the treatment to address your unique issue.
Getting this facial hits two birds with one stone—you get bright, clear, smooth skin while ensuring you get that twinkle back in your youthful-looking eyes.
If you’re not quite sure what you want but know that you need to give your tired eyes a treat, go for the spa’s Turn Back Time package—a collection of treatments designed for tightening and brightening up your eyes.
The package puts your eyes in the forefront, offering undereye fillers, skin-tightening sessions, microneedling with hyaluronic acid, and even tinting for your eyelashes and brows! You’ll also get a free eye cream and serum to add to your skincare regimen at home. It’s like a buffet for your eyes!
Lifestyle Changes for Brighter, More Youthful-Looking EyesBut you can’t just rely on beauty products and spa treatments to get rid of your puffy eyes.
You have to address the root cause of the swelling and dark circles by adopting some healthy lifestyle changes to minimize having that tired, strained look all day.
You can do baby steps first, like taking breaks from staring at your computer for too long. Try to look away from your computer every half hour or so as you work. Take a peek outside your window for a few minutes to see something other than a bright screen.
Cut down on super salty food and increase your water intake when you can. The more hydrated you are, the less likely you’ll wake up with puffy, bloated eyes. Hydrating regularly will also do wonders for your skin!
You can also actively sleep for longer. Go to bed on time and cut yourself some slack when you set your alarm for the morning—you’re gonna need those extra 15 minutes to keep your eyes in tiptop shape.
Make sure you catch seven hours’ worth of Z’s throughout the night. Proper sleep allows your body to release the hormones you need to improve your skin’s elasticity, which can then prevent fine lines, wrinkles, crow’s feet, and sagging by the eye area.
Most importantly, de-escalate stress levels that lead to dark circles and swelling. Try getting into relaxing hobbies that help you unwind, such as painting, running, yoga, and meditation. Don’t get too caught up in everyday anxiety—allow yourself to take mindful, meaningful breaks to calm down.
ConclusionDon’t wait for others to point out how tired you look. Be ahead of the pack and prevent your eyes from looking swollen, puffy, and tired.
Even if your eyes are quite stubborn and feel the need to act up now and then with some fluid retention or redness, know that there’s always something you can do about it.
Caring for your eye area in your own way is your primary mission, whether your weapon of choice is cutting back on stress by meditating or pampering yourself with a skin-tightening treatment at your fave spa.
After all, rejuvenating your eye area in any creative way is the key to getting back firm skin with a radiant glow to keep your eyes looking fresh and awake.
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Tired eyes can have many causes. Among the most common are allergies, dehydration, malnutrition (for example, an excess of salty foods or coffee) and banal overstrain due to working at a computer. This ailment also manifests itself in different ways: someone has red vessels, others are bothered by dryness, others suffer from dark circles and swelling. How to deal with a dull look when time is running out - says star makeup artist Irina Golubeva.
You've probably experienced dark circles under your eyes in your lifetime – more than once. They can become a temporary or chronic effect, but in both cases, a concealer concealer will gladly come to the rescue. To assess the extent of the problem and find the appropriate solution, you should tilt your chin while looking in the mirror.
With enough light, the area under the eyes will be shaded, and you will be able to clearly see what exactly you have to work on.
Not only the freshness of the look, but also the entire make-up as a whole depends on the quality of the study of the area around the eyes. A competent choice and application of concealer can create a small miracle, and here the main thing is to know a few life hacks:
No matter how hard we try to maintain a normal sleep pattern, the modern pace of life in every possible way opposes our efforts. Almost half of the inhabitants of megacities suffer from chronic lack of sleep. Working late at night in the office, parties with friends and banal insomnia often cause puffiness under the eyes.
Also keep in mind that as we age, the skin surrounding the orbital bone becomes thin and prone to wrinkles and folds. Of course, a concealer can help to temporarily mask them, but patches should be used regularly to combat aging and accumulate a tonic effect. With the help of them, you will significantly improve the overall tone of the face and get rid of the effect of tired eyes ( see also : "Eye patches: why you need them and how to use them"). If your photo session or going out is planned in advance, it is better to use patches in a course, alternating nourishing and toning formulas.
Tip: Use patches marked “anti-puffiness” to quickly relieve swelling. Few people know that by opting for "nourishing" textures, you will only increase swelling, since the active substances will nourish the skin and add even more volume to it in the problem area.
Since so much of our daily life revolves around the screen of a computer, tablet or smartphone, it's no surprise that many people experience dry and red eyes.
Of course, such a problem should not be masked, but treated, but sometimes there are circumstances that require an immediate effect. If you urgently need to get rid of a tired look and give your image freshness, use eye drops. They instantly restore the disturbed moisture in the eyeball and restore clarity to the look.
Advice: remember that frequent use of drops can be addictive. You shouldn't overuse this tool, but on special days, this life hack can save your image.
Pencil The oldest, but perhaps the best trick to revive a dull look is to paint over the space between the eyelashes with a pencil. At the same time, it is important to fill with color not the upper mucosa, but the gaps in the interciliary line. This technique will help create a natural framing of the eyes, give clarity to their contours, even if you do not use mascara.
You can enhance the effect by choosing a metallic cream eyeliner instead of the standard matte one. Its light-reflecting pigments will create the appearance of an additional expansion of the eyes.
Tip: Add sparkle to the inner corner of your eyes with a highlighter or shimmer eye shadow. So you highlight the inner area and make the look visually lighter.
Proper brow shaping is essential for an open, clear and fresh look. Densely filled with a pencil eyebrows hang over your eyelids and make your eyes look heavier, unfavorably highlight swelling under the eyes and dark circles.
To eliminate the effect of tired eyes when shaping the eyebrows, first use the brush. Comb your brows carefully to give them a full but natural look. Use short, feathery strokes to mimic hair to fill in voids and shape brows. Lastly, apply a colorless fixing gel for better makeup hold ( see also : Last night: how to make makeup last).
Tip: For a natural look, choose a pencil that matches your skin tone or a little lighter. Thick dark eyebrows combined with a tired look will look unfavorable and will bring all your make-up efforts to naught.
About the expert:
Irina Golubeva — blogger, professional make-up artist, thoroughly online make-up school Irina Golubeva Makeup school.
Photo: Getty Images
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Eye health is directly related to whether you can control the load on your eyesight and provide your eyes with sufficient rest.
Experts from the Lucky Look federal network of opticians tell you how to relieve eye fatigue and reduce eye strain if you work at a computer.
Sign up for a free vision test
Contents
Any visual discomfort indicates that it is time to take a break from work and give the eyes a chance to rest. Experts identify the main symptoms that indicate an overstrain of the visual system:
Be careful, these symptoms can also signal the presence of serious visual impairment! To rule out negative scenarios, you need visit an ophthalmologist.
Increased visual fatigue can indicate serious disorders, so do not put off a visit to the ophthalmologist
Why does vision deteriorate? The main causes of this phenomenon are distinguished:
High eye strain. This is often faced by schoolchildren and students who are forced to read and write a lot, as well as office workers whose activities involve continuous sitting at a computer or reading documents.
Also, if you are fond of computer games, like to watch TV shows on your mobile gadgets - smartphones or tablets - or spend all your free time with a book, your eyes are also exposed to a high load.
In order to minimize problems with this lifestyle, it is necessary to take breaks as often as possible and give the eyes regular rest.
Computer vision syndrome. This is a whole complex of symptoms, which is caused by overexertion of the visual system due to prolonged use of the computer. The reason for the development of the symptom is not so much the need to look at the monitor for a long time, but the functional change in your posture, eyes, neck. For example, the constant sliding of the gaze from the keyboard to the monitor and back leads to accommodative asthenopia, which is manifested by discomfort, eye fatigue, pain, pain in the superciliary region, blurred vision of the object of fixation.
Subsequently, this can cause problems such as myopia (nearsightedness), accommodation spasm (inability to focus on small objects and details) and dry eye syndrome.
Properly organized workplace and touch typing skills will help to minimize the harm from constant work at the computer.
Dry eye syndrome. Often appears on the basis of computer vision syndrome, develops due to insufficient moistening of vision: with concentrated work at a computer, a person blinks less often, as a result of which the tear film dries up.
Plus - the air near the computer heats up and also becomes dry.
Organize your workplace and use special glasses for working at the computer
In the summer season, when air conditioners are in operation, the pathological effect of dry air on the eyes only intensifies. And if you use contact lenses, the syndrome develops even faster.
To reduce the negative impact of external factors and provide more comfortable conditions for the eyes, place a humidifier near your workplace. Also buy moisturizing drops (choose them with the help of an ophthalmologist) and use them several times a day. Try to blink as often as possible.
During a break, do some light eye exercises:
The gaze is directed forward. To maintain the effect, put moisturizing drops selected by your ophthalmologist into your eyes. Do not self-medicate, be sure to seek help from a specialist - moisturizing drops come in different viscosities, they can have a healing effect, or they can simply moisten the surface of the eye. Only an ophthalmologist will determine what exactly your vision needs and select the necessary remedy.
Sign up for a free vision test
By the way, gymnastics also requires prior consultation with a doctor. Make sure you have no contraindications. Also, the ophthalmologist can advise other types of gymnastics.
There are several rules that must be observed in everyday life. Thanks to this, you can significantly reduce the load on your eyesight, and your eyes will get tired much less.
If you work at a computer, the first thing you need to do is to properly organize your workplace.
At this time, you can not switch to mobile gadgets, as there will be no sense in pauses in this case. It is better to perform light eye exercises, which we talked about above. But before doing gymnastics, you need to consult with a specialist and make sure that you have no contraindications to this; The health of your eyes depends on your daily habits. Hygiene of vision allows you to maintain good health and reduces eye fatigue, even under conditions of increased stress.
It is important that the room in which you sleep is darkened; 
Only timely detection of possible violations will prevent their development. Remember that on your own you cannot always correctly assess your condition; Sign up for a free vision test
Remember that the mask should be washed regularly. Simple exercises that should be done regularly throughout the day will help to quickly relieve fatigue from the eyes. But this is not enough! To make your eyes less strained and tired, it is important to provide the right conditions:
Remember that you need to consult an ophthalmologist before doing gymnastics! Moisturizing drops should also be selected by a specialist.
