How to Get Rid of Puffy Eyes

It’s six o’clock in the morning and you have to get ready for work. One look in the mirror makes you want to cringe. Your eyes look like you’ve just gone a couple of rounds with Mike Tyson. Yes, you have puffy eyes. The question is what do you do about it? Here are a few suggestions to help you deal with this early morning horror.

1. Know the causes

Investigate why your eyes are puffy in the first place. There are several reasons why your eye area could be retaining fluid. Allergies are a common cause of puffy eyes. Dust or other irritants could cause flare-ups that swell the eyes. Stress can also cause problems with your eyes. Physical manifestations are common among individuals experiencing high levels of stress in their lives. Crying is a cause of puffy eye syndrome, too. Fluid is also retained when the intake of sodium (salt) is higher than normal.

2. Try caffeine

After your morning tea, save those tea bags. Caffeine is a natural diuretic, meaning that it pulls fluid out of your system. Caffeinated tea bags can be used to help alleviate the puffy eye syndrome. First, cool down the tea bags by placing them in a cup of cold water. Warm tea bags will increase the flow of blood to the area which may increase the swelling, instead of decreasing it. Once the bags are sufficiently cooled, place them over each closed eye. Relax for about five to ten minutes. Remove the tea bags and examine your eyes. The puffiness should diminish. If the result is not to your liking, re-cool the tea bags and apply to your eyes again.

3. Cool as a cucumber

Cucumbers are not just for salads anymore. They make good cold compresses for the eyes. Take a chilled cucumber from the fridge and slice it into thin circles. If the slices are too thick they will not lay properly over the eyes. Let the cool slices rest on your eyes for about five minutes. Re-apply new slices as needed.

4. Drink more water

If puffy eye syndrome is more than an occasional occurrence, maybe your body is trying to tell you something. The body retains water when there is precious little available in your system. Increasing your water intake will give the body ample fluid for cellular function and it will not need to store extra water. Drinking lots of water will keep the incidence of puffy eyes to a minimum.Puffy morning eyes are annoying, but they can be treated. To avoid them in the long run, lower your salt intake, drink plenty of water, and use allergy eye drops if irritants are the cause of eye puffiness.