Eyelids losing elasticity/sagging seemingly overnight!
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free skin care · Thu Feb 10, 2011 10:42 pm

Has this happened to anyone else? I am 34 and have been really fortunate to have skin that looks young, but just recently I have noticed that the skin in my eye crease at the outer corners has started to droop. I apply makeup every day and am always up close in the mirror at some point, but I swear this has come out of the blue! I'm really not sure what is going on here, but I am wondering if there is any way to resolve this without going down the surgery route?

I don't use firming eye creams or anything like that so I'm not sure if they would help. Would there be any other possible explanation other than aging? I do have a few fine lines that I have watched develop over the years, but nothing like this that happened so dramatically fast. Help!!!!

free skin care · Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:35 am

That happened to me, too! I'll be interested to read any replies.

free skin care · Fri Feb 11, 2011 8:09 am

Do you ever have puffy eyes?

I get occasional (hormonal, I think) morning puffiness, and I'm afraid it will lead to sagging and droopy eyelids.

Maybe eyelid Thermage would tighten it up? Some people can stave off blephs with Thermage...

Where I read about this connection: http://www.smartskincare.com/skincarebasics/eyeskincare_donoharm.html

Oh, and about Thermage:
http://www.skintour.com/guide-to-cosmetic-areas/eye-issues

free skin care · Fri Feb 11, 2011 9:12 am

I just ordered the Tua Viso.
I heard good things about it and the eye area

free skin care · Fri Feb 11, 2011 11:20 am

I had an interesting thing happen... a while ago I decided to try some tretinoin on my hoods & outer corner of my eyes since I have a little damage in the corner from wiping tears/makeup too harshly. My mom got saggy eye hoods as she aged so I thought I'd be preventative.

The first morning after I tried it I woke up to find the hood on one side super droopy! HI MOM! wave

It sprung back into shape after a short time, but I was a little freaked out. I still use retins up there but I watch it.

free skin care · Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:04 pm

Do you happen to have any allergies?? Smile

free skin care · Fri Feb 11, 2011 2:17 pm

Thank you so much for all of your helpful replies!

You know, upon closer inspection, it seems to be sagging because of some upper browbone puffiness that is pushing down on the skin on my eye. It is worse on my left side than my right.

I think this might be due to a primer product that I was using before putting on eyeshadow. It kind of stung (duh!) when I put it on, but I thought it was because it was cold. I had stopped using it a couple of days ago... do you think it could do permanent damage? I mean, my god, it is supposed to go on the eyes for crying out loud!

How long would it take for the reaction to go away? And on that note, any good recs for a gentle eye cream? My skin is the very definition of reactive.

Thank you!

free skin care · Fri Feb 11, 2011 4:06 pm

Yeah who knows - sometimes my eyes get itchy for no reason. But this was my eye hood, and not my eye lids, which can get puffy due to allergies or crying. I'm pretty certain it was something to do with the tretinoin & irritation, a first time freakout.

Alilicious, you're getting some good advice here so all I can add is that you may want to look into facial exercise of some type to help "drain" whatever it might be? I came across some good ones which talked about lymphatic drainage, which seemed like a good thing to do from time to time whether we're actually experiencing problems or not. That's what I was going to do if it didn't sort itself out (my episode only lasted a couple of hours)

And I don't know for a fact, but I really doubt you'll be suffering permanent damage!

free skin care · Sat Feb 12, 2011 12:03 am

I think you'll bounce back! My worst bout of puffiness lasted several days; normally my eyes depuff an hour or so after getting up.

Russian Sunshine wrote somewhere about Tanaka massage--I've tried a little for eye puffiness, and it seems to have helped a bit, maybe...

About an eye cream, I have to be extremely careful. Even things formulated for the eyes often contain fragrance or other irritants, so even my "eye creams" I have to keep 1/4 inch or so away from the lash line, and I don't put anything on my upper lids, just the brow bone, because I figure it migrates down.

I use pure evening primrose oil during the day (poke a capsule and use a tiny bit for a day or two, then down the rest orally) under Shiseido eyescreen SPF 32. At night, I use tretinoin *very* carefully, keeping it about 1/2 inch away; alternating with La Roche-Posay Cicaplast or primrose oil, maybe occasionally Paula's Choice Antioxidant concentrate (but sometimes that seems to correlate with puffiness).

And sunglasses! Cool

free skin care · Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:47 pm

I notice that if I have dairy products, salt or sugar in the evening, my face looks puffier the next day. Salt especially. I'm going to be reversing my breakfast and lunch routine, eating fish in the morning and a green smoothie in the evening. After seeing Mimi Kirk I am not ready to go vegan but I want to incorporate more raw veg into my diet. She didn't go vegan until her late sixties and said within a year and a half, both her and her daughter's skins started really looking good and lost the old lady crepey texture.

Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:44 am

lipglossdoll wrote:

Do you happen to have any allergies?? Smile

I would consider allergies too along with diet. Keeping a food diary can be very helpful.

free skin care · Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:11 am

Thanks for all of your replies. I do think it may be allergies and I have stopped using my eye cream that I was using this whole time. I switched to a lighter, gel version. It is definitely more pronounced on my left eye though, so I am not sure what that is all about. I have also started being more careful about touching my face after petting my cat. I have never had a problem with puffiness or sagging before so this is all very alarming to me. I appreciate the support! Smile

free skin care · Sun Feb 13, 2011 3:45 pm

^ Oooooh, yes, good idea about your cat! I was never able to resist nuzzling my cat or petting other cats, even knowing that I have mild allergies. A small bit of cat dander, or even an eyelash can travel quite far into your eye socket without your even knowing, which can cause swelling. I learned this losing my (gas permeable, which is like hard) contact lens once and (this is gross), but finding it surprisingly high up inside my eye-hood. I was shocked - and scared.

Have you thought of trying a very mild eyewash? Just pure/distilled water or very weak tea should do it - and something like that may also help sooth the irritation if there is any. I heard that adding touch of boric acid/powder is also effective for cleansing for eyes, but maybe google for more info on what might be best.
Good luck!

p.s. thanks Rockhugger for posting your eye routine! Gave me some more things to look into..

pps: one more thing - my droopy episode was over my left eye too. I wonder if its because we favor one side of our face when we make facial expressions so the other side got more of a workout and was able to expel the irritants more effectively?

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