Your Good Health: Dark circles

Dear Dr. Donohue: I get eight solid hours of sleep every night. I wake up perky. I am not tired during the day. However, I have dark circles under my eyes, and everyone asks me if I have gotten enough sleep. What can I take to lighten those circles? — N.V.

Answer: There isn’t any medicine that erases those circles.

The skin under the eye is thin. Some people have even thinner-than-average skin there. The darker color of blood in veins shows through the skin and creates the dark circles. Much of this is genetic, a family trait just like hair color and eye color. The only way I know to address the problem is with cosmetics.

Occasionally allergies, by dilating those beneath-the-eye vessels, give rise to dark circles. Allergy medicines — antihistamines — can sometimes solve allergy-caused circles.