The dark circles under your eyes are not necessarily a result of poor sleep, stress or hormonal changes. Several factors might contribute to the development of the blemishes on the skin under your eye.

How dark circles develop
The skin under your eye is extremely delicate. Underneath the delicate skin lies a web of small and delicate network of capillaries. The red blood cells are often forced to travel in a single file through these fine capillaries in the under eye skin. Often some red blood cells fail to travel in the single file. These red blood cells wander in the skin around the capillaries. Your body secretes certain enzymes to break down the wandering red blood cells, including the hemoglobin present in them. The hemoglobin broken down in the under eye skin forms a dark blue-black residue, which gives the skin under the eyes the dark circles.

This process of destruction of wandering red blood cells occurs throughout the body, wherever capillaries are present. However, the discolorations are not visible in other parts of the body other than the skin under the eye. The skin under the eye is extremely delicate as well as translucent. Moreover, the capillaries are present closer to the surface of the skin under the eye. All these factors make the area underneath the skin susceptible to dark circles.

Causes of dark circles
Genes
Dark circles often run in families. Your genes might make the skin under your eyes too thin and translucent, making it susceptible to dark circles.

Sun exposure
Besides tanning your skin, prolonged exposure to sunlight could exacerbate dark circles. Exposure to sunlight triggers melanin synthesis, which makes the dark circles appear darker.

Aging
Dark circles might be a sign of aging of the skin. As we age, the facial skin and the capillaries become thinner, leading to dark circles.

Allergies
Often dark circles could be a symptom of allergy. Histamine produced during allergic reactions leads to formation of blemishes on the skin under the eye. Moreover, rubbing the itching eyes exacerbates the dark circles.

Poor nutrition
Dark circles might be a sign of nutritional deficiency. The discoloration might fade by switching to a balanced diet.

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