Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

White Circles Under Eye

I am a 25-year old, white female.  My skin is very fair and prone to freckling and burns.  I have had white (much lighter than the rest of the skin on my face) circles under my eyes for the past 6-9 months.  I can cover them with makeup to help them blend with the rest of my skin, but I would like to fix the problem.  Please let me know what this is and if there is a solution.  Thank you for your time.
111 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
This could be Melasma!!!
I’m no doctor so the following isn’t from a medical specialist but just what I’ve experienced.
I noticed white circles around my eyes a few years ago but it wasn’t too obvious so I thought nothing of it but about 3-4 months ago it became very blatant and made me look sick and somewhat silly so I read up on it. It turns out I have Melasma which is a pigment deficiency with hyperpigmentation and it’s not actually the area around my eyes being white but my upper cheeks, nose and forehead being overly tanned. I went to see a dermatologist who advised me the following: -
1. Stay out of direct sunlight/daylight (and even indoor light can affect it)
2. Use a skin evening/lightening cream on the affected darker areas to lighten the skin
3. Use minimum factor 30spf (better factor 50) UVA & UVB protection on the darker areas affected
4. I also use a tinted moisturiser to mask the white areas around my eyes and blend them in to the darker areas which helps
Good luck everybody
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have this also and it's driving me nuts. I've just come back from holiday and it looks like I fell asleep with my sunglasses on :( i am currently using a night cream and serum for pigmentation on the rest of my face to see if it even outs my skin. To cover up the whiteness and I apply a little facial fake tan to the white area, this seems to look far more natural than using concealer etc.

Laura
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I suffer from the same thing but mine comes and goes and there seems to be no logic but I get so fatigue when it happens to me that I can barely function. anyone else?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The condition is called MELASMA.  I had a bad sunburn on my face and have had the same pale areas around my eyes ever since.  Google Kaitlin Menza, or go here: http://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/a15304/it-only-took-one-sunburn-melasma/

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I suffer from this and have for years. I think it may be a combination of factors. There does appear to be less pigmentation there but the white circles will disappear if I go on holiday and am out in the sun more. I think maybe for some of us the underlying problem is exacerbated simply by the shape of our face. Most sun exposure comes from above, unless we are flat out sunbathing. Depending on the shape of your eye sockets , the base of your eyes and your eye sockets may well be fairly shaded much of the time. I used to find that this problem would be less noticeable temporarily after surfing. The sun exposure that you get from surfing is very different because the sun reflects up off the water at you.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi,
I went to a doctor a few months ago and was diagnosed with rosacea. The same thing prince Harry has!
Seems like this was the culprit all along!
Best,
Jon
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
even i have the same problem from 10months and doctor told to apply tacrolimus ointment in night which had less effect,but from 1 month i apply tomato pulp on face and in night tacrolimus ointment and now 80% white patch had gone.even u try to apply tomato and see
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
This was posted before, but just in case you missed it: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1187180/Using-sunbed-left-permanent-panda-eyes.html
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
All the skin around my eyes (both above and below and on my eyelids) is white as snow, whilst the rest of my face tans.

I live in sunny Singapore now, but used sunbeds in the UK and US when I lived there. The sunbeds definitely caused the damage to my skin.

There does not appear to be any cure. Sunbeds should be banned.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have had white circles under my eyes for years. Last winter they were really bad. In September I had a hair test done. My nutritionist gave me a list of 11 vitamins and minerals to take for 6 months. Just this past week i noticed the white circles are gone. I have no idea what the culprit was. I was very high in copper. My calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium were all high.
I highly recommend getting your hair tested.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi,
I'm a 34 year old woman and I first noticed this problem when I was 13.
I have fair skin, but have always tanned very easily at low altitudes. At that age, the only tanning I would have gotten would have been outside playing. My mother made me wear sunscreen sometimes, but since I hardly burned, it wasn't used often.
At age 13, I had a nice tan and didn't wear makeup. I started having people ask me if I had been tanning with sunglasses on, or had gone skiing with goggles. I said, uh, no, neither. It has been a question I've gotten all my life since then. At that time, what would happen, is simply that I would not tan under or around my eyes, which meant I had to use makeup to match those area to the rest of my face. I have had absolutely no other skin discoloration problems on my face or any other part of my body. I think I can confidently state that it is not vitiligo. It is not blotchy like some pictures of this problem I've seen online. Just a fading of the white part which does not tan to the darker part. Like wearing sunglasses.
Once I hit 30 or so, I looked closely at my undereyes and noticed that some tiny little white bumps had appeared at the boundary of the white and darker part. This may be a strange analogy, but it reminds me of how chicken skin looks after it has been plucked. The dots are quite minute but you can see them if you get close. They do not show up directly around my eyes and do not appear above my eyes at all. I have no idea what they are. The white area extends above my eyes to my eyebrows, and after my eyebrows, my skin tans/colors like normal.
A year ago I was diagnosed with a mild form of rosacea, which requires me to use a topical lotion. My skin has gotten redder since then so my white circles are becoming more noticeable. I'm considering getting laser treatment for my rosacea. Up until then, if I didn't tan, my circles weren't as noticeable. But with the red...
I would really like some insight on these skin issues. I plan on asking my dermatologist when I go, she is quite good, and if I learn anything I will post it here.

Melissa
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
Hi Melissa, I know you posted awhile ago but any updates? My condition sounds very similar to yours. Thanks!
Avatar universal
yep lol. but had 3 weeks off and caught up on sleep and still have it!!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
did it work ?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i have the same problem. even concealer aint helping... I'm worried.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i have the same problem too. people think I'm sunbathing with sunglasses on or been on a sun bed. very annoying!!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
There has been quite a bit of "cures" or solutions that haven't been commented on after they were posted.  I'd assume that some of you have tried some of these possible solutions and it would be really valuable to get feedback from people.

Things I've tried and didn't help:

1.  I tried the nasal spray for about 2 weeks and I had no change.

2.  I've tried the zinc supplement and it didn't seem to help.  

I'm a male and at this point I want to try and cover it up while I'm trying to figure out a "cure."  I also obviously want it to be very hard to tell I have makeup on.  Haha.  Any suggestions on what I should wear to try and even out my complexion?

Also has anyone tried those spray on home machines?  Those seem like they would work really well but I'd love to hear if anyone else has given it a try.

I really how we can all help each other figure it out.

Jason  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi  I too have white under my eyes,  I don't drink, never smoked, have a healthy diet etc etc and I am not over weight or anaemic.   I have been told
by beauty therapists I should be grateful as this " problem" is something
women pay big money to attain,  worse to have dark circles.   I never sun
bathe so nothing to do with sunglasses!!!!!!   I too am curious as I use
a product to make the skin less white.  It shows up occasionally on photos.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm a 30 year old female and noticed just last year these white circles around my eyes. I've read a lot of interesting things and I'm going to share....

I'm olive skinned, I've always tanned very easy. I went to the tanning bed and never wore goggles.

I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when I was 26 and had the thyroid removed. I am on medicines for life for that.

I also have a pituitary tumor at the base of my brain.

After my wedding a year ago I stopped tanning. I didn't go to the tanning bed. About 6 months after I quit I noticed the circles. I went to the tanning bed thinking oh my gosh get the color back. And it was a huge fail. The white circles turn tomato red, and I got to stay like that for 2 days. To work and all.  

I notice the circles the most right after I get out of the hot shower. I look ridiculous. I've wrote down a few of the medical terms used throughout this posting. I have to do any research. I am currently at work, but intend to read up on this.

Good luck to all.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Just thought I'd throw it out there in hopes of helping someone else. I live in Hawaii, often people get white spots on their back/trunk and locally it is nicknamed 'haole rot'. Before moving from Seattle, where I went to tanning beds regularly in effort to prevent SAD, I had this skin condition not knowing what it was. Long story short I went to a doctor and got diagnosed with Versicolor Tinea, a fungus that affects the melanin of your skin. Read more here http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tinea-versicolor-cause-symptoms-treatments.
I had it for over a year and after several doctors/ treatments later finally got properly diagnosed and prescribed Ketoconazole cream 2%. My back trunk has been spot free since. Unfortunately, now years later, I have noticed the same spots on my face now under my eyes. I will update on progress as t what my doctor has to say about the under eye spots. Hoping it is the same... as the candida diet, cream and suppliments cleared it up within weeks.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
"Anyone with vitiligo ought to try this treatment ! "    ...I'm glad it worked for you -- would you be so kind as to reference the name of the cream?  I want to give it a try -- Thanks!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi Toma,
But how did you do this then. Was it what your French skin specialist gave you and if so how is this called? You said " I will wait to see noticeable progress on my face before mentioning the cream's name as I want to provide reliable information to you all, not something that won't work!"
I live in France, sun enough but I stay out of it with my face for reasons we all seem  to have.  And yes I am my life long, I am 63 now, a stress kicker and have an exhausted adrenal gland. So cortison is lacking.  Your storie makes sense to me.

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi,

Although the vitiligo patches have not gone entirely they have reduced drastically and are hardly noticeable now. The real effect has been that the line btwn tanned and white areas faded away.
I think the effect would be more pronounced if I lived in a sunny area. Unfortunately I live in the UK at the moment

Anyone with vitiligo ought to try this treatment !
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
This is what my conditon looks like.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
does what ye guys have look like this http://www.dermnet.com/images/Seborrheic-Dermatitis/picture/7362
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Dermatology Community

Top Dermatology Answerers
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Learn to identify and prevent bites from summer’s most common pests.
Doctors argue for legislation to curb this dangerous teen trend in the latest Missouri Medicine report.
10 ways to keep your skin healthy all winter long
How to get rid of lumpy fat on your arms, hips, thighs and bottom
Diet “do’s” and “don’ts” for healthy, radiant skin.
Images of rashes caused by common skin conditions