White bags under my eyes

[tbbos]

About six months ago I returned from a trip to Florida (where incidentally I partook in a week of tanning) with very dark circles under my eyes. I tried various eye creams and to no avail. Upon consulting my dermatologist he said that they are hereditary, however I found this hard to believe given that they practically showed up over night! Now, just as I was learning to live with the fact that I look like I never sleep, the skin under my eyes has turned white. Such that, the condition under my eyes now includes the dark outline of the bags, only now the bags are white so that it looks like I've been out in the sun with sun glasses on. I'm not sure what to do at this point and I question revisiting my dermatologist as he was not much help last time. I have read that these dark circles can be caused by allergies, so I thought of visiting an allergist, but now am further confused as the skin has turned white. Lastly, I've tried tanning as it was my hope that this would darken the pigmentation under my eyes, only it did not and actually only made the condition more noticeable. So I guess my question is how can I get the dark circles and/or the white bags to go away, if this is even possible?

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Also, I have provided a picture of the condition in my post in the Dermatology Community forum as I wasn't given an option to post on here. Thanks.

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Will the appearance of the bags fade with time? The whiteness under my eyes showed up months after I got back from my trip. When I first returned, I noticed the dark circles under my eyes and pretty severe dryness.  Now, months later, that I have learned to live with the dark circles, the whiteness appeared out of no where. At the time the whiteness showed up, I was not tanning at all and only did that as an afterthought to try and make them blend.  So, in effect the darkness I had under my eyes has as of late become white and puffy, whereas I still have the outline of the dark circles under the white bag. Will the black circles or the white bags ever go away?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do for circles under the eyes.  The many creams you see advertised for creams to address this common problem are mostly useless.   As to the sudden appearance of the circles, my best guess is that tanning increased the contrast beween the tanned skin of the face and the skin right below the eyes, which is protected by the bone of the orbit and therefore doesn't tan (and so looks "white.")  Besides using makeup, my best advice therefore is not to tan, to lessen the contrast.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff