How to get rid of visible veins around your eyes

Some people suffer from unsightly veins in their eyelids. Although this can be from a variety of causes like a medical condition or medication, the three most common reasons why you might be suffering from this include pale skin, thin skin around the eyes or darker-than-usual vein coloration. Below, we look into the causes and possible solutions to each of these three issues.

1. Pale eyelid skin

Skin produces a pigment called melanin. This coloration is made to protect the skin from the harmful effects of the sun’s rays. Some people have more melanin than others. Uneven or low levels of melanin can increase the skin’s transparency and increase the visibility of veins and blood vessels.

Sitting in the sun to increase melanin production

Sun exposure increases melanin production in the skin so that your skin becomes better able to protect itself from the sun. You can achieve this effect by sitting in the sun for a few minutes every day. If your skin is pale, it will be more sensitive to sunlight and a few minutes (5-10 minutes) in the sun every day will be enough to increase pigmentation. This will tan the skin by increasing the amount of natural color that the skin has. You can achieve this effect by sitting in the natural light, even if it is cloudy or overcast, because the sun’s rays are still penetrating the atmosphere throughout the day.

Regular exposure to natural light is good for you. Sun exposure increases vitamin D production, fights against depression, helps us to avoid the overuse of screens indoors, boosts the immune system and helps to regulate our sleeping patterns by regulating our internal body clock.

Sun safety

Don’t sit in the sun for too long

Sun exposure stimulates the skin in the same way that exercise stimulates the muscles. Too much sun exposure can damage the skin more than what it can repair from and this can lead to sun burn, freckling, skin damage, peeling and cancer in the long run. To avoid the damaging effects of prolonged sun exposure, do not sit in the sun for longer than what your skin can handle. If your skin begins to change color (i.e. turn pink or red) then you have been in the sun for too long and your skin is damaged. Get out of the sun before this happens.

A few minutes a day is more than enough to have a positive effect on your skin’s coloration. It is healthier for your skin to have a little exposure more regularly than to have too much exposure in one go. As your skin begins to produce melanin and your skin color starts to darken, you can sit in the sun for a little longer. Increase sun exposure in small increments over a long period of time to give your skin enough time to adapt without getting damaged.

If you are going to end up spending more time in the sun, take steps to make sure that you limit your overall exposure. Use sun screen to block the harmful effects of the sun’s rays, wear clothing that will protect your skin and sit in the shade whenever possible.

Avoid tan accelerators

Tan accelerators may seem like a good idea because they promise to give you a boosted effect in a shorter period of time, but a few minutes every day in natural light is all that you need. Tan accelerators may increase the effects of the sun more than what your skin can handle. This will lead to skin damage – especially if your skin is not accustomed to protecting itself from the sun. A few minutes every day is all that you need to stimulate melanin production.

Keep hydrated

Sitting in the sun can dehydrate you. This can have many negative effects on your health, and your skin will suffer too. Your skin needs water to moisturize itself. 99% of sweat, for example, is made up of water. Make sure that you drink enough liquids to replenish any water that your body might lose from sitting in the heat. My personal favorite is to sip on a glass of water with squeezed lemon juice for an added relaxing effect. It is also important to note that not all drinks will hydrate you. Stay away from drinks that are full of sugar or contain alcohol.

If you are losing a lot of sweat due to physical activity or heat, you may need to replenish your electrolytes as well - since electrolytes are minerals that are lost through sweat. You can get an electrolyte replacement drink from the store (try to avoid products that have too much sugar or artificial ingredients), eating a banana or adding a pinch of salt to every third glass of water that you drink.

Eat food with enough vitamins and minerals

Micro nutrients support every organ of the body, including the skin. Vitamin C, for example, helps the body to produce collagen which is needed to keep the skin supple. Vitamin E, on the other hand, helps the skin to get rid of cellular damage. Eat a varied diet that has different food sources with a variety of vitamins and minerals. You can do this by making sure that you eat enough raw fruit and vegetables every day.

Bleaching and using products that are acidic on the skin

Bleaching products, along with those that are acidic, can lighten the skin. This will have two negative effects on vein visibility. Firstly, it can decrease the amount of pigmentation on the skin and increase its transparency, making veins more visible. Secondly, overuse of bleaching or acidic products can thin out the skin, further increasing transparency and vein visibility.

To see if the overuse of certain skin products is causing increased vein visibility, try avoiding these products for a week. If the symptoms improve then you can adjust your regular skin care routine accordingly.

If you have pale skin because of low melanin production, speak to your doctor about the best ways to increase melanin production and improve your skin’s complexion.

2. Thin skin

If low melanin levels or pale skin regions are not the cause of visible veins; it may be because of thinner-than-usual skin.

Dry skin

This is often the case for people with dry skin because the skin will flake away faster than what it can regenerate. Adding a skin moisturizing routine to your daily regime will help to reduce skin loss. Find a good moisturizer and apply it to the parts of your skin that are particularly dry. You should notice an improvement in your appearance immediately and the skin should start to repair itself within a few days. You may also want to look into training your skin to produce more oil.

Over-exfoliation

Exfoliation is good for you. It helps to get rid of old skin that may block new skin formation. It does this by encouraging the skin to produce new skin cells. Too much exfoliation, though, may remove more skin than what the skin can generate. This will lead to thinner-than-usual skin. If you are potentially exfoliating more than what you should, try stopping all exfoliation efforts for two weeks. If your skin gets thicker and visible veins around the eye areas disappear, you know that over-exfoliation was the cause.

Naturally thin skin

Many people have naturally thin skin. This can lead to increased allergic reactions and possible infections because the skin is your body’s first line of defense against the germs, bacteria, viruses and other pathogens outside of the body.

Exfoliation to increase skin density

A good exfoliation routine will help your skin to increase its thickness - if done right. By removing the outermost, dead layer of skin; you encourage blood flow to the skin and stimulate the formation of new skin cells.

If you haven’t exfoliated before, try adding a light exfoliation routine to your shower or bath. You can do this in two ways:

Mechanical exfoliation

Mechanical exfoliation involves using a hard surface or scrub to slough away dead skin. You can do this by mixing salt and olive oil and using this as a scrub or by purchasing scrubs for exfoliation. I like using exfoliation gloves and using them to apply soap to my skin every second week to encourage newer, younger looking skin.

Chemical exfoliation

Chemical exfoliates use an acidic element to break apart old skin cells. You can make your own chemical exfoliates by mixing lemon juice or vinegar with water or adding them to your bath. You can also purchase chemical exfoliates from the store.

Exfoliation tips

Do not over-exfoliate

Do not exfoliate more than what your skin can handle. You only want to remove the outermost layer of dead skin cells. Your skin is very sensitive and can get damaged very easily. Skin damage from over-exfoliation can lead to permanent damage. You should feel a slight tingle during exfoliation. Never exfoliate to the point where you feel discomfort or pain. You should see a glow in your complexion after exfoliation. If your skin is pink or red after exfoliation, you have removed too much of your skin and it is damaged.

Light exfoliation done semi-regularly over a long period of time is beneficial; while over-exfoliating in a single session can lead to damage and hampered skin health.

Avoid too much exfoliation

Give your skin a few days in between exfoliations to recover and generate new skin cells. If you exfoliate too regularly, you will cause the skin to thin out instead of thicken. For the first few times, give your skin at least two weeks in between light exfoliation sessions. Once your skin has adapted by increasing new skin formation, you may exfoliate once a week. Never exfoliate more than twice a week because this will cause more removal than what the skin can regenerate.

If you are interested in using exfoliation to decrease vein visibility because your skin is too thin, speak to a professional first to make sure that you help your skin to function better instead of causing any damage.

3. Darker-than-usual veins

Everybody’s blood is not the same color. Some people have darker blood than others. There can be a variety of reasons for this. For example, the blood of smokers is typically a darker red in color, while the blood of non-smokers is typically a brighter red in color. Darker veins might also indicate poor blood circulation. Increasing blood circulation through exercise and keeping the blood clean by following a healthy lifestyle might be exactly what you need to reduce the appearance of veins. Detoxification methods include:

• Drinking more water to help the body eliminate water-soluble toxins and other impurities through urination
• Engaging in exercise or using the sauna or steam room regularly to help the body eliminate fat-soluble toxins through sweat
• Eat foods that are high in fiber (fruit and vegetables) to help the body cleanse itself of non-soluble toxins

Darker veins caused by other factors

There may be other medical reasons why your veins are darker than they should be. These factors need to be diagnosed and treated by a medical professional. If you feel that your vein visibility is of a health concern or that it may be caused by an underlying factor, discuss this with your doctor so that you can treat the issue at its root cause.

Remember to do everything in moderation and to always follow a healthy lifestyle.

This article in no way intends to substitute or replace sound medical advice. If you suffer from any physical or medical condition, always consult your medical practitioner immediately. Always speak to your medical practitioner before starting a new self-care or lifestyle routine.

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5 Ways to Reduce Eye Strain - And the Method that Actually Worked for Me

For the past few weeks, I have been struggling with eye strain. This led me to do a lot of research about what causes eye strain and how to solve it. I found 5 prominent ideas and tried them all - until I found the one that worked for me. I don't think that the one that worked for me will work for everybody, because the causes of your specific eye strain will be different to mine. If you can find out the reason why your eyes feel strained, you can take steps to deal with the problem at the cause and help your eyes to work at their best.

Here are the 5 best methods that I tried, the reasons why each one would work and the causes that they address, and the one that actually helped me (spoiler alert, the one that solved my issue is the last one: Method number 5).

How to help your eyes recover from eye strain

1) Use tea bags to help relax and restore your eyes

This method is quite simple. Simply brew two tea bags in hot water. Then put them on a plate so that they cool down. You want them to be warm enough to warm the eyes without burning them. You need to make sure that they are cool enough because your eyelids are very sensitive. Burning them will add pain to your eye area and make your problems even worse. Once they are at the right temperature, place them on your closed eyes while you lie down. Let them sit there for a few minutes until they cool down. After a while, they will become cold. The initial warmth will increase blood flow to your eyes, while the later cooling effect will ease inflammation. After a few minutes, place them back in the hot water to heat them up again and repeat the process. Do this for a few times until you feel like your eyes are completely relaxed.

I must admit that my eyes felt totally relaxed after doing this. I listened to music to keep myself busy during those few minute intervals and I placed a towel under my pillow so that the tea did not leak onto my bed.

How the teabag method will help with eye strain

This method will help with eye strain in a variety of ways. The heat and cold will bring fresh blood flow to your eyes while helping them to get rid of old blood that carries waste products. Your eyes have muscles that are used to focus and move the eyeball in different directions. The opposing temperatures help to heal these muscles. There are also nutrients in tea like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that will nourish the eyes. This will help to reduce any swelling and inflammation, ease pain and discomfort, hydrate the eyes, and totally relax them.

If you have eye strain because your eyes do a lot of work like focusing or if your eyes have a lot of built up tension, this method will help them to relax and recover.

2) Focus on different distances

A lot of eye strain occurs because we tend to spend too much time focusing on a single length of distance. I have noticed that people who have a computer-related job often struggle to see long distance. I have also noticed that people who focus on more long-distance views (like drivers and people who work in the construction industry) tend to struggle to read papers or screens that are very close to their eyes.

Our eyes were made to focus on varying distances. By focusing too much on any particular distance, we lose our ability to focus well on other lengths. This happens due to homeostasis. In this case, homeostasis refers to your body's tendency to adapt to what it does regularly and reduce its ability to do what it doesn't need to do very often.

If you focus too much on one particular distance, your eyes will adapt by reducing their ability to focus on other lengths of distance. This will cause them to strain whenever you look at distances that are not the same as the distance you spend most of your time looking at. Your eyes, just like the rest of your body, need regular exercise to stay in good shape.

The 20/20/20 method and how it works

Every 20 minutes, look up from your computer screen and focus on something at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. This will help to maintain your eye's ability to focus on more than one particular distance. If you can, take a regular walk away from your desk and try to focus on longer distances so that your eyes stay fit and strong. This will also give them a break from too much of the same line of focus.

This method is great for people who spend too much time in focusing on one type of distance and need to vary their lines of sight.

3) Give your eyes time to rest and recover

Your eyes might simply be overworked. Given the demanding nature of our daily jobs and the fact that we spend most of our waking life doing work-related activities, eye strain from too much stimulus is an extremely likely possibility.

Taking time off from work might not be plausible every time that you experience eye strain, but there are certainly things that you can do to give your eyes a break. If you focus on a computer screen for the majority of your working life, give your eyes a break by reducing your screen time when you are not at work. Try finding other relaxing activities that you can do like interacting with friends and family, spending more time doing sports, exercise and hobbies, or enjoying life beyond your house.

This will help with your eye strain if it is caused by being overloaded with too much stimulation of the same, repetitive nature.

4) Blinking

This method is just as important as the others. All About Vision explains that we naturally blink between 10 and 15 times a minute. When we focus on the computer, our phones or a TV screen; we can blink less than half of that amount. We also tend to blink less completely. This reduces the eye's ability to lubricate itself. Reduced blinking rates can lead to dry eyes and manifest in the form of eye degeneration and eye strain.

I struggled to remember to blink more whenever I was using a screen. Some sites recommend placing a bright sticky note on the side of your screen to remind yourself to blink. This wouldn't work for me because the sticky note will be too distracting. As a health and fitness writer, I need to constantly focus on my existing train of thought and write it down before it stops making sense. The slightest distraction could throw me off.

I was able to remind myself to blink more by making it into a little game. Depending on what I was doing, I had to blink in smaller intervals of whatever the task was. For example, when I edit my sites I need to blink with every click that I make on the mouse. When I am using my phone, I blink whenever I tap the screen. When I am writing content, I need to blink whenever I hit the space bar. 

This, along with drinking more water, will help to alleviate dry eyes that can hurt the normal functioning of your eyes.

5) Get the right lighting

It was through trial and error that I finally came to the cause (and solution) for why my eyes were strained. I typically work in a dark room. In this room, I spend a lot of time in front to the computer. My eyes adjusted to the overall dark lighting by increasing my sensitivity to light. This helped me to see throughout the entire room. My increased light sensitivity, met with the fact that I spend the majority of my time staring into the direct light of my computer screen, overloaded my eyes with a contradiction of low light and direct light. I spent a day brightening the room where I work. I also reduced the brightness of my screen to its lowest level. That same day, I did not experience any eye strain. I have not struggled with eye strain since.

We know how damaging it is to look into the sun. We can tell because it painful when we try and it takes a few seconds for our vision to return to normal afterwards. Although less severe, we also know not to look directly at welding sticks when they are being used because they can damage your eyes. Looking into a flash light will also cause discomfort for your eyes. Screens that emit light are the least severe of these comparisons, but affect the eyes in a similar way. By the way, have you ever noticed that it is easier to look into a flash light when you do it in the bright of the day? It is easier because the contraction between light and dark is not so heavy on your eyes. Your eyes will re-adjust its 'lighting settings' according to the overall lighting of your surroundings. This is why it takes your eyes a few seconds to re-adjust if you switch on a bright light in the middle of the night. 

Staring at a bright light in a dark room can hurt your eyes because they have adjusted to their overall surroundings, but need to function at a different light frequency. If lighting is the reason why your eyes are strained, try adjusting the lighting of your environment and the brightness settings of your screens until it is easier for your eyes.

I hope that this article will help you on your mission to conquer eye strain in the same way that it helped me. Stay Strong!

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