Q: I am very depressed over the dark circles around my eyes. I have had them since I was in primary school. When I was in secondary school, my classmates noticed them. Now I am in university and the dark circles are even more obvious. It embarrasses me when friends ask me about them. How can I remove them safely?

A: Dark circles around the eyes are difficult to get rid of. There is no proven method that will remove them but a combination of methods can reduce the intensity of the circles. For instance, lifestyle changes include having sufficient sleep and exercise, and reducing eye strain (for instance, working too long on a computer and late night reading). Other methods include application of eye creams and diamond peels if the darkening is due to mascara or eye shadow stains. There is currently no known or proven surgery that can get rid of dark circles but you can consider surgery to remove eyebags if these are present, as eyebags make the dark circles more obvious.

Dr Ong Wei Chen

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times.