Under-Eye Bags

The tissue beneath your eyes swells, looks puffy, tired, heavy. From a medical perspective, fluid accumulates in the loose connective tissue of the lower eyelids — lymph flow and kidney function play a role, as do sleep deprivation, stress, and hormonal changes. But when under-eye bags appear chronically, when they look back at you every morning in the mirror like a silent reproach, a different question is worth asking: What is backing up in you that cannot find an outlet?

The area around the eyes is the most vulnerable part of your face. It is where one sees first whether someone has been crying, has slept badly, is exhausted. Under-eye bags make visible what you might prefer to conceal: that you are overextending yourself. That you are under pressure. That you are carrying more than is good for you.