What Are Non-Surgical Options for Treating Tear Troughs?
Are you concerned about the hollows under the eye?
The depressed surface under the eyes can be a big concern. People look tired and sometimes old, which also shakes their confidence level. To regain that confidence, they look for some attractive alternatives, like blepharoplasty. But unfortunately, it is a surgical option, which many individuals are not comfortable with. Here emerge nonsurgical cosmetic treatments to address tear trough concerns.
So, let’s share with you some proven non-invasive or minimally invasive tear-trough treatments.
Popular and Safe Nonsurgical Tear Trough Treatments
Catch up with multiple alternatives that are mostly non-invasive or minimally invasive treatments for improving the appearance of tear troughs.
- Dermal Fillers
Dermal fillers are naturally extracted essential protein-rich injectables for skin. Mostly, these injectables consist of hyaluronic acid, which is an essential skin protein that our skin naturally produces. Typically, it plumps up the skin while adding volume to the hollowed surface. Many popular brands like Juvederm, Restylane, and Belotero introduce it.
Many studies have occurred that show how effective these injectables are. These fillers show their goodness by introducing immediate results with minimal downtime. Patients see immediately plumped skin right after a treatment. To complement this, a study published in Dermatologic Surgery revealed that 80% of patients witnessed improvement in their under-eye hollowness, especially dark circles, once these fillers were injected. Moreover, the Aesthetic Surgery Journal surveyed and discovered that 90% of patients were happy with hyaluronic acid fillers for tear troughs.
Benefits
- Quick Procedure
This treatment typically lasts for 15–30 minutes. This is simply because it does not involve any surgery, which often takes a long recovery period.
- Minimal Downtime
As aforementioned, patients can continue with normal activities or routine exercises within a day of the treatment.
- Reversible
Patients come with certain expectations. They need immediate uplift. Hyaluronic acid fillers have this very tendency to achieve this goal. But sometimes, the outcome does not match commitments. In this case, this treatment can be reversed. Hyaluronic acid fillers can be reversed with hyaluronidase. Generally, its effects last 6–12 months.
- Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy
The trend of PRP therapy is on the rise, which is simply because of its significantly visible results. The Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (2020) published a study that revealed significant enhancement in tear-trough conditions with this therapy. It showed that 70% of participants experienced reduced dark circles.
So, what’s special about this therapy?
This is actually a minimally invasive treatment where a small amount of the patient’s blood is centrifuged. It enables the skin specialist to concentrate platelets and inject only the platelets into the tear troughs. These platelets trigger collagen production, which improves the volume and quality of the skin.
Benefits
- Natural Treatment
This cosmetic treatment ensures that the body’s own healing mechanism gets charged, which improves the appearance of tear troughs.
- Minimal Risk
The next benefit is associated with the risk factor. It involves minimal risk of an allergic reaction because it involves autologous material. Simply put, the treatment is done with the platelets of the patient’s own blood, which makes it less allergic.
- Treatment Frequency
Typically, patients visit thrice or four times at an interval of 4-6 weeks in between. And the procedure continues for 30 minutes per session, which is minimal time.
- Laser Therapy
Did you know that a study in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine (2017) reported a 60% better skin tone and texture with laser therapy? What’s so good about it? Here comes the secret.
Unlike PRP, this therapy involves laser treatment, which can be fractional laser or intense pulsed light (IPL). Experienced skin specialists target the tear trough area with lasers, which heats up the target area, and hence, the agile cells start producing collagen. This natural protein promotes healthy skin. Patients see gradual improvement in their skin texture.
Some advanced skin specialists combine fractional lasers with IPL to increase the effectiveness of this tear-trough treatment. It minimizes the appearance of dark circles and improves skin tone.
Benefits
- Non-Invasive
This treatment is purely non-invasive. Nor does it involve any needles or injections, which is a big relief for those who don’t want their skin to be injected.
- Dual Benefits
This treatment has a dual impact, which is visible through faded pigmentation and improved tear-trough condition and skin texture.
- 3-5 Sessions
This procedure typically needs 3-5 sessions of 60 minutes each to receive optimal results.
- Improvement Rate
Considering the improvement rate, it is 60%. Patients see a pronounced reduction in the appearance of dark circles and even skin tone.
- Chemical Peels
Chemical peels also represent an effective nonsurgical treatment that exfoliates the skin. Its dead cells’ layer get extracted, allowing new skin cells to come up. Therefore, patients see a faded, pigmented surface and elastic skin. This cosmetic treatment works wonders by using the goodness of acids like glycollic acid and TCA (trichloroacetic acid) that are skin-friendly. They can be lavishly used on sensitive areas like the undereye.
It is claimed that chemical peels can refine skin contours and reduce pigmentation. In this regard, the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology published research that reveals a significant reduction in pigmentation. It shows that 65% of patients witnessed improved skin quality.
Benefits
- Better Skin
For sure, certain medical-grade chemicals are used. These are mostly skin-friendly and incredible at reducing dark circles and uneven skin tone.
- Enhances Collagen
When these chemicals penetrate, their impact promotes cell turnover. Ultimately, its elasticity increases, and it looks fresh and rejuvenated.
- Sessions Required
Considering its sessions, it typically requires 2-3 sessions to see its full impact. However, a little enhancement is noticeable right after the first session, which gradually increases.
- Micro needling
Studies suggest that micro needling is like an elixir for the surface. However, it does not need any filler or injectable to penetrate. The skin specialist uses a device that has tiny needles at the end. As the device moves, it punctures the skin causing micro-injuries. This infliction of minimal pain (which is absolutely bearable) signals the brain to heal that surface. While responding, the skin stimulates collagen and elastin, which repair micro-injuries. Simultaneously, the skin texture gets better, and the depressed under-eye area looks voluminous.
Is there any evidence of how effective this treatment is? Well, many studies and researches are there to prove it.
Well, for sure, a study was published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (2018), which proves that 75% of participants were happy to see improved skin texture and plumper under-eye areas.
Benefits
- Minimal Downtime
Like many cosmetic treatments, this treatment also takes a few countable days to get rid of mild redness. The punctured skin (however invisible) turns red, which heals in 3-5 days. And the redness settles down in a day.
- Improves Texture
Micro-injuries trigger skin cells to increase collagen production, which naturally increases. As a result, the skin appears stunning with the firmness of texture and its elasticity.
- Short Sessions
This procedure lasts 60 minutes, and doctors generally recommend 3-6 sessions to see its full impact.
- Topical Treatments
Topical treatments are sometimes not worth paying for. However, these are some of the non-invasive treatments that one can use at home. Of course, you should consult with the skin specialist about what topical creams to use. They may recommend something like retinoids, caffeine, or peptides after examining your skin. Their repetitive applications can minimize the visibility of tear troughs, as they boost natural proteins from inside. As a result, the skin becomes plumper, minimizing the depressed surface. Also, they refine pigmented skin by rejuvenating its tone and texture naturally over weeks.
A review published in Cosmetic Dermatology (2019) found that cosmetic products containing retinoids or peptides are able to improve the pronounced under-eye for at least 50% of users. Hence, these treatments also drive results.
Benefits
- Convenient
The most impressive aspect of this treatment is that it follows the traditional treatment standard. Simply put, you don’t have to visit a cosmetic or aesthetic doctor and spend 30–60 minutes at the clinic. It can be easily used or applied at home.
- Gradual Improvement
Unlike overnight miracles, these treatments take time. Despite being non-invasive, these creams are able to produce results after consistent usage.
- Improvement Rate
As studied and found, the specific cream is recommended after thoroughly examining your skin condition. So, such treatment will be prescribed that your skin condition needs for visible changes. These are mostly recommended for consistent use for a specific duration.
- Time to Results
The most satisfying fact is that these treatments are nonsurgical, but tear troughs show improvement in 6 to 8 weeks. So, it can be a lengthy procedure.
Conclusion
Non-Invasive tear-trough treatments are mainly required when the hollowness becomes visible as the skin ages. Though some surgical options are available, people like to explore some nonsurgical alternatives. Among these alternatives, dermal fillers, PRP therapy, microneedling, chemical peels, and topical creams are popularly referred to. The success rate of these treatments is higher, which attracts patients to select them as per the recommendations of a qualified skin specialist and their budget. Statistics and studies have proven that these treatments work wonders on tear troughs, minimising the hollowness by introducing volume. Certainly, collagen and elastin, natural skin proteins, are responsible for breathing life into the sunken and dark undereye areas.