What is Fatigue?
Feeling tired once in a while is fine. But if you are living with that feeling always, then it’s time to shake yourself up and ask what’s wrong. You are probably fatigued and that’s more than tiredness. Fatigue is often described as a lack of energy and motivation, both physically and mentally. Fatigue kicks in when tiredness is not relieved by enough sleep or rest.
If a person is feeling tired for more than two weeks, even after consuming a good amount of nutritious food, getting enough sleep and not being overworked, he/ she may be suffering from TATT. TATT is what we call Tired All The Time syndrome. Therefore, fatigue could be a symptom of a more serious issue. Let’s take a look at the possible causes of your tiredness.
- Work: Work-related factors may include long work hours, prolonged periods of physical or mental activity, inadequate rest, excessive stress. Any of these or a combination of these factors may cause fatigue.
- Diet: Eating too little and eating the wrong foods.
- Social life: Late night drinking, smoking and long-hour battles on the PlayStation
- Dehydration: Even just a small amount of dehydration can cause fatigue
- Poor sleep: Occasional nights without sleep might affect your mind and thus make your brain find concentrating and making decisions difficult.
There is a connection between feel good and look good. And when you feel tired all the time, it’s going to take a toll on the way you look! It all starts with your eyes. And yes, we are talking about DARK CIRCLES! Now let’s find out the trail that leads fatigue to dark circles below our eyes.
The Relationship Between Fatigue and Dark Circles
Fatigue can cause your skin to become dull and pale. How? It’s listed above that lack of sleep is one of the causes of fatigue. And dark circles are closely related to lack of sleep. The skin underneath your eyes is thin and covers muscles, fatty tissue and blood vessels.
Dark circles are the result of light being reflected back from blood vessels sitting just below the skin’s surface. How dark that area is has a lot to do with skin colour and thickness. As to why they’re more prominent when you’re tired, it’s because your blood vessels increase in size.
When you’re tired, your body produces more cortisol to help boost energy levels, which results in more blood in the body and larger blood vessels. Hence darker circles. Also, if you’ve been lying horizontally for a long time, blood flow will be increased under the eyes. Dark circles can be categorized into 4, there are:
- Pigmentation: is the result of overproduction or poor distribution of melanin which is responsible for the colour of the skin. As the epidermis and dermis are very thin around the eyes, any excess pigments are very visible. Dark circles tend to occur more often in people with dark or mixed-race skin.
- Vascular: due to poor microcirculation of the blood and lymphatic liquid around the eye. Lymph ensures that blood drains and circulates properly, as well as nourishing skin tissue. If the lymphatic system is disrupted, it no longer eliminates pigments in the blood properly. These will then build up to accumulate under the thinnest layers of the skin. This malfunction is increasingly common with age, or, as we know if we are tired or stressed.
- Structural: Loss of fat or structural build of the area around the eye can cause ‘hollowing’ or a shadow effect which could look like a dark circle. It is pretty easy to determine if you have a true dark circle or if it is appearing dark due to a shadow.
- Mixed: types of two or more of the above
Dermatologists Say These Are The Workable Medi-treats For Your Dark Circles
- The Ordinary Caffeine Solution
The Ordinary Caffeine Solution is an innovative and ingredients-based skincare brand that is affordable. It has high-performance formulations and does help to reduce puffy eyes. It contains an extremely high 5% of caffeine, supplemented with highly-purified Epigallocatechin Gallatyl Glucoside (EGCG) from green tea leaves. Studies have shown that topical use of each caffeine and EGCG can help reduce the puffiness and dark circles in the eye contour.
- Skynfyx Customized Azelaic Acid + Vitamin C
When you mix research with technology, amazing innovations emerge. Meet your SkynFyx’s personalized dark circles diagnostic service our Dermatologist, Dr Ingky. A few clicks are all it takes to understand your undereye circles.
- Eye filler
The main reason to get undereye fillers is to fill a hollowness under the eye colloquially called a “tear trough”. If the reason you are having dark circles is because of the hollowness under your eyes, then eye filler is the right option for you. It’s important to distinguish dark circles caused by loss of volume. If dark circles under your eyes are caused by pigmentation, then filler won’t help.
Why Beauty Sleep is Real
Science shows you can sleep your way to younger skin. It turns out there’s quite a bit of research and science behind the concept of beauty sleep. Sleep is when some of the most important internal and epidermal recoveries take place. All the more reason to get some sleep, right? Here are reasons why you should call it an early night
- Fewer Wrinkles
The skin makes new collagen when you sleep, which prevents sagging. More collagen means the skin is plumper and less likely to wrinkle. Only getting 5 hours a night can lead to twice as many fine lines as sleeping 7 would. It also leaves skin drier, which can make lines more visible.
- A Glowing Complexion
Your body boosts blood flow to the skin while you snooze, which means you wake to a healthy glow. Skimp on sleep and your complexion can look drab, ashen, or lifeless. Sleep deprivation causes a decrease in blood flow to the skin surrounding your face.
- Brighter, Less Puffy Eyes
Chances are, you’ve had dark circles or bags under your eyes after a few nights of less than 5 hours of sleep. Puffy eyes are one of the first things we see when we don’t have enough sleep. What happens is when you’re low on sleep, blood isn’t flowing well and it can accumulate under the eyes and become visible, since the skin there is so thin.
- Healthier, Fuller Hair
Hair loss, breakage, damage, and even growth can all be affected by lack of sleep. Hair follicles gain nutrients, vitamins, and minerals from blood flow. Since blood flow decreases when we’re short of sleep, our hair gets less food, it weakens, and it has difficulty growing.
- Products Work Better
Your skin can focus on repairing itself while you sleep since it isn’t defending itself from the sun and free radicals and any harmful molecules from the environment. Blood flow is also more consistent, and this helps your skin benefit from the flesh-repairing ingredients in your beauty products. Your skin also loses more water when you sleep than it does during the day. Apply a creamier moisturizer before bed and drink plenty of water during the day to help your complexion stay hydrated overnight.
The Bottom Line
It is extremely important that you get the required amount of sleep every night. Sleep has multiple benefits that go a long way in improving your skin. Sleeping well and enough is also good for your overall health as it aids the transfer of nutrients in the body and reduces stress levels.
Would you like to learn more? We are here to help! Skynfyx is a platform that provides completely free skincare education. Feel free to contact us if you have any inquiries concerning skincare.
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