person said:
Firstly not sleeping enough does not cause serious dark circles. If you read up on it (not that you really need to) they are caused primarily by hormone change.
There seem to be multiple causes:
What causes dark circles under the eyes?
Freitag FM, Cestari TF.
Department of Dermatology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Dark circles under the eyes (DC) are defined as bilateral, round, homogeneous pigment macules on the infraorbital regions. Despite its significant prevalence, there are a few published studies about its pathogenesis.
DC are caused by multiple etiologic factors that include dermal melanin deposition, postinflammatory hyperpigmentation secondary to atopic or allergic contact dermatitis, periorbital edema, superficial location of vasculature, and shadowing due to skin laxity. The purpose of this review is to discuss some of the available evidences about the anatomic features that could explain dark circles and the proposed treatments for this unpleasant condition.
PMID: 17760701 [PubMed - in process]
Condition known as "dark rings under the eyes" in the Japanese population is a kind of dermal melanocytosis which can be successfully treated by Q-switched ruby laser.
Watanabe S, Nakai K, Ohnishi T.
Department of Dermatology, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
watanabe@med.teikyo-u.ac.jp
BACKGROUND: In general, dark rings under the eyes are believed to be a phenomenon caused mainly by physiological change because of their daily fluctuation.
Medically speaking, the precise cause or pathogenesis of dark rings is unknown, and this condition has not been clearly defined. In our experience, the dark rings associated with conventional nevus of Ota can be successfully treated with Q-switched ruby laser (QSRL). OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to clarify the nature of dark rings under the eyes and to determine the efficacy of QSRL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-four patients who received a biopsy for pigment macules of the face were retrieved, and of that number 12 patients with bilateral homogeneous pigment macule on suborbital regions were selected for study of the dark rings. Of those patients, the histology and the efficacy of QSRL were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: Histologically, all 12 patients indicated dermal melanocytosis, which was confirmed by the Masson-Fontana silver stain and staining against S100. In five patients who received QSRL therapy two times or more, the clinical improvement of two patients was scored as good (40-69%), and two other patients as excellent (>70% clearance). CONCLUSIONS: We speculate that so-called dark rings under the eyes in the Japanese population is a kind of dermal melanocytosis which can be successfully treated by QSRL.
PMID: 16792642 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]