Dark Circles and Rhinitis! Is There a Connection?

Hello. This is Oji Plastic Surgery and N+Plus, dedicated solely to the beautiful shape and healthy function of your nose.

The topic we’ll introduce this time is the relationship between panda-like dark circles and rhinitis. At our clinic, we perform many functional nose surgeries among all types of nasal surgery.

Among those who come in for consultations, people with very severe rhinitis symptoms often show dark circles with redness from lower eyelid fat.

Dark circles are often accompanied by allergic rhinitis. The most common symptoms of allergic rhinitis are itching in the nose, runny nose, and sneezing. It is not limited to the nose; there is also something called allergic conjunctivitis, which causes itchy eyes and lots of tearing. Because allergic stimuli around you cause blood vessels to dilate, the blood vessels can become visible as red in the thin skin around the eyes. In addition, pigmentation develops, and as it is exposed to sunlight, it changes to a dark reddish color, making the under-eye area appear puffy.

What are the treatment methods for allergic rhinitis and dark circles? Dark circles caused by allergic rhinitis can be improved not through surgery, but through improving one’s immune system, consistent drug treatment, and avoidance therapy. However, if fat under the eyes bulges out and makes you look frowning, or if you look hollow and tired, there is a method to remove the fat through an incision on the inner side of the eye. Through fat repositioning, the protruding fat can be moved to fill the hollowed lower area. Therefore, you can expect an improved, more youthful appearance through lower eyelid fat removal and lower eyelid fat repositioning.

If the condition of protruding under-eye fat continues for a long time and is left untreated, the skin may sag, and skin excision may also be effective when performed together. Why do we reposition the fat under the eyes instead of removing it? It depends on each patient’s condition. If the fat has shifted only upward, removal alone may be enough. But in most cases, when it bulges outward, the lower part of the bone surrounding the entire eye has little fat, so the under-eye area becomes uneven. At this time, if the protruding fat is repositioned downward, the bulging area becomes flat and the hollow area is filled with fat, making the area even and improving the uneven under-eye contour. Simply put, under-eye fat repositioning helps flatten the under-eye area as if ironing it.

In addition, having volume in the front cheekbone area creates dimension and can contribute to a more youthful appearance. Through under-eye fat repositioning, it can also be moved toward the front cheekbone area. Compared with fat grafting, fat repositioning remains connected, so the survival rate can be much higher. In general, fat grafting is considered to have an average survival rate of around 30%, but with under-eye fat repositioning, the area where volume is added has a higher survival rate, so the procedure effect is better.

Is rhinitis the cause of dark circles? The cause of dark circles is absolutely not limited to rhinitis alone. There are various causes, and the biggest ones are allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis. Because congestion in the blood vessels causes them to dilate, the under-eye area bulges and becomes dark reddish. If this symptom is left untreated, pigmentation develops and the area becomes even darker. The effect of surgery is to flatten the protruding area through under-eye fat repositioning. In cases where pigmentation has already developed, improvement may be possible through under-eye fat repositioning alone, but for more satisfactory surgical results, gradual improvement through dermatologic procedures is also needed.

Therefore, the causes of dark circles are diverse, and because allergic rhinitis accounts for a large portion of them, improvement through an accurate diagnosis is necessary. Also, based on symptoms alone, it is difficult to determine by visual inspection whether it is allergic rhinitis, structural rhinitis caused by internal structural abnormalities, or a combined condition in which both allergic rhinitis and structural rhinitis occur at the same time. That is why, at N+Plus, to make an accurate diagnosis, we analyze the cause of rhinitis through allergy testing, 3D-CT imaging, and internal endoscopy, and then carry out the appropriate surgical method accordingly.

(The image above shows actual before-and-after photos of N+Plus under-eye fat repositioning.)

That concludes our explanation of the relationship between dark circles and rhinitis. We hope this article was very helpful for those whose under-eyes have become dull due to allergic rhinitis or who are considering surgery because of protruding fat. Thank you^^