How to get rid of eye bags, the short answer
How to get rid of eye bags depends on what the bag is made of. A fluid bag, which is worse in the morning and flattens by midday, responds to allergy control, adequate sleep, a reduction in salt and alcohol, and a cold compress. A fat bag, which looks the same throughout the day, responds to none of those measures, because it is orbital fat pushing forward through a weakened orbital septum. Reducing a fat bag requires a treatment that reaches the fat, either radiofrequency delivered into the fat pad or surgery. Loose skin requires tightening or excision. The first step is to establish which of the three is present.
Dr Gerard Ee consults and performs non-surgical eye bag removal at The Clifford Clinic, 50 Raffles Place, Singapore.
Eye bags are not one thing
The lower eyelid can bulge for three reasons, and the three are difficult to distinguish in a mirror.
The first is fluid. The loose connective tissue of the lower lid holds water readily. Overnight, with the head flat, fluid pools in the lid under gravity and drains once the head is upright. Salt, alcohol, crying, allergy and a poor night’s sleep each add to the volume of fluid retained. A fluid bag is at its fullest on waking and softens through the day.
The second is fat. Each lower eyelid holds three fat pads behind a thin fibrous sheet called the orbital septum. With age the septum weakens and the fat volume increases, so the fat pushes forward against the lid. An MRI study across three age groups measured the lower periorbital fat area rising from 99 square millimetres in people aged 12 to 29 to 131 square millimetres in people aged 55 to 80, and identified fat expansion as the main age-related cause of lower eyelid prominence. 1 A fat bag is the same size in the morning and in the evening, and it is present regardless of how well the person has slept.
The third is skin. In some people the bag is a fold of loose lower eyelid skin rather than fat behind it. In an analysis of 108 Asian patients presenting for lower eyelid surgery, orbital fat prolapse was the largest single contributor, followed by skin laxity and hollowing, and most patients presented with more than one of the three. 2
The two-week test, fluid or fat
The simplest way to distinguish fluid from fat is to photograph the eyes on waking and again at 6 in the evening, under the same light, for two weeks, while reducing salt and alcohol and sleeping with the head raised on a second pillow. A bag that is visibly smaller in the evening photographs, or smaller by the end of the fortnight, is fluid. A bag that is identical in every photograph is fat. My article on eye creams and cold compresses for eye bags sets out the test in detail.
How to get rid of puffy eye bags, the fluid kind
Puffy eyes caused by fluid respond to the familiar home measures, because each of those measures moves fluid.
Sleep is the first. A Swedish study photographed 23 people after a normal night and again after 31 hours awake. Raters scored the sleep-deprived faces as having more swollen eyes, more hanging eyelids, darker circles under the eyes and paler skin. 3 Fluid puffiness is one of the visible consequences of a short night.
Head position is the second. Sleeping with the head raised on a second pillow reduces the overnight pooling, because fluid drains away from the face under gravity rather than settling in the lid.
Salt and alcohol taken in the evening both increase the water held in the lid tissues the following morning. Salt raises the fluid the body retains, and alcohol dilates the small vessels so that fluid leaks into the tissue.
Allergy is a common and overlooked cause. Chronic nasal congestion and eye rubbing from allergic rhinitis produce puffy, dusky lower lids, because the congested veins around the nose drain the lower lid poorly and the inflamed tissue retains fluid. Treating the allergy treats the puffiness. My article on dark eye circles from allergies covers the approach.
Cold is the last. A cold compress applied for ten minutes constricts the small vessels in the lid and shifts fluid out of the tissue, and the effect lasts an hour or two. It has no effect on fat.
None of these measures shrinks a fat pad. A bag that persists after two weeks of all of them is fat.
How to get rid of eye bags naturally, what the evidence allows
Searches for how to get rid of eye bags naturally are looking for a way to remove the bag without attending a clinic. For a fluid bag the measures above are the natural treatment, and they are effective. For a fat bag no natural measure reduces orbital fat. Creams cannot reach it through the skin and the septum. Massage cannot drain it, because fat is solid tissue rather than fluid and does not drain. Cucumber slices, tea bags and cold spoons cool the skin and achieve nothing beyond that. Facial exercises move the orbicularis muscle in front of the fat and leave the fat behind it unchanged. A multispecialty systematic review of under-eye treatments found that topical products and home measures address skin quality and fluid, and that herniated orbital fat requires a procedure. 4 Stating this plainly spares patients months of effort and considerable expense.
How to remove an eye bag made of fat
A fat bag is removed by treating the fat, and there are two ways of doing so.
The first is radiofrequency delivered into the fat pad. AGNES delivers radiofrequency through an insulated needle whose exposed tip sits within the fat, so the heat is released inside the fat pad and the skin above it is spared. The heated fat cells are broken down and cleared by the body over the following weeks, and the bag flattens as the volume falls. A published series measured the bulge on three-dimensional photography after two sessions and found it significantly reduced at 12 weeks and still reduced at 24 weeks. 5 Secret RF treats the skin over the bag in the same session, so the skin tightens as the volume beneath it falls. This is the non-surgical eye bag removal I perform, for mild to moderate fat bags with firm skin, at $2,500 before GST with reviews at 4 and 8 weeks included. The result typically holds for 3 to 5 years.
The second is surgery. For a large bag, a lax lower lid or true skin excess, scarless eye bag removal through an incision on the inside of the eyelid removes or repositions the fat directly, and no incision is made in the skin. 4 It is performed by the surgeons at The Clifford Surgery at $2,988 plus a day surgery facility fee, before GST.
Which of the two applies is decided at examination, from the amount of fat protrusion, the quality of the skin, the tone of the lower lid and the position of the eye relative to the cheek. My review of every eye bag treatment in Singapore sets out how I choose between them, and the eye bag removal cost page lists every price.
How to treat under eye bags that are really something else
Two conditions are commonly called eye bags and are neither fluid nor fat.
The first is a tear trough. A hollow groove between the lower lid and the cheek casts a shadow that is read as a bag. Reducing fat deepens a hollow and makes it more visible. A hollow is treated with filler, and the difference is explained in my article on eye bags versus tear troughs.
The second is dark circles. Pigment in the skin, or thin skin over the blood vessels beneath it, makes the lower lid look dark without any bulge. The treatment is directed at the colour rather than at fat, and my dark eye circles review covers it.
Treating the wrong one of these is the commonest reason for an unsatisfactory result after eye bag treatment.
What does not get rid of eye bags
Skin-heating devices do not reach the fat. HIFU, Thermage and laser packages heat the skin or the lining of the lid, and the fat behind the septum is untouched. My 4D eye bag removal review explains why.
Filler placed beside a fat bag adds volume next to the bulge and can make the whole lower lid look fuller.
Eye creams applied over a fat bag can improve the skin over the bag and cannot change the bag beneath it.
Continuing the fluid measures beyond two weeks on a fat bag achieves nothing further. Two weeks is sufficient to establish that the bag is not fluid.
Related reading on eye bags and under-eye concerns
- Non-surgical eye bag removal: price, what happens and FAQ
- Eye bag treatment in Singapore: every option reviewed
- Is it an eye bag or a tear trough?
- How non-surgical eye bag removal actually works
- How long non-surgical eye bag results last
- When tear trough filler helps and when it does not
- Can eye creams, sleep or cold compresses remove eye bags?
- When dark eye circles are caused by allergic rhinitis
- How dark eye circles are treated
- What Emface Eyes does for the eye area
- Scarless eye bag removal: procedure, recovery and fee
- Eye bag removal cost in Singapore
Dr Gerard Ee, Aesthetic Doctor in Singapore
Dr Gerard Ee is an aesthetic doctor in Singapore and the Medical Director of his practice at 50 Raffles Place. He graduated from St George’s, University of London, trained in surgery at Singapore General Hospital and the National University Hospital, and holds the MRCS (Edinburgh) and a postgraduate diploma in practical dermatology from Cardiff University.
He has practised aesthetic medicine since 2012, is the author of sixteen peer-reviewed papers, and writes and medically reviews every article on this site. Read more about Dr Gerard Ee.
Book a consultation with Dr Gerard Ee at The Clifford Clinic
Dr Gerard Ee consults at The Clifford Clinic, 50 Raffles Place, Singapore. Consultations are by appointment. Message the clinic on WhatsApp, or call 6532 2048.
Frequently asked questions about getting rid of eye bags
How do I get rid of eye bags fast?
Fluid puffiness improves within an hour of a cold compress and within days of reducing salt and alcohol, sleeping longer and raising the pillow. A fat bag cannot be removed quickly by any home measure. Radiofrequency delivered into the fat pad shows its full result at about 8 weeks, and surgery shows its result at about 8 weeks once the swelling has settled.
Why do I still have eye bags after sleeping well?
Eye bags that persist after a good night’s sleep are fat rather than fluid. Sleep alters the fluid in the lid and has no effect on orbital fat. A bag that is the same size after a good night and a poor one is a fat bag and requires a treatment that reaches the fat.
Can eye bags go away on their own?
Fluid bags resolve on their own once the cause is removed. Fat bags do not resolve, because the orbital septum does not tighten again and the fat behind it does not shrink on its own, so a fat bag remains stable or slowly enlarges over the years.
Do facial exercises get rid of eye bags?
Facial exercises do not get rid of eye bags. They work the orbicularis muscle in front of the fat pad, and the fat behind the muscle and the septum is not changed by moving the muscle.
How do I get rid of eye bags without surgery?
For a mild to moderate fat bag with firm skin, radiofrequency delivered into the fat pad reduces the bulge without an incision. For a large bag or loose skin, surgery is the only effective treatment. For a fluid bag, treating the cause is sufficient.
What is the best treatment for puffy eye bags in the morning?
Morning puffiness is fluid. The treatment is to sleep with the head raised, reduce salt and alcohol in the evening, treat any allergy and apply a cold compress on waking. Puffiness that is unchanged after two weeks of those measures is not fluid.
Selected references
Sources cited on this page
- Darcy SJ, Miller TA, Goldberg RA, Villablanca JP, Demer JL, Rudkin GH. Magnetic resonance imaging characterization of orbital changes with age and associated contributions to lower eyelid prominence. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2008;121(3):921–929. doi:10.1097/01.prs.0000299379.17949.0a
- Lee H, Ahn SM, Chang M, Park M, Baek S. Analysis of lower eyelid aging in an Asian population for customized lower eyelid blepharoplasty. J Craniofac Surg. 2014;25(2):348–351. doi:10.1097/01.scs.0000436736.60042.92
- Sundelin T, Lekander M, Kecklund G, Van Someren EJW, Olsson A, Axelsson J. Cues of fatigue: effects of sleep deprivation on facial appearance. Sleep. 2013;36(9):1355–1360. doi:10.5665/sleep.2964
- Beer J, Boghosian T, Sherif R, et al. What’s new with under eye treatment: a multispecialty systematic review of recent under eye treatments. Dermatol Surg. 2026;52(2):155–163. doi:10.1097/DSS.0000000000004964
- Shin JW, Park JT, Chae JB, Choi JY, Na JI, Park KC, Huh CH. The efficacy of micro-insulated needle radiofrequency system for the treatment of lower eyelid fat bulging. J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2019;17(2):149–156. doi:10.1111/ddg.13736
This page is written from published research and from clinical experience in Singapore since 2012. It is for general education, not medical advice. Whether a treatment suits you, what it may achieve and what it may risk can only be established at a consultation. Dr Gerard Ee is the Medical Director of The Clifford Clinic, a private clinic in Singapore, and treatments discussed on this site are provided commercially.
