The development of undereye bags is a well known sign of aging. Some people only get them as they age. Other people have them when they are quite young, only to have them worse as they get older. The main cause of undereye bags is fat. But where does it come from? The design of our eyeball is quite clever. To protect it from rupture from outward pressure due to being inside an eyesocket which has bone on all sides, the eyeball is encased in a bed of fat. This acts as a cushion when the eyeball is pushed on. Normally this fat is held back inside the eye socket by a ligament that runs from the lower eyelid to the lower eye socket rim. With age, this ligament weakens and the fat protrudes out creating undereye bags. In essence, a hernia of the lower eyelid. To those that have them when they are young, this is because this ligament is congenitally weaker or even absent. Eyebags are treated by the removal or repositioning of the herniated fat.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana