Puffy Eyes: Why They Swell in the Morning and After Crying

Puffy eyes are fluid that has collected in the loose tissue around your eyes. Lying flat all night, a salty dinner, a cry, a short night's sleep and allergies each add to it, and most of that fluid drains within a few hours of getting up. Puffiness that lasts more than two days, sits on one eye, or comes with pain, fever or a change in your vision is a reason to see a doctor. The full list of those signs is further down.

Puffiness is one of four problems people call eye bags. A bulge that looks the same at 7 in the morning and 7 at night is a fat pad, and no change in salt or sleep moves it. The eye bags guide has three mirror checks that separate the four. This article stays with the fluid.

Why fluid shows under your eyes first

Fluid shows on the lids before it shows anywhere else on your face. Of 39 facial sites measured in a 2015 cadaver study, the eyelid had the thinnest skin, and beneath it sits loose tissue with room for water. A little extra fluid that your cheek would hide shows on your lids as a soft, raised pad.

During the day, gravity and blinking keep that fluid moving. Lie down with your eyes closed for seven hours and it pools around the eyes, and it drains again once you sit up and start blinking, according to All About Vision. The same source notes that morning puffiness grows more common with age, as the skin and tissue around the eyes lose flexibility.

The common causes and how long each lasts

If the swelling has settled into bags that stay all day, how to get rid of eye bags compares the options for each kind.

Puffy eyes in the morning

Morning puffiness comes from how you slept and what you ate the evening before. Salt makes your body hold water, and lying flat lets that water collect in the loose tissue around your eyes. Tuyo, daing, instant pancit canton and a dinner dipped in patis or toyo put a heavy salt load into the meal closest to bedtime. Cleveland Clinic's advice is to cut back on salty food and raise your head with a second pillow so less fluid settles around your eyes while you sleep. All About Vision adds drinking less water in the hour before bed.

Give those changes a week and photograph your face at the same time each morning. If both eyes are still puffy most mornings, and salt and sleep make no difference, read the doctor section below before you book anything cosmetic.

Puffy eyes from crying

A hard cry produces more tears than the small ducts in the inner corner of your eye can drain. Tears spill over the lids and down the nose, and the tissue around the eyes takes some of that fluid up, as Medical News Today explains. Wiping with tissue for an hour adds irritation on top.

For most people the swelling goes down within a day. A cold compress speeds it up: a clean cloth soaked in cold water, or ice wrapped in a towel, held on closed eyes for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. Cold narrows the small blood vessels, so less fluid leaks into the lids. Cold compress for eye bags covers how long to hold it and why ice needs a cloth between it and your skin. Pat the tears away. Rubbing works on the thinnest skin of your face.

A short night shows in your eyes

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute photographed 10 people twice: once after normal sleep, and once after a 5-hour night followed by 31 hours awake. Forty strangers rated the photos and saw more swollen eyes, darker circles and more hanging eyelids in the sleep-deprived faces.

You do not need 31 hours awake to see it. A week of six-hour nights before a deadline shows in the elevator mirror on Ayala Avenue. Cleveland Clinic puts the target at seven to nine hours a night.

Allergies, and the cream you started last week

Allergy is the most common cause of swollen eyelids, according to the MSD Manual. The pattern is itch without pain, both lids puffy and sometimes pale, often with a runny nose or sneezing. Antihistamine eye drops help when allergy is the cause and do nothing when it is not. Steroid eye drops need a doctor's prescription, because the wrong use can harm the eye.

A new mascara, eyeshadow or eye cream can bring the same itch and swelling. Stop the product for two weeks and watch the puffiness. Skip the hemorrhoid cream you have seen recommended on social media. Its hydrocortisone thins skin over weeks of use, and thinner skin under the eye makes dark circles look worse.

When puffy eyes need a doctor

Go to a doctor the same day, or to an emergency room, if eye swelling comes with any of these:

• fever
• loss of vision, blurred vision or double vision
• an eye that bulges forward
• severe eye pain, a headache or nausea
• a chemical splash in the eye

The first three come from the MSD Manual's warning signs. The last two are on healthdirect's swollen eye page.

Book an appointment within a few days for these patterns:

Swelling that lasts longer than 24 to 48 hours. Annapurna Singh, an ophthalmologist at Cleveland Clinic, gives that as the point to see an eye care professional.

One lid red, warm and sore. That points to a stye, a blocked oil gland or an infection of the skin around the eye.

Both lids puffy most mornings, with foamy urine, swollen ankles or feet, or weight gain from water. These are symptoms of nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disease.

A puffy face with dry skin, coarse hair and feeling cold when others are not. An underactive thyroid causes that pattern, and a blood test finds it. An overactive thyroid can swell the eyelids too.

Pregnancy, with swelling of the face and eyelids. The MSD Manual lists preeclampsia among the causes. Call your OB-GYN the same day.

A facial does nothing for any of these causes. Treat the cause first.

What a clinic session does for fluid puffiness

At ICONIQUE inside The Peninsula Manila, Geralyn Ramos performs EyeLift Pro 360 for puffy under-eyes. The session runs a cleanse, steam and an eye mask, then device work and a hydration booster. The visit takes 45 to 60 minutes including the consultation, on devices ICONIQUE owns.

The clinic sorts under-eye bags into four kinds and treats three of them without surgery: fluid puffiness, the shadow of a hollow, and pigment in thin skin. A fat pad that has pushed forward needs a surgeon. The breakdown is on the non-surgical eye bag treatment in Makati page.

A session treats the puffiness under your eyes that day. If salt, short sleep or an allergy put it there, the puffiness comes back on the mornings those return. Fix the evening habits first and use the sessions for the puffiness that stays after them.

The clinic sits on the lobby level of The Peninsula Manila, where Ayala Avenue meets Makati Avenue, four minutes' walk from Ayala Triangle. Read the eye bags page for The Peninsula for what a session can and cannot change, or book EyeLift Pro 360 and see today's price.

Frequently Asked Questions

What causes puffy eyes?

Fluid collecting in the loose tissue around the eyes. The common triggers are lying flat overnight, salty food, crying, a short night's sleep and allergies, and allergy is the most common cause of swollen eyelids. Kidney disease, thyroid problems and infection cause it less often and come with other symptoms.

Why are my eyes puffy in the morning?

After seven or eight hours lying flat with your eyes closed, fluid pools around them. Once you are upright and blinking it drains over a few hours. A second pillow, less salt at dinner and less water in the hour before bed reduce it.

How long do puffy eyes from crying last?

For most people the swelling goes down within a day. A cold compress for 5 to 10 minutes at a time speeds it up. Swelling that lasts past 24 to 48 hours needs an eye doctor.

Do puffy eyes mean kidney problems?

Most puffy eyes come from sleep, salt, crying or allergy. Puffy lids most mornings together with foamy urine, swollen ankles or feet, or weight gain from water are symptoms of nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disease, and need a doctor.

How do I get rid of puffy eyes fast?

Hold a cold compress on closed eyes for 5 to 10 minutes, then stay upright. Use antihistamine drops if an allergy is the cause. Fluid goes down within hours. A bulge that is the same at 7 in the evening is a fat pad, and surgery is the treatment that removes it.

Can a clinic treatment fix puffy eyes?

A 45 to 60 minute EyeLift Pro 360 session, a cleanse, steam and eye mask, then device work and a hydration booster, treats the fluid puffiness present that day. The salt, sleep or allergy behind it stays yours to change, and a fat pad needs a surgeon.