Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka City; President: Sugimoto Masashi) conducted a joint study with Aoharu Clinic (Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo; Director: Dr. Koyanagi Eriko) to examine the classification of dark circles around the eyes and their progression by age group. The results showed that the symptoms recognized as dark circles around the eyes change depending on age.
The results of this research were presented at Forum Kaogaku 2020 , the 25th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Facial Studies (held online) in October 2020. We will apply this knowledge to propose eye care tailored to symptoms and age.
1. Research Background
Dark circles around the eyes are areas that appear dark, such as the upper and lower eyelids or parts of them. Dark circles around the eyes can make you look tired or old, and they can greatly affect your perceived age, making you a worry for people of all ages and genders.
This time, we used bare skin images of approximately 1,000 women to classify the symptoms of dark circles under the eyes and to examine changes by age group. There have been reports on classifying symptoms of dark circles under the eyes based on differences in color, etc., but there have been few reports on changes due to aging.
2. Research Overview
The symptoms of dark circles under the eyes were classified and evaluated using bare skin images of 934 Japanese women aged 20 to 60 (average age 39).
The evaluation area was from under the eyes to the upper cheeks, and from the inner corner of the eye to the outside of the pupil. Three evaluators independently judged the presence or absence of "vascular type," "pigmentation type," or "structural type" based on color tone, etc., and symptoms that all three evaluators marked as "present" were analyzed as " + (dark circles present)."
About half of people have dark circles under their eyes, and the most common type is the vascular type.
46% of the participants were judged to have dark circles under their eyes. The most common type was the "vascular type," followed by the "structural type" and then the "pigmentation type."
*Cases where two or more types of dark-eye symptoms are present are labelled "mixed type".
The ratio of vascular to structural types reverses between the 30s and 40s.
The "vascular type" is most prevalent in people in their 20s, and tends to decrease with age. The "structural type" tends to increase with age, with the proportion of people with symptoms reversing at the border between their late 30s and early 40s.
Although there is a certain proportion of people with the "pigmented type" in all age groups, the numbers are small and no correlation with age was found.
3. Discussion
Using bare skin images of women in their 20s to 60s, the researchers examined the classification of dark circle symptoms and their changes over time. They found that "vascular type" symptoms tended to decrease with age, while "structural type" symptoms tended to increase with age.
The symptoms of dark circles under the eyes in the "vascular type" can be seen as a result of the condition of the blood being visible, and this is thought to be related to the thickness and transparency of the skin around the eyes. In younger people, the skin is thin and highly transparent, making the condition of the blood easier to see, but as the thickness and transparency of the skin changes with age, it becomes harder to see the condition of the blood, and as a result, it is thought that the characteristics of the "vascular type" become less likely to appear.
On the other hand, the "structural type" is a condition in which dark circles under the eyes are caused by structural shadows. It is thought that this is caused by a combination of factors such as loosening of the skin and muscles around the eyes caused by aging, and swelling of the fat under the eyes, which results in the skin around the eyes becoming loose and creating shadows.
The symptoms recognized as dark circles under the eyes and the factors that contribute to these symptoms also change with age. The results of this study will be used to develop eye care products that provide greater satisfaction according to symptoms and age.