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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Purple Discoloration Around The Eyes?

The skin around my eyes (eye lids and the area under them) are purple. This has been noticable for a while now (over a year) but has got progressively worse in the last few weeks. Now, the purple is so dark, I look like I was in a bar fight and got two shiners. What causes this? For some info, I have chronic insomnia and serious allergies, but am also been going through tests for over a year and a half now to try to figure out why I have such bad abdominal issues (they are calling it IBS, but I disagree).
Thu, 27 Oct 2016
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hi there,

It is probably related more to your allergies than the abdominal issues. It is fairly common in allergy sufferers, and it is actually called allergic shiners. They are caused by increased visibility of the blood vessels there from the congestion around the area from the allergies. They are merely a sign, and is completely harmless. The only way to improve them would be to deal with your allergies. Of course, getting to the root cause of your insomnia would also help in dealing with it.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Dr. Teh
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What Causes Purple Discoloration Around The Eyes?

Hi there, It is probably related more to your allergies than the abdominal issues. It is fairly common in allergy sufferers, and it is actually called allergic shiners. They are caused by increased visibility of the blood vessels there from the congestion around the area from the allergies. They are merely a sign, and is completely harmless. The only way to improve them would be to deal with your allergies. Of course, getting to the root cause of your insomnia would also help in dealing with it. Hope this helps. Regards, Dr. Teh