17 Year Old with Under Eye Bags? (photo)

This is not an uncommon problem is definitely genetic. As mentioned by others there are a couple ways to tackle this: the permanent way or the temporary way, and only you can decide which is best for you because both can give good results.

For you, transconjunctival blepharoplasty with fat repositioning makes the most sense. You are very young with a lot of years ahead of you. Doing the fillers over the long haul would be more expensive than getting the surgery done. But if you wanted to wait a couple of years till you get the surgery done, the fillers can be stop gap in the meantime. If you want to have surgery done, you would need parental consent until you turn 18.

You basically have two options as far as treatment of your under eye bags.  As you mentioned, the non-surgical option would be to have an injection, such as Restylane.  This would be injected under the bag to smooth out the appearance.  The result would be temporary, but in that location it can last a year or longer.  In regards to your age, you could have the treatment but would need consent from a parent.  Your other option would be surgery (in which you would also need parental consent).  With this procedure some of the excess fat can be removed so that there is not as much puffiness.  The result of this surgery is normally very long lasting.  Hope that helps. 

Being that you're 18 and your life is likely quite busy and you may not want to undergo surgery at this time. I would recommend using a filler to hide the lides and darkness and fill the tear troughs. This can be done in 15 minutes, with no recovery. It is only temporary (6-12 mos) but perhaps it can buy you time until you're older and may want to consider surgery. 

There is both a long term and short term option depending on what you are comfortable with. A transconjunctival blepharoplasty to remove the lower lid fat bags without any external incisions or scars can permanently remove congenital fat bags. Surgery can be performed at your age as long as one of your parent will give their written consent. A non-surgical option is Restylane injection in the hollow under the lower eyelid bag. While this approach will not remove the actual bag, it will fill in the hollow underneath the bag to soften the bulging appearance of the bag. The filler in this tear tough area of the eyelid typically lasts up to 1 to
1 1/2 years and will need to be redone after it wears off. One of your parents would still be required to give their written consent prior to either procedure.

Sounds like you have a strong genetically inherited appearance to your lower eyelids. I would not waste your time or money with a facial filler.  I see this frequently.  What you need probably is a transconjunctival lower eyelid blepharoplasty with a fat transposition. In this operation an incision is made just inside the eyelid and the fat that is creating your "eye bags" is moved down into the depressions below.  The depressions are called the tear troughs.  Once you reach 18, this is probably something to consider.  I have attached a link from my website that shows the result. 

Restylane is a great way of temporarily camouflaging the bags under the eyes. I've had results that last over 1 1/2 years. The filler is placed in the area of the crease (tear trough) below the lower eyelid puffiness. Make sure you ask to see your doctor's before and after photos. If too much filler is placed in the tear trough, or if the filler is placed to close to the skin surface, you can worsen the appearance of your lower lids or develop a bluish hue (Tyndall Effect).

Thank you for your photo and question. 

Best wishes!

 

Gregory C. Park, M.D.