Sneezing, a stuffed up nose, and itchy eyes are all common symptoms of allergies. However, aside from the obvious symptoms, your allergies could also be leaving an unwanted mark on your appearance.
Allergic shiners, as they're often called, are dark circles that resemble a black eye.
Allergist Dr. Greg Rex says common allergy symptoms can cause them to appear.
“You can have it with anything that gives you a stuffy nose. Be it a cold, a poor night's sleep before hand, and for lots of people, that's just the way that they appear,” says Rex. “We think it happens because blood doesn't flow very well through your nasal mucosa because it's so swollen and it tends to pool in areas right there, where the skin is all very soft and flabby.”
Dr. Rex says while some adults and children get dark circles because of allergies they don't necessarily go hand-in-hand.
One way to distinguish if your dark circles could be allergic shiners is to look at your other symptoms.
“Well the sneezing, itching, with obvious contact, that's what allergy looks like. It's pretty unusual for a cat allergic person to not know they're allergic to cats, and just because your eyes have this appearance all the time it doesn't mean you have allergies without any of the other symptoms,” says Rex.
If you do have allergic shiners managing your allergy symptoms can help lighten their appearance.
Dr. Rex says how you treat an allergy depends on the source.
“If you were allergic to cats, one very safe, all natural treatment is to get rid of the cat,” says Rex.
If avoiding the allergen is out of the question, a trip to the pharmacy can offer some relief.
Pharmacist Jamie Flynn suggests starting with an antihistamine pill.
“The pills work throughout the body and work on histamine cells throughout the body to stop you from releasing some of the components that cause allergies,” says Flynn.
If you're still not symptom free prescription nasal sprays and eye drops are available.
“Nasal spray helps to dry things up a little bit, so you don't have such a runny nose and also can help with congestion as well,” says Flynn.
Most allergy medications start working quickly, but it could be a while before you see improvement in the dark circles under the eyes.
