Swollen Under-Eyes? Try This Upgraded Cucumber Trick From An MD

No matter how painstakingly you care for the area, it's still pretty common to wake up with tender, swollen under-eyes. This bloating can happen for myriad reasons (namely, allergies, diet, lack of sleep, and even stress), but regardless of the origin, you likely want to soothe the puffiness as soon as it strikes—and fast. 

If you don't have time to marinate your eye sockets with the refreshing fruit (sounds dreamy, but let's be realistic), here's a clever trick to help the puffiness subside almost instantly. 

Cucumbers can double as a DIY depuffing tool. No, you don't need to place slices over your eyes like an at-home spa day, but you can achieve a similar effect elsewhere. Take this video by board-certified internal medicine physician and skin care expert Zion Ko Lamm, M.D.: She calls it her "Korean mom's depuffing cucumber trick." 

Seems like a pretty easy hack to attempt on a puffy morning. Although, you might want to let the cukes thaw a bit before sliding them across your delicate under-eye area: Too icy of a temperature can shock the skin and actually lead to more inflammation, sometimes even broken capillaries for some. Best to wait until they're chilled (not ice-cold) or have some sort of barrier (like an eye mask!) so it's not too frigid on your skin. 

If you want to help puffiness subside, stat, cucumbers are a quick, low-lift way to soothe the area. With naturally soothing, anti-inflammatory properties and a chilled temperature, the trick works twofold. Swollen skin is no match for the DIY hack.