Can You Exercise Away Bags Under the Eyes?

Bags under your eyes -- whether from aging or a poor night's sleep -- can be hard to cover with makeup and even harder to get rid of. A cosmetic surgeon can perform a blepharoplasty procedure to lift eyelids and remove fat from under the eye, but this procedure involves cost and recovery time and isn't always necessary. Instead, you can practice facial exercises to improve the appearance of sagging eyelids and eye bags.

A woman with beautiful eyes. (Image: XiXinXing/XiXinXing/Getty Images)

Lower Lid Elevator

Place your index fingers under your lower lids. By using only the muscle power of your lower lids, lift the weight of your fingers without wrinkling your brow area. Hold the pose for at least one second, and repeat 20 times. Perform the routine twice a day.

Lower Lid Lift

According to Deborah Crowley, who formulated the "Flex Effect" facial training regime, building the palpebral muscle builds and firms the lower lid and therefore diminishes the appearance of eye bags and hollows under the eyes. Use the three middle fingers of each hand to pull your lower lids down and hold them on top of your cheekbones. Concurrently, contract the muscle by trying to close the lower lids. Do not release the lids. Repeat 10 times, each time holding for a count of six.

Face Tapping

Joseph Corvo, author of "Zone Therapy" advocates face tapping to help eliminate bags under the eyes. Start at the outer eye corners, and gently tap along your under-eye area using your middle fingers. Tap along to the inner corners and back again. Complete four times a day, five days a week.

Lower Eyelid Strengthener

Position your forefinger on the outer corners of your eyes covering the "crow's-feet" wrinkles. Put your middle fingers on the inner corners of the eye sockets. Look up toward the top of your head, while applying slight pressure with your fingers. Lift your lower lids up without squinting; the lid should be lifted only by using the lower lid muscle. You will know you are executing the exercise correctly when you feel your eye muscles twitching beneath your fingers. Concentrate on this muscle movement and squint up. Hold for a few seconds without lowering your lower lids. Repeat 10 times at least five days per week for optimal results. According to Carole Maggio, producer of the "Facercise" program, this exercise builds the orbicularis oculi muscle that surrounds the eye and flattens the appearance of eye bags.