How can I beat the curse of puffy eyelids?

QCAN anything be done to banish my puffy-looking eyelids? Both of my sisters suffer from them too. They are particularly bad in the mornings!

ABECAUSE it’s worse in the morning, I will assume your puffiness is due to water retention and not fat deposits (which can be surgically removed, or counterbalanced with filler injections).

Oculoplastic surgeon Sabrina Shah-Desai, of London’s Perfect Eyes Clinic, suggests seeking advice from an eye doctor such as herself.

This is to check there are no allergies — or thyroid, renal or sinus issues — that could be causing the bloating and require treatment. Meanwhile, there are a couple of simple remedies you could try.

Reduce your salt intake and elevate your head on an extra pillow at night — both can really improve morning puff.

Ultimately, however, you want to increase the blood flow in the area and the lymphatic fluid drainage from it.

HydraFacial, which treats skin with a mechanical vacuum and pressurised water spiked with skincare ingredients to exfoliate and plump, does this job painlessly.

Sabrina offers a full facial including the eye area for £160, while HydraFacial Perk treatments exclusively for eyes cost from £40 nationwide (search on perkskincare.co.uk to find salons).

Ingeborg van LotrIngen is beauty director at Cosmopolitan. email questions to ingevan lotringen@dailymail.co.uk.