Craggy skin around eyes

[Ikeameatballs]

My skin has been off and on a bit rubbish over the years but mostly has settled down, however over the past few months the skin around my eyes has been horrendous. When I wake up in the morning the skin is both puffy and craggy iyswim giving the impression of v deep wrinkles. It's often quite red as well. I've tried doing nothing, applying hydromol as a moisturiser at night, using my usual moisturiser and using an eye cream. Pretty much everything either has no effect or stings and makes the whole situation worse.

I've also tried taking regular anti-histamine as it almost looks like allergy but again, no real help.

The rest of my skin has the odd spot/dry patch but nothing to compare to this! I'm 37 and my eyes look 20 years older and are v uncomfortable.

Any ideas?

It sounds like a touch of eczema. Have you tried a bit of hydrocortisone cream? It is likely the wrinkles are only there because the skin is dry and irritated. Stop using eye makeup and use the bare minimum of skin care till you figure out what is irritating you. Vaseline might be helpful to tackle the dryness.

I have tried some 1% hydrocortisone but then I worried that was making the skin thin?
It was definitely much much worse after I spent the afternoon in a barn full of straw bales, so might be eczema/allergy.
I've stopped wearing eye make up other than mascara, maybe I need to stop that too! I'll give the hydrocortisone a try for a solid week and see if that makes a difference.

It won't make the skin thin after a short period of use, don't worry. It is the mildest steroid cream available. It will help tackle the inflammation. The Avene range in Boots is also very good, they do something called Tolerance Extreme cream (I think) which is amazing at calming. I've been there, I used to have really reactive skin.