PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) for Dark Circles

You notice discolouration or a shadow under your eyes, and you have heard about PRP for dark circles. PRP is prepared from your blood. It may reduce pigmentation of the skin under the eye, but this effect is not consistent. It has not been shown to fill a hollow, and neither the number of sessions nor how long the effect lasts has been established for you.

Request an assessment

Prepared from your blood
Autologous does not mean risk-free
Sainte-Thérèse

Woman wearing an olive-green hijab, arms crossed, against a white brick wall, looking thoughtful, with dark circles as they naturally appear.

Key Points

Things to know before deciding

PRP, or platelet-rich plasma, is prepared from your own blood. For dark circles, it may reduce skin pigmentation; the benefit for texture remains less clear, and results vary. It has not been shown to fill a hollow the way a filler does. Its autologous origin, meaning that it comes from your own blood, does not make it risk-free. A brown under-eye circle, a bluish under-eye circle and an under-eye hollow do not have the same cause: the doctor first tells them apart.

In Brief

Research: A possible benefit for skin pigmentation and texture around the eyes, but not a consistent effect.
Limitations: The benefit is based mainly on assessments, less often on objective measurements. Preparations and protocols differ; follow-up is short, three months on average, ranging from one to six. Comparisons in larger groups are needed.
Sessions and duration: Neither the number of sessions nor how long the effect lasts has been established for you; research protocols are not a treatment plan.
Risks: Pain at the injection site, redness, swelling, bruising; autologous does not mean risk-free.
Assessment: The doctor first distinguishes between colour, a hollow and a bag before comparing options. The Global Aesthetic consultation at CARE MD is an opportunity to clarify your type of dark circle.

What Is PRP, and What Does Autologous Mean?

A sample of your blood

PRP, or platelet-rich plasma, is obtained from a sample of your blood.
The centrifuge

The sample is spun at high speed in a centrifuge to separate the red blood cells from the plasma, and a platelet-rich fraction is kept.
A platelet-rich fraction

“Plasma for dark circles” is therefore not a separate product: it is the plasma from your own blood, enriched with platelets. The number of centrifugation cycles, the speeds and the tubes vary from one preparation to another.
Autologous

“Autologous” means that a preparation made with your own platelets is given back to you. The word describes where PRP comes from, not how safe it is: a blood draw and injections each have their own precautions.

The biological role of platelets

Platelets contain growth factors, substances that play a role in how tissues respond.

This biological role does not guarantee a visible change under your eyes: neither skin repair, collagen production nor reduced pigmentation is an established effect of PRP for your dark circles.

The framework in Canada

In Canada, PRP is a drug under the Food and Drugs Act.

When a doctor or dentist prepares it from your blood and gives it back to you during a single procedure, this falls within the scope of the practice of medicine or dentistry. It is regulated by the provinces and territories. This framework does not mean that PRP is licensed for dark circles. In 2019, no application to market PRP or to conduct a clinical trial with it had been submitted to Health Canada; its safety, efficacy and quality for therapeutic use had therefore not been reviewed by Health Canada.

What Does Research Show About the Skin Under the Eye?

PRP under the eyes may reduce pigmentation, but less pronounced discolouration is not a consistent result. Wrinkles can also become less noticeable without any significant change in pigmentation. For texture and fine lines, the benefit remains less clear. PRP appears to be of most interest for pigmentation, and PRF for texture and fine lines; this does not demonstrate that one is superior to the other. These observations concern an area around the eyes that is larger than the skin under the eye alone: they do not demonstrate an effect specific to each part of this area.

Ages, types of dark circles and skin colours

The possible benefit has mainly been documented in women aged 28 to 60.

It has not been established in the same way for all ages, all types of dark circles or all skin colours. An effect on another part of the face does not demonstrate the same effect under the eye either.

Satisfaction and objective measurements

Greater satisfaction does not necessarily mean that the colour or texture has changed.

The possible benefit is based mainly on satisfaction or a clinical assessment, and less often on objective measurements. The preparations, the protocols and the treatments that PRP is compared with differ, which makes the results difficult to compare and reproduce. Clarifying this benefit requires comparisons in larger groups, with identical measurements, longer follow-up and a clearly identified cause of discolouration.

Online review or photo

If you are looking for reviews of PRP for dark circles, a satisfied person does not necessarily tell you what has changed: the colour, the contour or simply their impression.

An online review or photo does not measure an effect.

To decide, you need to distinguish between

the biological role of platelets,
the change observed in other people
and what you hope for your own dark circles.

What Research Has Studied

The possible benefit of PRP injected around the eyes mainly concerns pigmentation, followed by texture and fine lines. It has not been shown to fill a hollow. Neither the number of sessions nor how long the effect lasts has been established. The type of dark circle, the skin and your medical history matter when choosing an approach: the assessment is an opportunity to clarify them.

Discolouration, Hollow or Bag: Which Type of Dark Circle Do You Have?

A dark circle does not always have the same cause, and several causes can occur together. The colour can come from pigment, which causes a brown under-eye circle, or from blood vessels visible through thin skin, which give a bluish tint. It can also be nothing more than a shadow, cast by a hollow under the eye or by bulging fat. Thin skin, a hollow and a bag are not interchangeable goals. The various types of dark circles are not treated in the same way, and the first step is to find out which one you have.

With a hollow, what makes you look tired is the shadow cast by the contour. A filler, such as a hyaluronic acid gel, targets volume: it fills the hollow. The possible benefit of PRP mainly concerns skin pigmentation and texture. PRP has not been shown to fill a hollow the way a filler gel would: the two do not have the same target. The presence of a hollow alone therefore does not justify any injection, whether of PRP or of another product.

An under-eye bag is a swelling, often caused by bulging fat: it is neither a hollow nor discolouration, and no indication for PRP has been established for bags.

This page is about the skin under the eye, not about treating the eye.

Other Approaches: A Target for Each Type of Dark Circle

A hollow, discolouration and a bag do not call for the same approach.

A hollow: the issue is volume, which is what a filler targets, along with what it does not correct and the risks specific to this area; this is how under-eye hollows differ from discolouration or a bag.
Discolouration: the doctor first determines whether it comes from pigment or from blood vessels, as with all types of dark circles.
A bag: puffiness is neither discolouration nor a hollow, and is not comparable to them.

PRP or PRF, Injection or Microneedling: What Is the Difference?

Neither PRP nor PRF has demonstrated overall superiority for dark circles. Their possible benefit concerns the area around the eyes; to decide between them, comparisons are needed in larger groups, with participants assigned at random and the same outcome measures.

PRP: With PRP, growth factors are released quickly and briefly.
PRF: PRF, or platelet-rich fibrin, is also prepared from your blood, but in a different way: a single, shorter and slower centrifugation forms a three-dimensional fibrin matrix.

These differences in preparation do not prove that PRF gives better results, or that a visible effect lasts longer.
Injection: For dark circles, the possible benefit of PRP concerns injected preparations, with varying amounts and frequencies.
Microneedling: Applying the plasma with microneedling is a different method: results obtained with injections do not automatically apply to it, and the efficacy of this other method has yet to be demonstrated.

CARE MD does not offer microneedling around the eyes.

How Many Sessions, and How Long Does the Effect Last?

Neither the number of sessions nor how long the effect lasts has been established for any individual. These figures are not a treatment plan.

An improvement observed at one point during follow-up does not prove that it will last a year, and the lack of data beyond six months does not prove that it disappears. Additional sessions do not guarantee a better result. What to expect after a session and the recovery time vary from person to person; discuss them with the doctor.

What Side Effects Can Occur, and What Precautions Apply?

Side effects are mainly local: pain at the injection site, redness, swelling and bruising, which are usually temporary and mild.

Fainting during the treatment is also possible. The small groups studied cannot be used to estimate how often serious complications occur; the absence of such complications in these groups does not demonstrate that the risk is zero. Its autologous origin does not exempt you from any precautions, either for the blood draw or for the injections.

Before any treatment, certain points should be checked with the doctor: a platelet or clotting disorder, an infection or active skin condition near the area (active herpes, for example), pregnancy, certain medications, a history of keloid scars.

These are points to check, not a complete list of contraindications: the precautions that apply to you depend on your health, your medications and the preparation used. Do not stop taking any medication on your own initiative.

Precautions to Check Before an Injection Around the Eyes

These points should be checked with the doctor before any injection around the eyes:

a platelet or clotting disorder;
an infection, active herpes or a skin condition near the area;
pregnancy;
certain medications, with or without a prescription;
a history of keloid scars.

The precautions that apply to you depend on your health and the preparation used; this is not a complete list of contraindications, and you must not stop any medication without instructions from your doctor.

Seek Care Right Away

Seek care right away

After an injection near the eye, whatever the substance, these signs require immediate medical care:

unusual pain;
a change in vision;
white, grey or blue skin near the injection site;
signs of stroke: sudden difficulty speaking or walking, numbness or weakness in the face, an arm or a leg, facial drooping, a severe headache, dizziness or confusion.

Call the person who performed the injection or go to the emergency department, without waiting for a reply to a message submitted through a form.

These signs can indicate a complication of a filler gel injection. As a precaution, near the eye, they also require immediate care after other types of injection.

Ask Us About Your Dark Circles

Have a question about your dark circles or about what to know before deciding? Write to us. Your message is no substitute for medical care: after an injection near the eye, unusual pain, a change in vision or white, grey or blue skin near the injection site requires immediate medical care.

To have your dark circles examined, you can book a Global Aesthetic consultation at CARE MD, in Sainte-Thérèse, on Montreal's North Shore: there, the doctor clarifies your type of dark circle and the options that exist for your situation.

Describe what you see: Before discussing a treatment, describe exactly what you see: brown or bluish colouring, a shadow under the eye, a hollow or puffiness.
What you have already done: Make a note of what you have already done around the eyes, your medical history, your medications and what you hope to change.
If any treatment is suggested to you: If any treatment is suggested to you, ask what it is indicated for, what the evidence shows and what other options exist. Also ask which visible sign would be monitored, when the result would be reassessed, and what would lead to continuing, adjusting or stopping.

A favourable personal review or a photo is no substitute for these answers.

Frequently Asked Questions

PRP or filler: what is the difference for an under-eye hollow?

An under-eye hollow is related to contour: the skin there is thin, and the shadow cast by the hollow makes you look tired. A filler targets volume, that is, the contour itself. The possible benefit of PRP mainly concerns skin pigmentation and texture. It has not been shown to fill a hollow the way a filler gel would. For under-eye hollows, injectable filler can reduce the shadow cast by the contour, but not the colour or a bag, and it carries risks specific to this area.

Sources3 references