Does Under-Eye PRP Actually Work for Dark Circles? I Tried It to Find Out (2025)

I’ve been getting Botox injected around my eyes for the past six years to help smooth my fine lines and crow’s feet, but I’ve yet to find something (besides gobs of concealer) to help camouflage my dark circles and make my under-eyes look less tired and sunken in. I’ve considered under-eye filler but social media horror stories (and images of overly puffy faces) live rent-free in my brain, so I ultimately decided against it. What I hadn’t considered? PRP for under-eyes.

By recommendation of board-certified plastic surgeon Jason B. Diamond, MD, FACS (he is the Hollywood aesthetics guru), I tried under-eye PRP for the first time back in January. Dr. Diamond explained to me that when injected under the eyes, PRP can help restore volume and elasticity to your skin and also help minimize the look of dark circles...all in a relatively natural, low-risk way. Pretty cool, right?

Keep reading for my full experience—plus all the need-to-know info about under-eye PRP, including how it works, how long it lasts, and how it compares to filler according to Dr. Diamond.

PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma. “Everyone has PRP in their blood, and by spinning a blood sample at a very high speed in a centrifuge, we’re able to separate the components of the blood so that the PRP can be extracted and utilized in injections,” explains Dr. Diamond. So why do we care about utilizing PRP, you ask? “When the growth factors and anti-inflammatory cytokines in PRP are released, it induces a natural wound-healing response, promoting the repair of damaged tissues in a treated area,” says Dr. Diamond. Think of it as an anti-aging fuel that’s loaded with repairing and regenerating benefits.

PRP is currently used in a variety of ways across different specialties of medicine, from helping to treat joint injuries to regrowing hair. It also has a heavy presence in the world of aesthetics because PRP enhances blood circulation and blood flow and stimulates collagen and elastin production, explains Dr. Diamond. “These mechanisms can help treat fine lines and wrinkles, volume loss, hyperpigmentation, crepey skin, acne scarring,” he adds. Which bring us too...

Since PRP can activate collagen synthesis (reminder: collagen is the protein in skin that keeps it smooth, plump, and tight) in areas where it is injected, it’s used to enhance volume, minimize fine lines and wrinkles, and improve the look of dark circles under the eyes, says Dr. Diamond. He adds that PRP can help with puffiness, too, “by assisting with any lymphatic obstruction issues that have occurred due to problematic tear trough filler or natural water retention underneath the eyes.” All of this is to say that PRP can basically hit the reset button on tired eyes and signs of aging...all by harnessing the power of something your own body naturally produces.

How long your PRP lasts will depend on how many treatments you’ve had. “If you do only one treatment, the results will likely be short-lived, which is why we advise patients to do a series of treatments every four to six weeks,” explains Dr. Diamond. After that initial series of treatments, you can expect the results of your PRP to last anywhere from six months to two years, depending on your age and lifestyle habits. To maintain your results, Dr. Diamond advises quarterly or biannual PRP injections as well.

Like all cosmetic treatments, the cost of PRP can vary widely based on location, provider, and number of injections needed. In general, though, expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $2,000 per session. This is obviously expensive, but remember that PRP has a multitude of benefits for your under-eyes—and the effects can be experienced long-term, too.

Dr. Diamond likes to think of PRP as a natural alternative to filler. There are some key differences though. For one, under-eye filler is generally a one-and-done situation (meaning you get injected and then see an improvement in volume immediately), but PRP is a long game and requires multiple sessions to see the full result, says Dr. Diamond. Filler is also used for volume restoration under the eyes. And while that additional volume can help with the appearance of fine lines and crepey texture, it’s not regenerating the quality of skin the way PRP is. Dr. Diamond says he often uses PRP and filler together to treat the under-eye area, injecting the PRP more superficially to address skin texture concerns, and the filler deeper onto the orbital bone for volume restoration.

It’s also worth noting that filler under the eyes comes with more risks than filler in other areas of the face (hence the bad rap under-eye filler gets on social), and it can sometimes look unnatural. These are both especially true if you go to an inexperienced injector.

I tried under-eye PRP with Dr. Diamond as a part of his celebrity-favorite InstaFacial (which includes a laser treatment, microneedling with PRP, and a collagen sheet mask). I didn’t go into the facial expecting to get PRP injected under my eyes, but after examining my facial features ,Dr. Diamond said I’d be a good candidate for targeted under-eye injections because I was dealing with dark circles, crepey texture, and hollowness (the realities of having a 1-year-old, I guess). I’m not squeamish with blood or needles and I had previously done PRP with microneedling and loved the results, so I was totally game to go the injection route under my eyes.

Dr. Diamond’s nurse got to work drawing my blood—it’s no different than the routine bloodwork you’d get done at a lab or your doctor’s office—and then she brought it to a machine that separated the PRP from my blood. To my surprise, the PRP doesn’t look like blood—it’s a thick liquid with a golden color.

Now for the injections—which come with both good and bad news. We’ll start with the good news first, which is that the process is incredibly quick. Two injections, one under each eye, and you’re done in less than a minute. Now for the bad news, which is that found that minute to be incredibly painful. Each injection felt like a sharp bee sting that made my eyes instantly tear up. I was honestly surprised by this because I’ve been poked in my eye area with Botox numerous times and never once found it to be uncomfortable, but Dr. Diamond explained that with PRP it’s not the needle going into the skin that’s painful, it’s the acidic nature of the PRP.

Anyway, the pain goes away shortly after the injections and there’s no downtime so you get over the whole trauma of it quickly. I had a teeny bit of redness post-injection that turned into a small bruise under one eye, which lingered for a few days. The skin where I was injected felt slightly tender for a day or so post-injection, too, but nothing major. All in all, this was genuinely a zero-downtime procedure for me.

Since I only did PRP under-eye injections once and it’s recommended to do a series of four to six, I can’t fully speak to how well the treatment worked to improve my skin texture, dark circles, and volume loss. That said, I do think that after just one treatment my under-eye area looks more refreshed. The effect is subtle, of course, but normally it takes a lot of skin tint and concealer to fully hide my dark circles. Post-PRP, I could just use my skin tint and a quick pass of a lightweight concealer to make my under-eye area look nice and bright. I also used to have this little purplish vein underneath my right eye, and after one round of PRP, it’s now barely noticeable. I don’t have a real before-and-after shot to share, because my PRP injections were sorta impromptu, but you can see my under-eyes looking better than usual in the pics below:

I still have under-eye hollows, shadows, and fine lines (and will still be getting biannual Botox to smooth them) but would 100 percent consider a series of PRP treatments in the future for a full eye-are refresh. Despite the pain, I like the idea of my body doing the work to repair itself. And the fact that the treatment comes with zero downtime and very minimal risk are pluses in my book, too.

• Jason B. Diamond, MD, FACS, is a double-board-certified facial plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, CA. He is the founder of the Diamond Skin Institute and skincare brand Metacine, which is loved by Hollywood A-listers.

Lauren Balsamo is the beauty director at Cosmopolitan with more than a decade of experience researching, writing, and editing skincare stories that range from the best exfoliators for sensitive skin to a comprehensive Hydrafacial review. She regularly tests and analyzes new cosmetics treatments, while working with the industry’s top dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and aestheticians to assess new technologies.