HIFU for Eye Bags and Hooded Eyes: What It Can and Cannot Fix

Eye bags, hooded lids and crepey skin under the eyes are the things people notice first in a photograph and the things they ask us about most. HIFU can help with some of them and not others, and the difference matters, because an eye treatment booked for the wrong problem is money wasted. This page explains what HIFU does around the eyes, which kinds of eye bag it suits, what it will not fix, and what it costs at our clinic in Whickham, Newcastle.

What HIFU does around the eyes

HIFU sends focused ultrasound to set depths under the skin. Around the eyes we use the shallow cartridges, at 1.5mm and 2mm, which heat the dermis and the layer just beneath it without touching the surface. The heat makes existing collagen contract, which is the slight tightening some people see on the day, and prompts new collagen to build over the following two to three months, which is the real result. The skin under and beside the eye becomes firmer and smoother, the brow lifts a few millimetres, and a hooded upper lid looks more open because the brow is no longer resting on it. The treatment is done with the ULTRAcel Q+ system, the eye area is protected throughout, and it takes about 30 minutes for the eyes and brow.

Which eye bags HIFU can help with

Eye bags come in three kinds and HIFU is right for one of them. If your bags are loose, crepey skin that has lost its firmness, the sort that looks worse in the morning and in harsh light, HIFU tightens that skin and softens the fold. That is the most common kind in people from their late thirties onwards and it responds well. If your bags are a bulge of fat that has pushed forward under the eye, HIFU will not remove the fat, and the honest answer is that only surgery does. If your bags are mostly dark circles and hollowing, that is volume loss and shadow rather than laxity, and tightening the skin can make hollowing more visible, not less. At your assessment we look at the eye in good light and tell you which kind you have before anything is booked.

Hooded eyes and the brow

A heavy upper lid is usually the brow coming down rather than the lid itself changing, and this is where HIFU does its best work around the eyes. Treating the brow and forehead lifts the brow a little and opens the eye. It is a subtle change measured in millimetres, but around the eyes a few millimetres is the difference between looking tired and looking rested, and it is the change people comment on without being able to say what has changed.

What to expect

The sensation is a hot prickle, stronger over the brow bone, for a few seconds at a time. There is some redness and sometimes mild swelling for a few hours. You can go back to work the same day and wear makeup the next. A little of the tightening shows immediately, then the skin settles, and the result builds from about six weeks to its best at two to three months. It lasts 12 to 18 months and a maintenance session keeps it going. One session is enough for most people.

HIFU for the eyes: price in Newcastle

HIFU for the eyes and brow is £895 at RT Aesthetics. Many clients choose the full face instead at £1,095, because the eyes rarely age on their own and treating the whole face keeps everything in proportion. If your concern is fine lines and crepey skin rather than lift, Exilis Ultra Face for the eyes and brow is a gentler course of four sessions from £775. The assessment is free and we will say which suits you, or whether neither does.

Questions people ask

Is HIFU safe around the eyes?

Yes, when it is done with the shallow cartridges, with the eye itself shielded, by someone trained on the device. The energy is placed beside and above the eye, never on the eyeball. Cheap HIFU done with the wrong depth or settings is a different matter, which is why we would be wary of any clinic quoting a fraction of the price.

Can HIFU remove eye bags completely?

If the bag is loose skin, it can tighten it to the point where the bag is hard to see. If the bag is fat, no. We will tell you which at the assessment.

How many sessions do I need?

One for most people, with a top up at 12 to 18 months. Someone with heavier laxity may choose a second session after three months.

Does it help crow's feet?

It softens them by firming the skin they sit in. Lines caused by the muscle moving respond better to anti-wrinkle injections, and the two are often combined.

Read more

• HIFU in Newcastle: prices and how it works
• Non-surgical face lift
• Treatments for wrinkles
• HIFU side effects
• Exilis or HIFU: which do you need?