Home›Glossary›Tyndall effect: Meaning in Aesthetic Medicine
Tyndall effect: what it means after filler
Medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong · Last reviewed · 4 min read
Published 9 October 2026 · Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong
In aesthetic medicine, the Tyndall effect is a bluish or grey tint seen when hyaluronic acid filler sits too close to thin skin, most often under the eye. The clear gel scatters shorter, bluer wavelengths of light back towards the viewer. It is named after the nineteenth-century physicist John Tyndall, who described the scattering, and it is usually corrected by dissolving the superficial filler.
Key facts
Seen
Most often under the eye after tear trough filler
Cause
Hyaluronic acid placed too superficially
How often
3.3% of 1,452 tear trough treatments in one large series (Wilde 2023)
Correction
Targeted hyaluronidase to the superficial deposit
Superficial filler under thin eyelid skin produces the bluish tint. Schematic, not to scale.
A bluish tint from hyaluronic acid sitting too close to thin skin, usually under the eye. It is corrected by dissolving the superficial filler with hyaluronidase.
References
Hirsch RJ, Narurkar V, Carruthers J. Management of injected hyaluronic acid induced Tyndall effects. Lasers Surg Med. 2006;38(3):202-204. doi:10.1002/lsm.20283. source
Wilde CL, Gupta A, Lee S, Ezra DG. Tear trough filler using the three-point tangent technique: lessons from 1452 tear trough applications. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2023;11:e5060. doi:10.1097/GOX.0000000000005060. source
