Firmer skin, without a facelift
Morpheus8 is radiofrequency microneedling: 24 gold-coated needles, energy delivered up to 4 mm deep, three sessions four to eight weeks apart, and a firmer-looking jawline by month three. It can help with a softening jawline, crepey or lax skin on the neck, and acne scars. We offer it at Skinovatio Lincoln Park, on Lincoln Avenue just north of Wrightwood.
$1,200
to start
At a glance
Morpheus8- Appointment
- 60 to 90 minutes for the face, more with the neck, numbing included
- Downtime
- 2 to 5 days of redness, grid marks, and fine scabs
- First results
- Some tightening in the first few weeks
- Full results
- Judge it 3 months after the last session
- Sessions
- 1 to 3, spaced 4 to 8 weeks apart
- Cost
- From $1,200. About $300 per payment across 4 with Afterpay or Klarna.
What to expect
What the appointment is like
Plan on 60 to 90 minutes for the face, plus extra time for the neck, and most of that is numbing time. We’ll start with a consult, where you’ll get a plan in writing, and a small non-refundable deposit comes off your treatment. We’ll assess your skin in natural light, talk through your goals, and let you know whether Morpheus8 is the right treatment or whether PRP microneedling would meet your goals at a lower cost.
Consult
We’ll look at your skin in daylight, your photos, and your goal. You’ll leave with a written plan covering areas, depth, session count, spacing, and a date, whether or not you book that day.
Numbing
A compounded numbing cream sits on the skin for about an hour. Published protocols use a lidocaine and tetracaine blend. Feel free to bring headphones.
Treatment
The handpiece stamps a grid across each area, roughly 500 pulses for a full face. You’ll feel pressure and heat. We step depth and energy down over the forehead and eyes and up along the jaw and neck.
Before you leave
We’ll apply a calming balm and SPF, give you written aftercare, and book your next date if you’re doing a series. There’s no sedation, so you can take the L or drive yourself home.
Your results
A predictable timeline
Some tightening shows within the first few weeks as swelling resolves. The main change takes longer. Collagen remodels for about three months after each session, and the published trials measure at three months after the final one. That’s when we’ll assess your result.
Day 0
Red, swollen, with grid marks. Plan a quiet evening at home.
Days 1 to 3
Redness fades to pink, and fine scabs form and may itch. Most people return to normal activities by day 2.
Week 1
Scabs are gone, and skin feels dry and tight. Early tightening shows as swelling clears.
Weeks 4 to 8
Time for your next session if you’re doing a series. Collagen is building underneath.
Month 3
We’ll review the result together. Jawline, neck, and scars at their best after the final session.
Year 1
One maintenance session helps hold the change for most people.
What it costs
Clear pricing, planned by the visit
The cost depends on your plan. A few things shape it: face, neck, or both, one session versus three, which tips and how many passes each area takes, and whether you add anything else in the same visit. Your consult settles the plan, and the deposit comes off the total. For a detailed breakdown, see how much Morpheus8 costs in Chicago.
- Face, neck, or both
- One session versus a series of three
- The tips and passes each area needs
- Any add-on in the same visit
At Skinovatio Lincoln Park
Morpheus8
$1,200
to start
- Full face
- $1,200
- Face and neck
- $1,200
- Hyperhidrosis
- $1,200 per session
- Consultation
- $50
- With Afterpay or Klarna
- About $300 × 4 payments
Most people do three full-face sessions, and the package saves you $600 compared with three single sessions.
Book your Morpheus8 appointmentSimilar purpose, different options
Morpheus8 or something else?
Two other treatments on our menu are often compared with Morpheus8. The choice comes down to how much heat your skin needs and how much downtime works for you.
| Morpheus8 | Microneedling with PRP | Forma | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Needles plus radiofrequency heat | Needles plus your own platelets | Radiofrequency heat, no needles |
| Best for | Jawline, neck, jowls, deep scars | Texture, pores, early scars, melasma-prone skin | Mild laxity, maintenance, no-downtime weeks |
| Downtime | 2 to 5 days | 1 to 2 days | None |
| Sessions | 1 to 3 | 3 to 6 | A series |
| Darker skin | Yes, settings adjusted | Yes, all types | Yes, all types |
| Cost tier | Highest per session | Middle | Lowest per session |
What it is
- Morpheus8
- Needles plus radiofrequency heat
- Microneedling with PRP
- Needles plus your own platelets
- Forma
- Radiofrequency heat, no needles
Best for
- Morpheus8
- Jawline, neck, jowls, deep scars
- Microneedling with PRP
- Texture, pores, early scars, melasma-prone skin
- Forma
- Mild laxity, maintenance, no-downtime weeks
Downtime
- Morpheus8
- 2 to 5 days
- Microneedling with PRP
- 1 to 2 days
- Forma
- None
Sessions
- Morpheus8
- 1 to 3
- Microneedling with PRP
- 3 to 6
- Forma
- A series
Darker skin
- Morpheus8
- Yes, settings adjusted
- Microneedling with PRP
- Yes, all types
- Forma
- Yes, all types
Cost tier
- Morpheus8
- Highest per session
- Microneedling with PRP
- Middle
- Forma
- Lowest per session
Microneedling with PRP is the same needles without the heat, with your own platelets pressed into the channels. You’ll get almost no tightening, but a day or two of pink instead of five, no burn or fat-loss risk, and stronger evidence for acne scars. If texture or acne scarring is your main concern rather than laxity, that’s usually the place to start. For a full comparison, see RF microneedling vs microneedling.
Forma is radiofrequency with no needles: thirty to forty-five minutes of surface heating, no downtime, and a mild result over a series. It can be a step before Morpheus8, or a way to hold a result between series. If a cheek has fallen rather than loosened, we may recommend a PDO thread lift instead, which we cover in how long PDO threads last.
Is it right for me?
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
Morpheus8 is a good match for adults with mild to moderate laxity or texture concerns who can plan for two to five days of sunburn-like redness per session. It’s best suited to people with early jowls or crepey neck skin, and to anyone with settled acne scarring.
A good fit for
- Mild to moderate jawline or neck laxity
- Early jowls or crepey neck skin
- Settled rolling or boxcar acne scars
- All skin tones, with energy adjusted for types V and VI
Not recommended
- Tissue that has already dropped (a lift is surgical)
- Fat under the chin, or deep folds that need filler
- An active infection, a history of keloids, or uncontrolled diabetes
- During pregnancy or breastfeeding
The FDA calls RF microneedling a medical procedure and has cited reports of burns, scarring, and fat loss clustered around aggressive settings. We keep depth and energy conservative over the thin-fat cheeks and temples.
In detail
What it treats
The best starting treatment depends on your main concern and how much laxity is present.
Texture, pores, and early acne scarring: most of the time, microneedling with PRP works well with less downtime. Morpheus8 makes sense here only when the scars are deep or the skin has started to loosen.
Mild to moderate jawline laxity, early jowls, or crepey skin on the neck: this is where Morpheus8 fits best. At this stage the skin responds well, and the change is visible while still looking natural.
More established jowls, neck laxity, and lines above the upper lip: Morpheus8 softens all three. It won’t lift skin that has fully descended, and in that case we’ll recommend a surgical consult.
Scars: rolling and boxcar acne scars at any age, surgical scars, stretch marks on the neck and chest. Ice-pick scars typically improve less.
How it works
The device is the InMode Morpheus8, a fractional radiofrequency microneedling applicator. Insulated, gold-coated needles enter the skin to a depth we set, 0.5 to 4 mm on the face, and release bipolar radiofrequency from their tips. The heat lands in the dermis while the surface is mostly spared, per Hendricks and Farhang in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. Tissue contracts on the day, and collagen and elastin keep building over the months that follow.
The evidence is promising, with a few caveats. A 2026 systematic review of 20 studies and 558 participants found “significant improvements in skin texture and tightening,” per Kumar and colleagues, whose employer makes a competing device. For acne scars, a randomized split-face trial found RF microneedling “comparable” to fractional CO2 laser after three sessions, with shorter redness and fewer pigment problems, per the trial.
Morpheus8 is FDA-cleared, not FDA-approved. The clearance reads “coagulation/contraction of soft tissue,” per the FDA’s July 2024 letter. It isn’t cleared for fat reduction, and claims of “fat remodeling” come from marketing, not the clearance. The FDA calls RF microneedling “a medical procedure, not a cosmetic treatment,” per its October 2025 safety communication. That’s why your provider will review your candidacy, treatment plan, expected results, and recovery with you before treatment.
Afterwards
Downtime and aftercare
Here’s what to expect day by day as your skin heals.
Day 0: red, warm, a little swollen, with a visible grid of needle marks. Most people plan a quiet evening at home.
Day 1: still red, but less swollen. Tiny scabs form at the needle sites and the skin may itch, which is normal. You’ll look sunburned with a faint grid pattern, so many people stay home or work remotely this day.
Day 2: pink. The grid has gone faint and the scabs feel sandy. Most people feel comfortable returning to normal activities. Hold off on makeup until the surface has closed.
Day 3: the pink is fading, and tinted SPF is fine once the scabs are gone. Patient reports on RealSelf put social downtime at one to three days, which is consistent with what we see in our practice.
Day 5: a little dry and tight, but otherwise back to normal.
While you heal: SPF every morning, no retinoids or acids for about a week, no hot yoga, pools, or hot tubs while there are open channels, and no picking at the scabs. Around the eyes, allow an extra day or two for bruising. Dryness, itching, and crusting are on the FDA’s list of common microneedling effects, per its consumer page.
Why here
Why Lincoln Park
You’ll find us on Lincoln Avenue just north of Wrightwood, a block up from the Apollo Theater, on the ground floor. Take the Brown Line to Diversey, then head south on Lincoln, or the Red, Brown, or Purple Line to Fullerton, then head north. The 11 Lincoln bus runs right past our door. If you’re driving, there are meters on Lincoln, free spots on the side streets west of Clark if you check the cleaning signs, and the Lincoln Common garage a few blocks south. We also see patients from nearby Lakeview and Roscoe Village.
Treated skin needs to stay out of the sun for weeks, so we schedule most series from October through April, when sun exposure is lower. A series started in January reaches its full result by June. For a wedding or other event, plan your last session 8 to 12 weeks before the date, which means starting five to six months out. At Skinovatio Lincoln Park, every session is done by our medical esthetician.
Questions
Common questions, answered
Morpheus8 tightens mildly loose skin and improves texture. It’s used on the jawline, jowls, and neck for laxity, and on rolling and boxcar acne scars at any age. Fine needles deliver radiofrequency heat under the surface, tissue contracts on the day, and collagen builds over about three months. It does not lift descended tissue, remove fat, or treat pigment.
A grid of 24 insulated, gold-coated needles enters the skin to a set depth between 0.5 and 4 mm and releases bipolar radiofrequency from the tips. The heat contracts tissue in the dermis while sparing most of the surface, and the injury starts a healing response that builds new collagen over months. Morpheus8 is made by InMode and is FDA-cleared for coagulation and contraction of soft tissue.
With numbing cream on for about an hour, most people feel pressure and heat with each stamp, not sharp pain. Published reviews call it mild to moderate and well tolerated. The jaw and neck are the tender spots, and some people still find them painful. If that happens, let us know and we’ll slow down or lower the energy.
Plan on two to five days for the visible part. Day 0 is red and swollen with a grid of needle marks, day 1 is red with fine scabs, day 2 is pink, and by day 3 to 5 the scabs are gone and the skin is dry and tight. Treating around the eyes can add a day or two for bruising.
Some tightening shows in the first few weeks as swelling resolves. The main result takes about three months after each session, when collagen remodeling matures. For a series of three, we’ll assess the outcome together three months after the last session.
There are no long-term randomized studies, so no one can give you a verified number. The collagen you build is yours, but your skin keeps aging and the improvement fades gradually. The common practice, and what we recommend, is one maintenance session a year after a series.
It depends on your areas (face, neck, or both), one session versus a series of three, the tips and passes each area needs, and any add-on in the same visit. You’ll receive your total at the consult. Every treatment starts with a consultation and a plan in writing, and the deposit comes off your treatment. Financing is available.
Morpheus8 is one brand of RF microneedling, made by InMode. RF microneedling is the category: needles that deliver radiofrequency heat under the skin. Plain microneedling is needles with no heat, which is why it tightens less and heals faster.
Yes. You’ll walk out red and a little swollen with a faint grid pattern, and you can head to the Diversey or Fullerton platform on your own, since there’s no sedation.
Aim for eight to twelve weeks before the date. That gives the redness weeks to clear and the collagen most of its three months to build. A three-session series with sessions four to eight weeks apart starts five to six months out. So for a June wedding, we’d start in January.
It isn’t reversible, but it isn’t dramatic in one session either. Results build over weeks, and we work in a series specifically so you can stop after one if it’s not for you.
Keep exploring
Related treatments
Body tightening (Morpheus8)
From $1,700Skin tightening for the abdomen, arms, and knees, plus softening for stretch marks
Learn more
Microneedling with PRP
From $499Your own platelets to help with acne scars, texture, and tone
Learn more
Skin firming (Forma)
From $249Needle-free RF skin tightening with no downtime
Learn more
Start with a consult
Tell us what you’d like to work on. We’ll assess your skin and goals, walk you through your Morpheus8 options, and give you a clear plan and price before anything begins.
Afterpay and Klarna are available at checkout for eligible treatments.