What Polynucleotides Actually Do for Your Skin
A regenerative injectable that improves skin quality from within, rather than adding volume or relaxing muscles. Here is how it works and what it can and cannot do.
In this article
The short answer
Polynucleotides are a regenerative injectable. Rather than filling a line or relaxing a muscle, they encourage your skin to repair and renew itself, improving elasticity, hydration, and texture from within. They work on the quality of the skin, not its volume or its movement.
That makes them a different category of treatment from filler or anti-wrinkle injections. The change is gradual and natural, because it comes from your own tissue responding over time.
How they work
Polynucleotides are short, purified fragments of DNA, prepared to a high grade for medical use. When injected into the skin, they act as a biological signal. They support the cells responsible for repair, encourage the production of collagen and elastin, and improve the way the skin holds water.
The result is skin that is firmer, better hydrated, and smoother in texture, with improvements that build over a course of sessions rather than appearing on the day. Because the effect comes from stimulating your own biology, it tends to look like better skin rather than a treated look.
How they differ from filler and from a bioremodeller
It helps to place polynucleotides next to two treatments they are often confused with:
- Dermal filler adds volume and structure where the face has lost support. Polynucleotides do not add volume, they improve tissue quality.
- A bioremodeller, such as a stabilised hyaluronic acid treatment, hydrates and stimulates the skin broadly. Polynucleotides work more on cellular repair and are often favoured for thinner, more delicate skin.
In practice these treatments are complementary, and a plan sometimes uses more than one. The point of an assessment is to decide which mechanism your skin actually needs.
Where they are most useful
Polynucleotides are commonly chosen for:
- The under-eye area, where thin, crepey skin benefits from improved quality without the risks of adding volume in a delicate region.
- Overall skin quality, including fine lines, dullness, and early loss of elasticity.
- Skin in recovery, supporting repair and resilience as part of a wider plan.
They are not the right answer for everything. Where the underlying issue is lost volume or muscle movement, a different treatment is more appropriate, and an honest consultation will say so.
What to expect
Treatment is quick, and most people return to normal activities the same day. You may notice small injection points or mild swelling for a short time. Because the effect is regenerative, the meaningful change appears over the weeks following the course, and results are maintained with occasional top-up sessions.
As with every treatment here, polynucleotides are administered by Dr Elgey, a GMC-registered medical doctor, using only regulated products, after a consultation that sets realistic expectations.
Bottom line
Polynucleotides treat skin quality, not volume and not movement. They use purified DNA fragments to prompt your own skin to repair, firm, and hydrate, with results that build gradually and naturally over a short course. For thin under-eye skin and early loss of elasticity in particular, they are a gentle, regenerative option, best chosen after a proper assessment of what your skin actually needs.
