Polynucleotides at The London Aesthetic Clinic: what it treats, who it suits, how the assessment works, what the appointment involves, recovery and aftercare, and when it is not the right choice.
Polynucleotides are purified fragments of DNA, generally derived from fish, injected into the skin to support the cells that maintain it. They are used for skin quality, thin or crepey skin and the under-eye area. The evidence base is developing and the marketing has moved faster than it.
Conditions this treats
| Classification | Medical device, injected |
|---|---|
| Source | Purified DNA fragments, typically from salmon or trout |
| Purpose | Skin quality, thickness and hydration, rather than volume or contour |
| Course | Commonly three sessions, two to four weeks apart |
| Onset | Gradual, assessed several weeks after the final session |
| Common areas | Under-eye, face, neck, décolletage, scalp |
| Caution | Not suitable for anyone with a fish allergy; discuss any allergy history |
The cost of polynucleotides in London is normally quoted as a course of about three sessions two to four weeks apart. Price is driven by the number of sessions, the area treated, the product used and the register and experience of the practitioner. The evidence base is still developing, which is a reason for measured claims.
Cost follows the assessment rather than preceding it. What treatment costs explains how a written quotation should be built, and the guide to choosing a clinic in London covers what an unusually low figure has normally had removed from it.
Polynucleotides work gradually rather than immediately. A course of about three sessions produces change that is assessed several weeks after the final appointment, and the improvement in skin quality and thickness then fades over months. Maintenance intervals are still being established, which is part of a developing evidence base.
Polynucleotides are chains of nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA, purified from a biological source and prepared for injection. The material used in cosmetic practice is generally derived from the milt of salmon or trout, chosen because it can be purified to a high degree and because its structure is similar enough to human DNA to be well tolerated.
The proposed mechanism is that these fragments support fibroblasts, the cells responsible for producing collagen and the surrounding matrix, and that they influence the local inflammatory environment. In practical terms the treatment is aimed at skin that is thin, crepey, dehydrated or poorly supported, rather than at shape.
This is a newer category in UK aesthetic practice. There is a genuine body of work behind the material, and the clinical evidence base specifically for cosmetic skin quality use is still developing. That is a reason for measured expectations rather than for avoidance, and a reason to be sceptical of any clinic presenting the results as settled science.
Polynucleotides are purified DNA fragments, typically derived from salmon or trout, injected into the dermis. They are well tolerated, with swelling, small bumps and bruising the usual effects. Fish allergy is a clear contraindication and any allergy history must be declared. Longer-term data remain limited.
Expect numbing cream, then a series of small injections across the treated area, with the appointment taking around thirty minutes. Swelling and small raised bumps are normal for a day or two. Sessions are spaced two to four weeks apart and the result is judged weeks after the last one.
This is where the category has attracted most attention, because the under-eye is difficult. Filler in the tear trough suits a narrow group and is dissolved frequently. Resurfacing is risky in such thin skin. Something that improves the quality and thickness of the skin itself, without adding volume, addresses a real gap.
That is the rationale, and it is a reasonable one. The caution is that the under-eye is still an area that retains fluid and shows everything, and that a treatment aimed at skin quality will not fix hollowing, fat prolapse or pigmentation. If your concern is a shadow cast by a hollow, read tear trough filler and consider whether the mid-face is the actual issue.
A treatment that improves the skin will not change the shape underneath it.
A course of three sessions two to four weeks apart is the usual pattern, sometimes more for the under-eye or for particularly thin skin. Product is delivered in small injections across the area, often with a fine cannula around the eyes to reduce bruising.
Maintenance is generally discussed at six to twelve months. Because the change is gradual and subtle, standardised photography is more important here than in almost any other treatment; without it, you are comparing a result to a memory.
Choosing a practitioner for polynucleotides in London means finding someone who describes a developing treatment accurately. Ask which register they hold, which product they use and its regulatory status, what they expect it to achieve and what it will not, how many sessions are planned, and how the result will be photographed and reviewed.
The fifth question is the important one. A practitioner who can state clearly what a treatment will not do is a practitioner worth listening to about what it will. See the consultation.
There is a pattern that repeats every few years in this field. A material arrives, early results are encouraging, marketing accelerates, and within eighteen months it is being offered for every indication by clinics that were not offering it at all the previous summer. Some of those treatments turn out to be genuinely useful and settle into practice. Others quietly disappear.
The way to sit sensibly inside that cycle is not to avoid anything new. It is to ask for the reasoning. A practitioner who can explain what the material is proposed to do, which findings in your skin they expect it to change, what they would expect it not to change, and how they will assess the outcome, is practising properly regardless of how new the treatment is. A practitioner who answers with a transformation and a package price is not.
It is also reasonable to ask what they used for this indication two years ago and why they changed. The answer is informative either way. Genuine reassessment in light of experience is a good sign. Changing because a distributor ran a training day is a different thing entirely.
Polynucleotides are not suitable for anyone with a fish allergy, given the source material. They are declined in pregnancy and breastfeeding, over active infection or inflamed skin, and in anyone under eighteen. They do not treat volume loss, laxity or pigmentation, so those findings need a different plan entirely.
Not useful for volume loss, contour, deep static lines or significant laxity. Anyone with a known fish allergy should not have them, and any allergy history should be discussed carefully before the first appointment.
The same order every time, with the decision made at assessment rather than at the point of sale.
A full assessment of the area, your medical history and a discussion of what polynucleotides can and cannot change for you. Where a prescription-only medicine is involved, this happens face to face with the prescriber before anything is dispensed.
Areas, sequence, product, quantity and cost set out in writing, with the risks that need a protocol named rather than glossed over. You take it away before you consent to it.
A first treatment is deliberately conservative, and you are told what to expect before you leave.
Written aftercare, the symptoms that mean you telephone rather than wait, and a route to reach a clinician out of hours. On timing, gradual, assessed several weeks after the final session.
The result is judged at review rather than on the day, once any swelling has settled, and adjustment happens there rather than being sold as a second course.
Where the finding will not respond to this treatment, that is said plainly and an alternative is discussed rather than a compromise.
Purified DNA fragments, generally derived from salmon or trout. Anyone with a fish allergy should not have them.
Commonly three, two to four weeks apart, sometimes more for the under-eye or very thin skin.
No. Skin boosters are hyaluronic acid aimed primarily at hydration. Polynucleotides are a different material with a different proposed mechanism, though both target skin quality.
They are widely used there for skin quality and thickness. They do not fill a hollow, remove fat prolapse or treat pigmentation.
There is a genuine body of work behind the material and the clinical evidence for cosmetic skin quality use is still developing. Expect a measured discussion rather than certainty.
Gradually, with meaningful change generally assessed six to twelve weeks after starting.
Small bumps for a few hours and possible bruising for a few days, particularly under the eyes.
Treatment
Hydration delivered into the skin rather than onto it. A course, not an appointment.
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Treatment
Not a filler. A skin quality treatment that happens to be delivered by injection.
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Treatment
Small volumes, thin skin, high stakes. The area where patient selection matters most.
ReadTell us what you would like changed and what you have had done before. You will get a considered reply setting out whether this treatment applies to you, what an assessment would need to establish, and what the alternatives are.
hello@aestheticlaunchlab.comPlease do not send clinical photographs or medical records by email. If something has gone wrong after a procedure, contact the practitioner who treated you, or NHS 111, rather than waiting for a reply here.