Almost everyone asks me the same thing on the way out: how long will these little raised points be there, and can I go to work tomorrow. It is a fair question, and it is the one the internet answers worst. Search polynucleotide aftercare and you get a long list of rules, several of them borrowed from a different treatment, most of them carrying numbers with no working shown.
So here is what I actually tell clients at House of Glam HQ in Southsea, with the prices alongside it. I carry out every House of Glam HQ treatment personally, so this is the aftercare as it is given in the room, not a generic sheet.
What the first 24 to 48 hours actually look like
Polynucleotides go into the skin itself rather than underneath it, in a series of small injection points across the area being treated. What you see straight afterwards is a line or a scatter of small raised points where the product went in. They usually settle within 24 to 48 hours.
Most people go straight back to work. The appointment runs 40 to 45 minutes including numbing cream, which matters most under the eyes, and there is nothing to plan around afterwards beyond the rest of that day.
That is the honest shape of it. Not a week off, not peeling, not a face you need to hide. A short stretch where the area looks like it has had something done to it, and then it does not.
Why there are small raised points, and when they go
The product is placed in small amounts, close to the surface, in a line or a grid across the area. Each of those deposits sits as a tiny raised point until the skin takes it up. That is the treatment behaving as it should rather than something going wrong, and it is worth reading alongside what polynucleotides are and what they do.
Under the eyes the points tend to show most, because the skin there is thinnest. On the face they are usually harder to spot by the time you have driven home.
I give one timescale for this, and it is the one above: usually settling within 24 to 48 hours. If yours are not following that pattern, or the area is getting worse rather than better, message me on WhatsApp rather than sit and worry about it. I would rather hear from you.
What to skip for the first 24 hours
The list is short, and the shortness is deliberate.
| What to skip | For how long |
|---|---|
| Heavy exercise | 24 hours |
| Saunas and steam | 24 hours |
| Touching, rubbing or pressing the area | 24 hours |
That is the whole of it. Leave the area alone, which means no pressing, no rubbing anything in, and no checking it with your fingers every half hour. Then carry on with your day.
Can I moisturise after polynucleotides?
Leaving the area alone for the first 24 hours includes leaving your usual products off it. After that, go back to a gentle routine rather than straight to everything in the cabinet.
I do not publish a day count for retinol, acids or exfoliants after this treatment, so I am not going to invent one here. If you use strong actives and you want a specific answer for your skin, ask me at the appointment, when I can see what you are using and what the area looks like.
Polynucleotide side effects worth knowing about before you book
The raised injection points are the main thing you will notice. Beyond that, there are three things I check before anyone books, and they matter more than any aftercare rule.
These products are derived from salmon trout DNA, so a fish allergy needs to be discussed before you book, not on the day. So does any active infection or breakout in the area I would be injecting into. And injectable treatments are not offered during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. Every treatment here is for adults only.
There is no consultation to book beforehand. You pick the treatment on Fresha and the assessment happens at the start of that appointment, with no separate fee. I go through your medical history, clean and map the area, and apply the numbing cream. If the answers say this is not right for you, I say so then.
Will the area under my eyes swell?
Three of the six polynucleotide treatments I offer are for under the eyes and three are for the face. Under-eye work is the one people worry about, reasonably, because it is the part of the face you cannot cover.
The same timescale applies: small raised points where the product went in, usually settling within 24 to 48 hours. The skin under the eye is thin, so they show more there than on the cheek. If you have something on in the next two days, book the appointment for after it rather than before it.
If what is bothering you under the eye is a hollow, a shadow or a loss of structure rather than skin quality, this is the wrong treatment and I will say so rather than sell you a course of it. There is more on that in my guide to polynucleotides under the eyes.
What polynucleotide aftercare will not do
Aftercare protects a result. It does not create one, and it will not speed anything up.
Polynucleotides are not a dermal filler. They add no volume and they do not change shape. Injected into the skin, they are used to support the skin’s own repair, and the research on them describes an effect on collagen and elastin. The polynucleotides themselves break down within weeks of injection. What lasts is the repair they trigger.
Which also means nothing you do in the 48 hours afterwards brings the result forward. The skin usually keeps changing for a few weeks after each session, and I do not publish a day count for when you will see something, because it is not the same for everybody. If you want the longer version, I have written about how long polynucleotides take to work separately.
How many sessions, and how far apart
A course is usually three to six sessions, three to four weeks apart. Once a course is finished most clients find the result holds for around six to nine months.
Each session is booked and paid for on its own, so there is no package to commit to up front and nothing to unpick if you decide after two that it is not for you. That is also why there is no course price in the table below. There is one price per session, and you decide each time.
Polynucleotide prices in Portsmouth
Every price is published, where most Portsmouth clinics quote only after a consultation. These are the six, read off Fresha today.
| Treatment | Area | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Dermis Glow Eyes | Under the eyes | £135 |
| Vitaran Eyes | Under the eyes | £150 |
| Lumi Eyes | Under the eyes | £150 |
| Dermis Glow Face | The face | £155 |
| Lumi Pro | The face | £155 |
| Vitaran | The face | £185 |
Under the eyes, book Dermis Glow Eyes at £135, Vitaran Eyes at £150 or Lumi Eyes at £150. For the face, book Dermis Glow Face at £155, Lumi Pro at £155 or Vitaran at £185.
Klarna spreads a treatment over three monthly payments. If you want these set against the hyaluronic acid skin boosters, Seventy Hyal at £165 and Profhilo at £185, the full skin booster and polynucleotide price list has both sides of it.
Are polynucleotides better than anti-wrinkle injections?
They are not doing the same job, so better is the wrong word. Polynucleotides work on the quality of the skin. Anti-wrinkle injections work on movement, and they are a separate route with their own rules: a £25 prescriber consultation is legally required before a first treatment, paid once per prescription period, with a 14-day review included at no charge.
Dermal filler is a third thing again, and it is the one polynucleotides get confused with most. Filler is CE-marked hyaluronic acid, it adds volume, and it is reversible with hyaluronidase. Polynucleotides do none of that. If you are not sure which of the three your face is asking for, that is what the assessment at the start of the appointment is for, or a £15 skin consultation on Fresha, deducted from your treatment if you go ahead.
What I will not tell you
You will find aftercare advice for this treatment that adds steps I do not give anyone: sleeping propped up on a spare pillow, a fortnight clear of every other treatment, an exact number of days before you can wear makeup, a session count that happens to differ from mine.
Some of that may be perfectly sensible. I am not going to publish a figure I cannot stand behind, and I am not going to pad a short list to make a treatment sound more serious than it is. What I publish is what I say in the room: small raised points, usually settling within 24 to 48 hours, nothing strenuous or hot for a day, leave it alone, come back in three to four weeks.
Booking a polynucleotide treatment in Southsea
Pick the one you want and book it. There is nothing to get through beforehand, and the assessment happens at the start of that appointment with no separate fee.
Clients travel for polynucleotides from Portsmouth, Southsea, Havant, Fareham, Gosport and across Hampshire. The clinic is at 1A Auckland Road East, Southsea, Portsmouth PO5 2HA, open Tuesday 10am to 5pm, Wednesday 12pm to 7pm, and Thursday to Saturday 10am to 4pm.
If you would rather ask me something before you spend anything, message me on WhatsApp or call 07831 846273. For the background on the treatment itself, the polynucleotide treatment page carries the full description, the areas and the same prices.
