Rejuran PDRN Korea: PN or PDRN, who it suits, results and what decides the cost

Is Rejuran PDRN or PN?

Planning a Rejuran PDRN Korea trip because your skin flared after lasers at home, but unsure what is actually in the syringe, or whether it suits skin like yours?

Rejuran is a polynucleotide (PN) injection made from salmon DNA; PDRN is a shorter-chain relative, which is why the two names get swapped. For thin, dry or laser-shy skin with fine lines and rough texture it's a reasonable choice, but it improves skin quality gradually over a course and does not lift sagging.

Hello, I'm Dr. Won Woo Choi, Medical Director · M.D., Ph.D. at WELLS Clinic in Apgujeong, Seoul.

My dermatology residency and board certification were at Seoul National University Hospital, where I'm an adjunct professor, and WELLS has been one clinic in Apgujeong since 2008. A dermatologist does your consultation and the injections. The Rejuran on my menu is HB+, which carries lidocaine in the formula, and a medical interpreter for your language is provided at no extra charge.

If a laser or peel left your skin red or brown before, send a daylight photo of your cheeks without makeup on WhatsApp, with the name of that treatment and roughly when you had it.

Both come from salmon DNA, and both are purified fragments of it. The difference is chain length. PDRN is made of shorter DNA fragments and has its roots in wound-healing medicine; PN keeps longer chains, which hold water and form a gel-like scaffold in the dermis.

A review in Pharmaceutics comparing the two describes PN's longer chains as giving it a structural, scaffold-like role on top of the cell signaling it shares with PDRN. Work on PDRN itself, such as a review in Pharmaceuticals, centers on how it speeds the repair of impaired wounds. In plain terms: PDRN is mostly a repair signal, and PN is a repair signal plus something for the skin to hold on to.

Rejuran is a PN product. On Korean clinic menus, though, PDRN is used loosely for many salmon-DNA boosters from different makers, some short-chain and some long-chain. Before a Rejuran PDRN Korea booking, ask which product is going into your skin and look at the box, because two treatments listed under the same menu word can contain different things.

What Rejuran HB+ changes in your skin, and what it doesn't

HB+ is salmon-derived polynucleotide with hyaluronic acid and lidocaine. PN works on the skin's internal environment and structure: it adds elasticity in the epidermis and dermis, smooths fine lines and rough texture, and improves hydration, and the added hyaluronic acid pushes hydration further.

Risks and side effects to know

A systematic review in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology found that studies of polynucleotide injections reported improvement in wrinkles, elasticity and hydration, with side effects that were mostly mild and short-lived. That matches what PN is for: the quality of the skin you have.

What it won't do is lift a jowl, fill a hollow or erase a deep fold. If skin moving downward is your main concern, a lifting device or a volume treatment is the conversation, and HB+ becomes the extra layer.

Changes build gradually across a course; four sessions two to three weeks apart are recommended for HB+. The order in which changes tend to show up is covered in what changes over a course of Rejuran.

Who does it suit, and who should skip it?

In short, it fits skin that is thin, dry or dull, with fine lines around the eyes and cheeks and a rough surface. It also fits when you need something that doesn't heat the surface, because lasers have left you blotchy before.

Skip it, or postpone it, if any of these apply:

• an allergy to fish or salmon products, since PN is salmon-derived
• an allergy to lidocaine or other local anesthetics, because HB+ contains it
• an active acne flare, cold sore, eczema or infection where you'd be injected
• pregnancy or breastfeeding
• a laser, peel or other injection on the same area very recently

Blood thinners or a bleeding tendency make bruising more likely. Mention them, and don't stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Say you're 41 and your cheeks turned patchy brown for three months after a fractional laser at home. Before anything is injected, I'd want to know whether that pigment has fully settled or is still active, because any needle is a small injury and inflamed skin can darken again. If the brown is gone and what's left is thin, dry skin with fine lines, HB+ is the kind of treatment I'd consider, since it works without heating the surface. If melasma is part of the picture, that is a separate diagnosis with its own plan.

How I pick between boosters when dryness is the main complaint is in how we choose a PDRN for dry skin.

Rejuran HB+ alone, or paired with a skin smoothing injection

The WELLS menu also pairs Rejuran HB+ (3 cc) underneath with a skin smoothing injection (3 cc) on top, in one session. HB+ works on regeneration, hydration and elasticity in the dermis; the smoothing injection works at the surface on fine lines, pores and oil.

You choose the smoothing product, a Korean-made one or a US-made original. Both are genuine products, and the dermatologist decides the dose.

The pairing makes sense when enlarged pores and an oily T-zone sit alongside fine lines and dullness. If oil and pores aren't your issue, HB+ alone keeps the plan to one product. People with a neuromuscular condition, or who are pregnant, should leave the smoothing injection out.

Will it flare skin that reacted to lasers?

The trigger for most laser flares is heat on the surface, and PN is injected, not heated. That lowers one risk; it doesn't remove every risk. Any needle can still leave redness, and in pigment-prone skin, DermNet notes that inflammation from any skin injury can leave darker patches behind.

The usual reactions are small raised bumps at each injection point that tend to flatten within a day or two, redness, a sting during injection, and the odd bruise that can take about a week to fade. Less often, a bump stays firm for longer, the area becomes infected, or there's an allergic reaction. How quickly each person settles differs, which is why the plan is set after your skin is examined.

If you're home and swelling grows after the second day, the area turns warm, you see pus, or hives appear, see a local doctor promptly and send a photo on WhatsApp with the date of your session. How to time the session against your flight is in the Rejuran guide to a Seoul visit and flight timing.

If you're on blood thinners, have a fish or anesthetic allergy, or use any prescription skin cream, list it in your WhatsApp message together with your planned flight date.

What decides the cost of a Rejuran PDRN Korea visit?

A few things move it:

• HB+ on its own, or paired with the skin smoothing injection
• which smoothing product you choose, Korean-made or US-made
• how many cc, and how many areas of the face
• how many sessions of the course you do in Korea

The listed Rejuran prices in Korea exclude VAT and are confirmed at consultation. Ask on WhatsApp what your plan would cost; the deposit and how you pay are settled after the consultation, so add that question if it matters for your booking.

Planning around your dates

Send your arrival and departure dates on WhatsApp and ask how many of the four HB+ sessions could fit between them, or whether one now and the rest on a later trip suits you better. At the consultation, I look first at how thin the skin is over your cheekbones and how it behaved after your last laser, because that tells me whether HB+ alone is enough.

Results and recovery vary by individual. Every treatment carries possible side effects, which are explained at the consultation. Prices are in Korean won, excluding 10% VAT, and confirmed at your consultation. This article is general information from the clinic, not a diagnosis.

Written by

Dr. Won Woo Choi

Medical Director · M.D., Ph.D. · WELLS Clinic, Apgujeong

• Board-certified dermatologist in Korea; trained at Seoul National University Hospital
• Dermatology residency, Seoul National University Hospital; board certification in dermatology in Korea
• Ph.D. in Dermatology, Seoul National University
• Former clinical instructor, Seoul National University Hospital
• Adjunct professor, Department of Dermatology, Seoul National University Hospital

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