Key facts
- Profhilo
- Hybrid cooperative complexes of high- and low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid, thermally bonded without chemical crosslinkers
- Rejuran
- Polynucleotides (PN) — DNA fragments of salmon origin that signal tissue repair
- Hyaluronic acid
- The skin's native water-binding molecule — each gram binds many times its weight in water
- Polynucleotide action
- Supports fibroblast activity and a calmer repair environment rather than adding volume or water directly
- Profhilo protocol
- An initial pair of sessions a month apart at defined injection points, then maintenance
- Rejuran protocol
- A short series of fine intradermal sessions, then maintenance
- Not fillers
- Neither is a shaping filler — both are skin-quality treatments working diffusely, not structurally
What each molecule actually is
Profhilo is hyaluronic acid in an unusual format: high- and low-molecular-weight chains bonded thermally into 'hybrid cooperative complexes', creating a product that flows and spreads through tissue rather than sitting where placed, hydrating as it goes and nudging fibroblasts toward renewed collagen and elastin production. Rejuran is a different biology altogether: polynucleotides — purified DNA fragments — that act as repair signals, supporting fibroblast function and a calmer, better-organised healing environment. One is fundamentally a moisture-and-stimulation strategy; the other is fundamentally a repair strategy.
“Profhilo answers a thirsty face. Rejuran answers a damaged one. The comparison only makes sense once you know which face you have.”
Dr Sin YongOn matching molecule to problem
What each does best
Profhilo's home ground is the skin that looks tired and slack rather than damaged: dull, dehydrated, finely crinkling, losing its bounce — commonly from the late thirties onward. Spread across the face from a handful of points, it restores a hydrated fullness and, over weeks, a modest firmness. Rejuran's home ground is skin with a repair problem: post-acne texture, enlarged-pore roughness, sensitivity and redness, thin crepey under-eyes, the general wear of years of inflammation. It refines rather than plumps; its results build quietly across a series of sessions.
The overlap is real but narrower than the marketing suggests. Both improve 'skin quality' on paper; in practice, choosing Profhilo for damaged, textured skin or Rejuran for slack, thirsty skin gives each molecule the wrong brief — and an underwhelmed patient.
Protocols, sensations and downtime
Profhilo is the more efficient appointment: a small number of injection points per side, an initial pair of sessions a month apart, then periodic maintenance. Transient bumps at the injection points settle within a day or so. Rejuran is the more granular treatment: many fine intradermal deposits per session, a short series of sessions some weeks apart, with pinpoint marks for a day or two. Neither has meaningful downtime; both are numbed to comfort. Neither replaces the other's maintenance schedule — they are parallel tracks, not interchangeable ones.
Can they be combined — and should they be?
They can, and often usefully — hydration-and-laxity and repair-and-texture are different axes, and many faces in their forties need something on both. The combination is sequenced rather than stacked in one sitting, and it is also where budgets deserve honesty: two full protocols cost two protocols. A good assessment ranks which axis is holding your skin back most and starts there, rather than defaulting to 'both' because both exist. Sometimes the answer is also neither — laxity beyond a certain point is a lifting-energy problem, and no skin injectable will substitute.
