Rejuran (Salmon Sperm Facial) for Men: The Questions the Marketing Never Answers

Rejuran is a polynucleotide micro-injection that adds no volume and changes nothing about your face shape — which is usually the specific reassurance men are after. It targets skin quality: hydration, elasticity, fine lines and that permanently-tired look under the eyes. The protocol is the same for everyone: typically two to four sessions, two to four weeks apart.

Most of the marketing for this treatment is aimed elsewhere, so men tend to arrive with a different set of questions and no obvious place to have got them answered. Here they are.

Is this a women's treatment?

No. It is a treatment for skin, and skin does not have a gender. The concerns it addresses are the ones people of any gender turn up with: skin that looks dull and tired however much you sleep, thin and crepey skin under the eyes, fine lines and rough texture starting to show.

If anything, the reason men ask this question is worth naming. Cosmetic treatment marketing has been pointed at women for decades, so the visual language around it feels like somebody else's world. That is a marketing artefact, not a clinical one.

Will it change how my face looks?

Not in shape, no, and this is the clearest thing we can tell you. Nothing is placed to plump, lift or contour. A dermal filler is a gel put under the skin to add volume — it changes shape deliberately, and it is a completely different treatment. Polynucleotides add no volume at all. The purified DNA fragments are placed into the skin, where they signal your skin's own repair processes.

So your features stay exactly as they are. What changes is how the skin itself looks and behaves. If you have been avoiding cosmetic treatment because you do not want to look like you have had cosmetic treatment, that distinction is the one that matters, and it is worth putting to the doctor directly at your consultation so you can hear it in the context of your own face.

The flip side is equally worth hearing: if what actually bothers you is volume loss, sagging or deep folds, polynucleotides are the wrong tool, and a doctor should tell you so rather than sell you a course. That conversation is part of what the consultation is for.

Will anyone at work be able to tell?

For a day or two, possibly — but not in the way you are imagining. Expect small raised bumps and redness at each injection point, usually settling within 24 to 48 hours, with possible bruising and mild tenderness. It reads as a slightly blotchy face, not as work done.

The practical advice is scheduling. Book so that you have a clear evening and ideally a clear next day, and do not book two days before you are presenting to a room. This is not a treatment you can have at lunchtime and walk into a four o'clock meeting unbothered.

The result, when it comes, arrives gradually over the following weeks. Nobody watches a colleague's skin closely enough to spot a gradual improvement in texture. What people tend to say is that you look less tired, which is usually the point.

I have a beard — does that change anything?

Ask specifically at your consultation, and ask again about shaving before you leave on the day. Beard growth, how you shave and where you want treating are exactly the sort of practical details that the doctor should factor into placement and into the aftercare instructions you are given — and they are the sort of thing that is much easier to plan for before treatment than to work around afterwards.

We deliberately are not going to publish a generic rule here, because the sensible answer depends on the area being treated and your own routine. It is a two-minute conversation with the person holding the syringe.

Does male skin need a different protocol?

Not one we document differently. The course is typically two to four sessions spaced two to four weeks apart, results build gradually over the weeks after each session, and the plan is reviewed at every visit. That is the protocol, and it does not come in two versions.

What is genuinely individual is the assessment: the doctor examines your skin, confirms polynucleotides suit the concern, and screens for the things that rule injecting out — fish or product allergy, active infection or open wounds in the area, and certain skin conditions. Anything that thins the blood makes bruising more likely, so bring your actual medication list rather than a summary from memory.

What about the name?

There is no sperm in it. The name is marketing shorthand that stuck and then travelled through skincare content until it became the thing people search for. What is injected is polynucleotides — PDRN, purified fragments of DNA derived from salmon, processed to remove proteins and other biological material. The syringe holds a highly purified pharmaceutical-grade product.

Plenty of men find the name is the actual barrier, which is a slightly absurd place for a clinical decision to be made. If it helps: at the clinic it is called Rejuran, or PDRN, or a polynucleotide treatment, and nobody in the room will use the other phrase.

How long will it last, and am I signing up for this forever?

We do not publish a duration figure, because we would be guessing at yours. What we can say plainly is what is documented: a course is typically two to four sessions, the response builds over the weeks after each one, and the plan is reviewed at each visit. Whether and when you would want to repeat a course is a conversation to have with the doctor once they have seen how your skin responded — not a number to commit to in advance.

The same honesty applies to the treatment overall. This is a newer treatment and the evidence base is still building. Early studies and clinical experience are encouraging for hydration, elasticity and fine lines, but long-term comparative data is thinner than for older treatments, and an outcome cannot be promised.

What does it cost?

There is no published figure for this treatment, because the number depends on how many sessions your skin needs and the area treated — both decided after an assessment. The consultation is ₹500, waived off against treatment, and you will have the plan and its cost in writing before anything is injected.

When should you ring the clinic afterwards?

Bumps, redness, mild swelling and bruising that are settling day by day are expected. Ring the clinic promptly — rather than waiting for your next session — if you get increasing pain, heat, redness that is spreading rather than fading, or any reaction you did not expect. Do not sit at your desk deciding for yourself whether it is serious; that assessment is ours. If something is worsening quickly and you cannot reach us out of hours, seek medical care locally rather than waiting.

Where to start

If your skin is mainly just dry rather than tired, the treatments worth comparing are skin boosters and Profhilo — hyaluronic acid, holding water in the skin, a different mechanism for a different complaint. Book an appointment and bring the question you actually care about, even if it is just whether anyone will be able to tell.