Why do I love Sculptra?

| Wednesday, February 6th, 2013
So, I’m pretty well known for using a lot of Sculptra in my practice. The truth is I use a lot of everything, but yes I can say I am a little biased when it comes to restoring the lost volume of the face. Most of you know fillers like Juvederm and Radiesse, they are temporary materials that can add volume where you need it instantly. Couple of complaints about fillers: you can often feel them under your skin (which most people actually don’t mind, it looks smooth) and they can only be injected in certain parts of the face. If you know how the face ages it’s easier to recreate youth. I always use an analogy of a filled ballon which deflates with time and saggs with gravity. The reason smile lines and marionette lines appear is not just loss of elasticity of collagen of the skin, but really the overall volume loss of the face.

There’s also bone resorption with age and remodeling of facial bones. Interestingly, Sculptra can help here too as it can be injected deep to stimulate collagen production around the bone (cheekbones, chin, jawline).

There is a technique of correcting jowles by masking them with fillers. I feel that it makes the face less proportional and more masculine. I don’t like using fillers in the lower part of the face for that reason (unless, of course, I’m treating a man or doing chin and jawline augmentation).
The difference between fillers and Sculptra is that the latter can be injected pretty much anywhere. Sculptra can lift jowly lower face rather than making it heavy like fillers. Sculptra is a suspension of chrystalls (that dissolve in few months) in water. It is distributed evenly where the volume was lost. Chrystalls create an illusion of trauma and your skin is “tricked” into thinking it needs to heal itself and produce collagen. The only “catch” with Sculptra is gradual injection: I usually would use a vial per treatment and recommend 2-3 treatments spaced 4-6 weeks apart. Collagen comes in slowly (which most people like as they don’t have to explain a sudden change to co-workers and significant others) and lasts up to 2.5 years.

asymmetrical face correctionI very frequently use fillers and Sculptra together. Instant gratifying change from fillers is backed up by uniform collagen stimulation and lift from Sculptra. But I use both products equally as much, and there is time and place for all of them as I like to say.