Sculptra is not a new soft tissue filler. It has been out for years and is good to add volume to the face. What started out as a basic treatment for those with “lipoatrophy” (when your cheeks are hollow and sunken from losing your facial fat), has now been approved for cosmetic applications by the FDA.
Sculptra is a collagen stimulator. In english that means it seeds the face and stimulates your body’s own collagen production. Essentially you are thickening your own skin, with a little kick start by the sculptra. The benefit of this is a slow change, a natural look, and a natural substance- your own collagen. It requires a series of two to three injections spaced by 4- 6 weeks. The results last an average of 25 months.
Sculptra is applied all over the face: the tear trough (lower eye), the cheek, the jawline, the eyebrown bone, and temporal region. When we age, we lose a little fat from all over. The goal of Sculptra is to replace soft tissue fullness. Youthful faces are not thin and gaunt. Look at your children to see what youth looks like. The other fillers in major use are hyaluronic acid fillers (Juvederm, Restalyne). They have a wonderful results, are immediate gratification, and can be used in the lip (Sculptra cannot). But if you need volume- two, three, four syringes of a HA filler, every 6 months, it adds up in time and cost. Scultpra has been approved for 25 months of longevity. I like it because there is good science behind it, showing histologic biopsies with the newly produced collagen. It is not a magic answer. But for many women who are in their 40s and 50s, particularly those who don’t want to do a facelift, it gives a longer lasting alternative to help rejuvenate the face.
Over the past decade plastic surgeons have shifted from taking fat out of the face to adding fat to the face, or “volumizing.” The analogy is your face is a beach ball, gradually deflating over time. When you want to fix the beach ball, you need to add air. The “air” is soft tissue volume. You will now see most of us plastic surgeons during our lower eyelid surgery won’t remove fat, doing what we call a “fat preservation” technique. We graft fat to the face: eyelid tear trough, cheek, and lips. Back when I was in residency, they advocated removing the cheek fat (buccal fat pad) to give that hollow cheek look. Now we would never imagine that.
Sculptra will be starting their new advertising campaign soon, this Fall of 2009. It was just approved by the FDA for cosmetic use. I think it is a good product. I have been using it for a while, and I am pleased by the results.