Sculptra®

What it is and how it works

Sculptra® is poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), a resorbable polymer medicine has used in sutures for decades. Injected into the subcutaneous plane it adds no volume: it leaves particles the tissue recognises and responds to by producing its own collagen. The particles resorb; the collagen stays.

Everything else follows from that:

• On the day of the session you see nothing, apart from swelling from the fluid it is diluted in, which settles in two or three days. Many patients panic here for no reason.
• The result appears between months 3 and 6 and keeps improving.
• Two or three sessions are needed, four to six weeks apart.
• It lasts up to two years, longer than any hyaluronic acid.

Who it suits, and who it does not

It fits diffuse volume loss in the mid-face, a face that looks «hollowed» without a specific wrinkle to point at, and anyone wanting a gradual change nobody identifies as a treatment. It is also the product for someone who wants durability and does not mind waiting.

It does not fit: anyone who wants to see a result this week; lips (it is not used there); correcting one specific delimited wrinkle; and anyone who cannot commit to the 2–3 sessions, because a single session does not deliver the result and does spend the money.

Contraindications: pregnancy and breastfeeding, active infection in the area, autoimmune disease in a flare, and a history of keloid scarring or of nodule formation with biostimulators.

Nodules: what they are and how they are avoided

This is the complication specific to this product and it is worth knowing beforehand: small palpable accumulations that can appear weeks or months later. They are almost always not visible and resolve on their own, but they are why technique matters so much here.

Three things reduce them, and all three depend on who injects:

• Adequate dilution and letting the vial rest. The product is reconstituted in advance, not mixed and injected on the spot.
• Correct plane and distributed deposits. Not concentrating product in one point.
• Prescribed massage. The classic instruction is to massage the area for several minutes a day during the first days. It is explained in the session and it has to be done.

And an honest warning: Sculptra does not dissolve with hyaluronidase. That enzyme only acts on hyaluronic acid. It is why, for a first treatment, it makes sense to start with a reversible product and leave the biostimulator for when you know how your face responds.

What it costs

Filler is not quoted by «area» but by product and volume, and for a reason worth understanding before you compare: two people with the same complaint can need 1 ml and 4 ml. A closed per-area price that does not say how many millilitres it includes cannot be compared with anything — the same problem as botox units.

How it works here:

• The consultation is free and is not charged in advance. You are assessed, told which product, how much volume and the total, and you decide then.
• The quote is given in writing with the brand, the batch number and the millilitres before anything is applied. That document is what makes comparison possible.
• You pay for what is applied. If your case needs less volume than expected, you pay less.

Payment: cash, debit card and credit card, with the option to split into instalments at the terminal under your own bank plan.

Frequently asked questions