Sculptra
Conveniently Located to serve Cincinnati, Dayton, Centerville, and Louisville
Over time, the skin on your face may lose fullness and develop a sunken effect, aging you dramatically. To remedy this, the Mandell-Brown Plastic Surgery Center in Cincinnati offers Sculptra treatments, which can replace some of that lost volume over time.
What Is Sculptra?
Sculptra, made by Sanofi Aventis, is a synthetic product made of poly-L-lactic acid. This product has had extensive use in Europe and initially was approved in the United States to help the cheek atrophy or wasting in AIDS patients.
When Sculptra was originally introduced in the United States, it was given FDA clearance for treating facial lipoatrophy. Facial fat loss, or lipoatrophy, is the loss of fat beneath the skin, which can result in sunken cheeks, indentations, and hollow eyes. Sculptra is a safe, synthetic, and biocompatible material that is injected below the surface of the skin in the area of fat loss. It provides a gradual and significant increase in skin thickness, improving the appearance of folds and sunken areas. No skin testing is required.
As of July 2009, Sculptra has FDA clearance for cosmetic facial procedures that treat mild to severe nasolabial folds, wrinkles and contour irregularities.
What Can I Expect from the Sculptra treatment?
Before your Sculptra treatment, the injection site and surrounding area will be cleansed with an antiseptic. Using a fine needle, your plastic surgeon will inject a small amount of the Sculptra solution. A conservative amount is first used because of how Sculptra works over time. With a series of Sculptra injections, the body builds collagen around the poly-L-lactic acid particles.
Sculptra Aftercare and Results
The results of Sculptra can be quite impressive when filling out cheek hollowness and can have some skin lifting effect as well. Sculptra lasts approximately one to two years, at which point it is naturally absorbed by the body. Patients usually receive a series of injections spaced six to eight weeks apart until the desired volume is added.
Side effects are usually minimal and not long-lasting, but may include small lumps or bumps, tenderness, swelling or bruising at the treatment site.
Sculptra Alternatives
While the long-lasting effects of Sculptra are unique, some dermal fillers such as Juvederm and Radiesse can be used to treat more mild depressions in the skin, like lines and wrinkles.
To learn more about how long-lasting Sculptra in Cincinnati can work to restore lost volume to your face, please contact Dr. Mandell-Brown to schedule a consultation.
