9 September, 2022

What Is Sculptra? The Complete Beginner’s Guide

Fillers | Guides
ilustration waves
woman smiling 9 September, 2022

Table of Content

  • What Is Sculptra?
  • How Sculptra Works
  • Sculptra Uses
  • What to Expect in a Sculptra Treatment
  • Sculptra Safety Considerations

Sculptra is a cosmetic facial filler used to smooth wrinkles and restore a youthful appearance. While some fillers last only a few months, Sculptra is semi-permanent and slowly produces longer-lasting results.1 

What Is Sculptra?

Sculptra is an injectable soft tissue filler made of an absorbable compound called poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA).2 It’s injected into your skin to stimulate collagen production and restore the structure and volume lost from natural aging or illness.3 

PLLA is a man-made ingredient, but it’s compatible with your body, slowly breaking down and naturally absorbing over time.4 The medical field has used poly-l-lactic acid for years as dissolvable stitches and in meshes, plates, and bone screws.5 

The FDA first approved Sculptra in 2004 to treat facial fat loss in people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).6 Over the years, research and understanding evolved, and the filler is now available for cosmetic use in people with a healthy immune system. 

How Sculptra Works

Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body and is essential for your skin.7 It works with another protein called elastin to give your skin structure, strength, and stretch.8 As you age, your body normally makes less collagen, and the network of fibers deep in your skin becomes weak and disorganized.9 This contributes to sagging loose skin and wrinkles.10 

Sculptra injections stimulate your natural collagen production, which helps restore volume and fullness to your skin. The filler is injected into the second layer of your skin, where the PLLA breaks down into lactic acid monomers.11 

The lactic acid causes a local inflammatory response that triggers immune cells and new connective tissue cells called fibroblasts.12 These immune cells slowly digest the lactic acid while the fibroblasts make and deposit collagen fibers over time.13 The result is new tissue growth and plump, full, lifted skin.14

Sculptra Uses

Sculptra injections are a safe, non-surgical option for wrinkle correction and restoring volume in your face.15 

Smooth lines and wrinkles

Sculptra can smooth chin wrinkles, smile lines that reach from the side of your nose down around your mouth, and marionette lines that run from the corners of your mouth to your chin.16 These lines and wrinkles happen because of natural aging, but other factors like smoking, sun exposure, and severe stress can also contribute.17 

Most people will get lines and wrinkles eventually, but whether they’re mild, moderate, or severe, they can make you appear older than you are.18 Sculptra injections stimulate collagen production, slowly lift the skin, and give you a refreshed, more youthful appearance. 

Improve facial fat loss

Sculptra was approved initially for HIV patients.19 Anti-retroviral medications change fat distribution in your body and can cause progressive fat loss.20 It commonly affects the face and can lead to deep skin furrows and expression lines, which can make you look older and more unwell than you are.21 Sculptra injections revitalize collagen production and fill these furrows, restoring volume to the face. 

What to Expect in a Sculptra Treatment

Your Sculptra treatment will begin with an initial consultation where your doctor or injector examines your skin and reviews your medical history. During this appointment, you’ll go over the risks, side effects, and potential results, as well as how to prepare for injection and your recovery.22 

The actual injection usually takes only 15 to 30 minutes. Your doctor will cleanse your face and give you some numbing cream, and then carefully inject the Sculptra into your skin.23 

Cost

You’ll need between one and three Sculptra injections over a few months for the best results.24 Treatment costs can vary depending on your doctor’s experience and qualifications. However, the average Sculptra treatment costs $850 per syringe, and you might need multiple syringes.25

Sculptra injections are cosmetic treatments and aren’t covered by insurance or Medicare. However, if you have depression because of HIV-associated fat loss, insurance may cover Sculptra injections as medically necessary treatment.26  

Recovery time

There is little to no downtime from Sculptra injections. You can return to work and regular activities right away, though you should avoid strenuous exercise for the first 24 hours.27 Your doctor might also ask you to avoid sunlight and extreme temperatures for the first day.28 

Mild side effects are common and usually include temporary swelling, redness, and bruising. These can last up to a week and usually go away on their own.29 Allergic reactions, infection, or accidental injection into a blood vessel can also happen.30 

Sometimes you can get lumps and bumps under your skin after an injection. You can help prevent this by massaging the area for five minutes, five times a day, for five days after your treatment.31 These can also happen if an inexperienced or untrained provider doesn’t inject into the right layer of the skin or injects too much product.32 Make sure you only receive injections from a licensed healthcare professional with injectable filler training. 

Results

Because Sculptra slowly stimulates collagen, results appear over time.33 Your body absorbs about half of the injection within six months and the remaining amount over two years.34 You should see some changes in your skin within four to six months, and more will appear with time. Results vary but generally last around two years.35 

Sculptra Safety Considerations

While Sculptra injections are safe and effective, they’re not for everybody. You should not have a Sculptra injection if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you have a known allergy to poly-l-lactic acid or any other ingredients, you have severe allergies, you have an active infection or rash in your skin, or you have a history of keloid scars.36Sculptra is for people over age 18 who are in good health and want treatment for wrinkles, lines, and hollowness from weight loss or aging.37 If you have other medical conditions or take medications, you’ll need to talk to your doctor about whether Sculptra is appropriate. To learn more about cosmetic fillers, explore My Filler Treatment resources.

SOURCES:

  1. StatPearls: “ Poly-L-Lactic Acid.”
  2. American Academy of Facial Esthetics: “ Scultpra® Overview.”
  3. StatPearls: “ Poly-L-Lactic Acid.”
  4. U.S. Food & Drug Administration: “ FDA-Approved Dermal Fillers.”
  5. Aesthetic Surgery Journal: “Nonsurgical  Rejuvenation of the Aging Face With Injectable Poly-L-Lactic Acid for Restoration of Soft Tissue Volume.”
  6. U.S. Food & Drug Administration: “ Premarket Approval (PMA): Sculptra and Sculptra Aesthetic.”
  7. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: “ Collagen.”
  8. Cleveland Clinic: ” Elastin.“
  9. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: “ Collagen.”
  10. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: “ Collagen.”
  11. Aesthetic Surgery Journal: “Nonsurgical  Rejuvenation of the Aging Face With Injectable Poly-L-Lactic Acid for Restoration of Soft Tissue Volume.”
  12. Aesthetic Surgery Journal: “Nonsurgical  Rejuvenation of the Aging Face With Injectable Poly-L-Lactic Acid for Restoration of Soft Tissue Volume.”
  13. Aesthetic Surgery Journal: “Nonsurgical  Rejuvenation of the Aging Face With Injectable Poly-L-Lactic Acid for Restoration of Soft Tissue Volume.”
  14. Aesthetic Surgery Journal: “Nonsurgical  Rejuvenation of the Aging Face With Injectable Poly-L-Lactic Acid for Restoration of Soft Tissue Volume.”
  15. American Academy of Facial Esthetics: “ Scultpra® Overview.”
  16. Sculptra USA: “ What Is Sculptra?”
  17. Cleveland Clinic: “ Marionette Lines.”
  18. U.S. Food & Drug Administration: “ Premarket Approval (PMA): Sculptra and Sculptra Aesthetic.”
  19. Medscape: “ Lipodystrophy in HIV Treatment & Management.”
  20. Medscape: “ Lipodystrophy in HIV Treatment & Management.”
  21. Medscape: “ Lipodystrophy in HIV Treatment & Management.”
  22. American Board of Cosmetic Surgery: “ Injectable Fillers Guide.”
  23. American Board of Cosmetic Surgery: “ Injectable Fillers Guide.”
  24. American Society of Plastic Surgeons: “ How much do dermal fillers cost?”
  25. American Society of Plastic Surgeons: “ How much do dermal fillers cost?”
  26. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: “ Dermal injections for the treatment of facial lipodystrophy syndrome (FLS).”
  27. Galderma Laboratories L.P.: “ A Patient’s Guide to Treatment With Sculptra®.”
  28. Galderma Laboratories L.P.: “ A Patient’s Guide to Treatment With Sculptra®.”
  29. StatPearls: “ Poly-L-Lactic Acid.”
  30. StatPearls: “ Poly-L-Lactic Acid.”
  31. Aesthetic Surgery Journal: “Nonsurgical  Rejuvenation of the Aging Face With Injectable Poly-L-Lactic Acid for Restoration of Soft Tissue Volume.”
  32. Aesthetic Surgery Journal: “Nonsurgical  Rejuvenation of the Aging Face With Injectable Poly-L-Lactic Acid for Restoration of Soft Tissue Volume.”
  33. U.S. Food & Drug Administration: “ FDA-Approved Dermal Fillers.”
  34. StatPearls: “ Poly-L-Lactic Acid.”
  35. U.S. Food & Drug Administration: “ FDA-Approved Dermal Fillers.”
  36. Galderma Laboratories L.P.: “ A Patient’s Guide to Treatment With Sculptra®.”
  37. Galderma Laboratories L.P.: “ A Patient’s Guide to Treatment With Sculptra®.”

Related Articles