Sculptra Treatment New Orleans - What does Sculptra treatment involve?

Sculptra is an FDA approved dermal filler for improving facial lipoatrophy and aging. It is typically used for facial lines and folds such as nasolabial folds. Sculptra is also injected to enhance the cheeks and overall volume restoration of the aging face. It should not, however, be used in the lips. A patient considering Sculptra must understand that Sculptra is a unique dermal filler and that it requires multiple sessions over several months. Unlike other fillers, the injections show little improvement after just one session. Sculptra injection takes weeks or perhaps months to give the results but the good news it that the result lasts at least 2 years.

Indeed, Sculptra is a dermal filler that works quite differently from other fillers because it is a longer duration filler that takes longer for the effect to be noticed. It is not uncommon for a patient who has had Sculptra to not see the full benefits until after two to four sessions that are usually spaced six weeks apart, and after six months from the last injection. The good thing about Sculptra is that once the correction is attained, usually within six to seven months, the benefit lasts for as long as 24 months or more.

The reason that the injections are given over several sessions is to avoid the possibility of over-injection and an unsatisfactory cosmetic result. The anesthesia that is used for this procedure is two fold. First, the patient is treated with a topical anesthetic in order to minimize the perception of the needle. Secondly, the anesthetic is mixed with Sculptra in order to give a uniform anesthetic result after the injections are accomplished.

Sculptra is injected pan-facially excluding the perioral areas and can be used to improve temporal atrophy, which is seen from aging and lipoatrophy. The most common side effect or complication of this procedure is short term bruising from the needle sticks. The bruising can be minimized by the use of Prevedem topical lotion and avoidance of aspirin, blood thinners such as Plavix, herbal supplements such as vitamin E, and fish oil. Bruise Relief Serum also mitigates the bruising. The swelling that one sees initially from the Sculptra goes away after several days and it is not unusual for the patient not to see an appreciable difference from their pre-injection appearance initially. The treatment protocol for Sculptra is to treat and then for the physician to wait several weeks and assess the patient. This is normally done before subsequent treatments are planned.

Sculptra is a unique dermal thickening device that provides a very unique niche in cosmetic dermatology. It improves the overall turgor of the skin, the skin becomes firmer to the touch, the hollowing of the skin is improved, the overall face becomes softer and appears less gaunt, and the patient appears less tired. It is not a “line filler”, but rather a global volume restorative device. Dr. Lupo has been using this dermal filler since it was FDA approved in 2005 for facial lipoatrophy, and she has served on the original advisory board and advanced trainer for Sculptra since 2003.

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