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Collagen found in your skin decreases by about 1% per year during adulthood. By the age of 45, you may have lost around 25% of your skin’s collagen. Eeek.
How much, and the quality of, collagen produced is a key player in how our skin looks and feels as we age. Collagen acts as your skins support structure and as we lose it with age the structure of your skin becomes weaker… causing lines and wrinkles to appear, as well as reducing your skin’s moisture, firmness, and elasticity.
This is where Sculptra can step in.
Beyond wrinkle filling, Sculptra can be a game changer when it comes to rejuvenating your appearance, stimulating your skin’s natural collagen for a gradual, radiant transformation.
It’s ideal for those who want results that are natural, but noticeable… you know the kind where people say: “wow you look well, have you been on holiday?”, rather than “you look good, what exactly have you had done?”.
With Sculptra, you can say farewell to abrupt changes. Let’s embrace the subtle yet profound impact Sculptra can have on your natural beauty as I take you through this rejuvenating skin treatment…
Natural Collagen Hit: The Science Behind Sculptra
The key to Sculptra results is an ingredient called Poly-L-Lactic Acid (PLLA). During your Sculptra treatment, your medical practitioner reconstitutes, aka brings to life, the Sculptra ingredients by mixing it with sterile water. This suspends the PLLA so that it can be carefully, and strategically injected into the skin. Once it’s in your skin, PLLA stimulates your fibroblast cells to create an abundance of strong and healthy new collagen. Once it’s done its job, your body breaks down the PLLA and removes it so that all you’re left with in your skin is your very own, new network of collagen. Hooray!
Sculptra is classed as a bio-stimulator. A bio-stimulator is, in basic terms, a wake-up call for your skin; a gentle nudge encouraging it to make lots more collagen.
Gradual Transformation: Having Realistic Expectations
One of the things our patients love about Sculptra here at our Hertfordshire skin clinic is the GRADUAL transformation that happens to their appearance. Unlike traditional hyaluronic acid-based dermal fillers which offer instant results, Sculptra results appear once your body has finished creating beautiful new collagen.
This is ideal for those who don’t want any tell-tale signs of treatment, just natural-looking results that gradually build.
We would recommend having a consultation and starting your Sculptra treatments 6 months prior to when you want your results to be showing, should you be seeking treatment for an event such as a wedding.
See our Sculptra before and after photos here to see what one of our patients achieved in a 5-month period.
Beyond Filling: The Beauty of Sculptra
Although some call Sculptra a filler, besides both being injectable treatments that can build volume, that’s really as far as the similarities go; you should not expect Sculptra to instantly fill a wrinkle nor instantly rebuild volume. The type of volume that Sculptra rebuilds is WITHIN your skin. With Sculptra, we’re talking about skin quality.
Dermal fillers on the other hand will rebuild volume that has been lost in the fat pads, so we’re talking about the structure of your face. The results of dermal fillers and Sculptra can beautifully complement each other but should not be mistaken for each other.
Longevity: Time to Enjoy Your Sculptra Results
One of the most frequently asked questions is how long does Sculptra last? Sculptra offers long-lasting results.
As with all rejuvenating skin treatments, it’s important to bear in mind that the treatment does not stop the ageing process… your skill will continue to age after your treatment, however, your Sculptra results will pull your skin back in its ageing timeline so that you’ve almost started again at a better, more youthful place. If you want to continue enjoying your results, you’ll need to have maintenance treatments.
Clinical studies have shown that Sculptra offers sustained improvements to the skin that last up to 2 years. In fact, 100% of patients in the trial showed ‘aesthetic improvement’ for up to 2 years. Now, this doesn’t mean that you’ll maintain the exact same results that you have in the time soon after your final treatment session; as I mentioned, your skin will continue ageing gradually.
To get a better understanding of the results around the 2-year mark after treatment, please check out the Sculptra before and after photos below. You’ll be able to see that after 25 months, her signs of ageing have not reverted to the severity of the ‘before’ photo, but she doesn’t look quite as rejuvenated and refreshed as in the 3rd image where she’d had 2 treatments:
Safety First with Sculptra
A consultation is very important when it comes to any type of medical-aesthetic treatment. During this appointment, your practitioner should be able to tell you if you’re a good candidate for Sculptra and, if not, discuss any alternative treatments for you to consider. As with all treatments, there will be benefits and possible side effects to consider before committing to treatment so be prepared to come back on a different day to have your Sculptra treatment so that you’ve had time to digest all the information given to you during your consultation.
When looking for a practitioner to have your Sculptra treatment prioritise practitioner qualifications and skill rather than focusing on small differences in Sculptra price. My advice would be to seek a medically trained practitioner, for example, a doctor or nurse. Medical professionals will have a comprehensive understanding of the anatomy and be able to reduce risks, as well as be trained and equipped to deal with complications should they arise, no matter how rare.
Sculptra Cost: What Price is Right?
As I touched upon above, please don’t fixate on small differences in cost when it comes to Sculptra. As with all medical aesthetic skin treatments, the priority should always be safety and skill.
If you get a Sculptra cost that is far lower than others from a similar location, it might be wise to question why it’s drastically lower: how many vials of Sculptra are they planning on using will impact the cost and your result. Are they truly using the Sculptra product, sourced from a legitimate distributor? Have they performed many treatments? What are their qualifications? Do they offer any kind of aftercare support?
The cost of your Sculptra treatment may be different to that of someone else because the treatment is tailored entirely to your needs and will be based on the number of Sculptra vials and sessions that you require.
As a rule, patients will need 1 vial of Sculptra for each decade of their life. Of course, there will be variables in this as skin ageing is not only intrinsic, where your DNA plays a part in how you age, but also extrinsic, where your lifestyle impacts your skin’s ageing. A 50-year-old who has religiously protected their skin from the sun, never smoked, and has a good skincare regime may need a different number of vials in comparison to another 50-year-old who has sun damage, historically not had a skincare regime, previously smoked, and has a poor diet, for example.
In our experience, most patients looking for facial rejuvenation often require 3 to 6 vials of Sculptra, spread across a few treatment sessions.
At the time of writing, the cost of Sculptra at our Hertfordshire, UK clinic is £750 for 2 vials in your first session, and £600 for 2 vials in subsequent sessions thereafter. An accurate, full Sculptra cost will be given to you during your consultation when you’ve been assessed, and the recommended number of vials discussed.
The Sculptra cost is not the lowest of all the aesthetic treatment options available, but the treatment does offer long-lasting results that you may not achieve with other treatments which have less longevity and require more frequent maintenance, and therefore additional cost.
At our skin clinic, maintenance treatment is recommended approximately every 18 months should the patient wish to maintain their results; this will be led by the patient as everyone’s requirements are different, however, we suggest between 1-year post-treatment, and not leaving it later than 2 years.
The Next Step to Better Skin
If you think that Sculptra looks like an interesting treatment and you’re wondering if it would be a good option for your skin, we’d recommend a no-obligation consultation with one of our medical practitioners who are experienced in Sculptra, amongst other rejuvenation treatments. They’ll assess your skin, listen to your unique requirements and goals, and discuss the best treatment options for you which may include Sculptra, should you be a good candidate.
Booking a consultation at our Hertfordshire skin clinic is easy, complete a contact form here and we’ll be in touch shortly to discuss the process with you and arrange your consultation.
Please note that the prices stated are correct at the time of publication and the Clinic is at liberty to change these prices at any time without given warning. It’s the patient’s responsibility to confirm the price of their treatments prior to the procedure and not base their choices on the information given here.
Disclaimer: This blog is not to be used for diagnostic purposes. We are all unique which means that our results, recovery and suitability for any type of treatment will vary. Always seek the advice of a professional should you have any health or cosmetic concerns or to discuss treatments specifically for you.
