Sculptra®

REVERSE LOSS OF Facial FULLNESS WITH SCULPTRA®

Dr. Gervais Fréchette has performed thousands of successful Sculptra® procedures in his offices in New York City and San Francisco.  With his unparalleled experience, he is overwhelmingly recognized as the industry leader in the administration of Sculptra® by top doctors all over North America.

Sculptra® is a safe and natural skin regeneration product with enduring effects.   Patients with mild facial wasting often require 3 to 5 treatments while those with more severe facial wasting require 5 to 7 or more treatments to achieve optimal results. Patients looking to Sculptra® as an answer for cosmetic filling usually need less treatments for ultimate effects but everyone is treated according to their individual objectives.

In a clinical study, after the first treatment session, effects lasted for up to 2 years or longer in most patients. The results from Sculptra® are not usually immediate but most patients with facial wasting do see noticeable improvement after only just 2-3 treatments. Sculptra® provides a gradual increase in skin thickness and treatments are usually spaced two to four weeks apart until optimal correction has been achieved.

It is important to note that over time, touch-up treatments are needed to maintain optimal effects. In Dr. Fréchette’s experience, patients never regress back to their pre-treatment appearance. Sixteen to twenty-four months after a patient’s last Sculptra® injection, patients will need an additional treatment for maintenance. Dr. Fréchette has also found that while some patients do not require any additional Sculptra® injections, others may require more treatment sessions.

SCULPTRA® FOR RECONSTRUCTION & FACIAL WASTING WITH LASTING RESULTS

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. It has been called a “liquid facelift” because adding volume to the malar and cheek areas lifts sagging areas of the atrophic face.

Sculptra® has been safely used outside the United States for both facial wasting and various cosmetic applications since 1999 in over 150,000 patients under the trade name New-Fill® now renamed Sculptra® ™.

Sculptra® (poly-L-lactic acid or PLA) is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for restoration and/or correction of the signs of facial fat loss (lipoatrophy). Until 2004, there were no products that had been approved by the FDA to treat facial lipoatrophy. However, that is all changing with the introduction of Sculptra® in the United States, offering an effective option to treat the effects of lipoatrophy as well as off-label use as the most effective facial filler for cosmetic uses. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/new01100.html

Sculptra®, or poly-L-lactic acid (PLA), is an FDA-approved dermal filler manufactured by Dermik Pharmaceuticals, which conducts the North American business of Aventis Dermatology, the global dermatology unit of Aventis (of Sanofi-Aventis). PLA was approved by the FDA on August 3, 2004, for the treatment of facial fat loss (also called facial lipoatrophy). It continues to be studied for this use. Read the press release about FDA Approval of Sculptra® for HIV Patients.

Facial lipoatrophy is a condition in which people lose fat in their faces, especially in their cheeks and around their eyes and temples. People with HIV who take or not anti-HIV drugs may develop facial lipoatrophy. PLA is injected into the skin in areas where the fat has been lost. It causes the skin to thicken via collagen neo-synthesis, correcting the appearance of folds and sunken areas, and correcting the fat loss. For most people who participated in PLA clinical studies, the effects of treatment lasted for two years or longer. PLA does not cure or prevent HIV infection or AIDS and does not reduce the risk of passing the virus to other people.

The original side effects of Sculptra® injections included the delayed appearance of small bumps under the skin in the treated area. Generally these bumps are not visible and were only noticed when pressing on the treated area. Other side effects, while rare, included bleeding, tenderness or discomfort, redness, bruising, or swelling.

Physicians primarily use PLA as a volume filler for lipoatrophy of cheeks in thin fit women or men who have lost facial fat.  It has been called a “liquid facelift” because adding volume to the malar and cheek areas lifts sagging areas of the atrophic face.

Visit the official Sculptra® website