Dr. Alex attended a training workshop for Scultra Aesthetic at the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City on Tuesday February 25, 2020.
What is Sculptra Aesthetic?
Sculptra Aesthetic, or simply Sculptra, is an injectable product used to volumize the face. Unlike other fillers such as Juvederm, Voluma, Vollure, and Volbella which use hyaluronic acid as the active ingredient, the active ingredient in Sculptra is called poly-L lactic acid or PLLA. This is what’s called a biostimulator because it works by stimulating your body to make collagen. Hyaluronic acid fillers such as Juvederm, Voluma, Vollure, and Volbella work by drawing water into the skin, which fills the hollows and folds. Although these products also stimulate collagen production in the skin, they don’t do it as much as Sculptra. And since Sculptra works by stimulating your skin to form collagen, you won’t see the results right away. This is because collagen is a microscopic protein and it takes time for your body to produce enough of it so that it shows. You will notice an initial improvement from the Sculptra treatment, but that’s just from the water in the product. This gets absorbed by your body after a few days and your skin will go back to looking the way it was before the treatment. It takes months to see results from Sculptra. In fact, usually you will have three treatment sessions with Sculptra spaced one to two months apart. These are some of the reasons why patients prefer products such as Juvederm, Voluma, Vollure, and Volbella. With these hyaluronic acid products, you see your results right away. And you only need one treatment. Also, hyaluronic acid can be dissolved in case you don’t like the results. If you don’t like your results from Sculptra you have to wait a few years until it’s gone.
Sculptra can be used in different areas on the face and body. On the face, Sculptra is commonly used in the temples, cheeks, and jawline. On the body, Sculptra can be used to reduce the appearance of wrinkles in areas such as the chest, arms, and belly. Sculptra can also be used to improve the appearance of cellulite on the legs. One of the most popular uses of Sculptra currently is volumization of the butt. This can provide noticeable improvement but it requires a lot of product which can make the investment upwards of $50,000. Another outstanding use for Sculptra is to treat wrinkles and acne scars when combined with fractional lasers. Fractional lasers create tiny holes in the skin. This also leads to collagen formation. If Sculptra is applied to the skin immediately after a fractional laser, it can penetrate through the holes, get into the skin, and stimulate your body to make even more collagen. This is perhaps the best use of Sculptra.
The training was provided by Paradigm, a third-party company, and sponsored by Galderma, the company that makes Sculptra. There was a lecture by Dr. Alex’s friend and neighbor Dr. John Joseph followed by hands on training on live models. Other doctors who provided training included Dr. Michael Persky (another neighbor of Dr. Alex) and Dr. Keith Marcus. Dr. Alex was able to treat his model’s temples to fill in hollowing in the area. These educational events are outstanding opportunities for Dr. Alex to learn about all the new products and treatments in aesthetics. Dr. Alex is looking forward to the Los Angeles Multispecialty Cosmetic Academy conference in March in Los Angeles.
Dr. Alex has performed over 10,000 cosmetic treatments with many satisfied patients. Contact us to schedule an appointment for a free consultation with Dr. Alex in our Encino, CA office.