Blog, Medical Spa Info & Tips
9 minute read
Sculptra and Other Treatments You Can Combine With It
Our faces can show every bit of our age. Looking in the mirror can highlight changes the years have brought—sagging skin, shallow to deep facial lines, hollowed cheeks, depressions, and indentations. However, there are ways to combat the signs of aging and give us more options than simply letting our appearance change. Capitis Medical & Aesthetics in Roseville and San Diego, California, has a lot of ways to help you look younger, like Sculptra.
What Is Sculptra?
Sculptra is a liquid form of poly-L-lactic acid, a kind of lactic acid made in a lab. Lactic acid is produced naturally in our bodies after exercise and is directed to our muscles when they’re low on oxygen because of strenuous activity. When the synthetic version is injected into the skin, it works very well to make collagen grow.
Collagen, found in connective tissue, is the most common protein in the human body. It also makes skin plump, smooth, and elastic (quick to bounce back). Also, collagen helps make elastin, which keeps the shape of the skin, and hyaluronic acid makes the skin soft and keeps it from drying out. Unfortunately, as we age, our collagen production slows. It’s thought we lose 1% of our collagen beginning at age 18 and declining steadily.
Sculptra is different from other fillers because it makes your body slowly replace lactic acid with collagen. Other fillers fill the spaces left by wrinkles with another substance. The tissue gradually fills in the hollow areas of your face, giving you a more youthful, whole appearance. It is FDA approved and contains no animal by-products or human DNA.
What to Expect
During a consultation with your provider, you’ll discuss your areas of concern. Your medical and aesthetic professional will discuss how this treatment may benefit you and the timeline of results you can expect. The treatment requires no pre-testing or prep time from you. You receive each treatment in the office, and most clients report they can return to their daily routines immediately.
To make sure you are as comfortable as possible during the treatment, many providers will put a small amount of a topical numbing agent on the area. You will then be injected with the solution in the agreed-upon areas. Most patients report being surprised by how easy the experience is during treatment, and you may take some ice home to use in case of any minor soreness.
On average, clients need about three sessions over several months, with about six weeks between treatments. However, the number of treatments and time between them vary depending on the client, desired results, and face structure. Your aesthetic provider will determine the best treatment for your individual needs.
Results
Results take time with Sculptra treatment. Remember, this isn’t a typical filler where voids are immediately filled with a replacement substance. Instead, this is a bio-activator that instructs your body to fill in lines and hollows. Some patients say they saw results soon after their first treatment, but you will see the best results between four and nine months. After that, you’ll notice positive changes in your face from the previous therapy until you achieve the best results.
Unlike other derma fillers, these results can last up to two years. 80% of clients report continued satisfaction with their results after 25 months. The lactic acid from the injections is gone after about two years, but the remaining collagen can extend those results.
Am I a Good Candidate?
The FDA first approved Sculptra for people who had lost volume in their faces because of illness. Anyone who has lost volume or has a hollow look because of age, weight loss, or genetics can use it. The sunken cheeks and the temple area are the most common areas to be treated, but there are other prosperous treatment areas.
Clients who want their chin, jawline, and chest to look like they did when they were younger say the results are excellent and last. Sculptra treatment is now commonly used to reverse the signs of aging by filling in wrinkles and folds that cause smile lines, wrinkles around the nose and mouth, and lines on the chin.
If you want long-term results in any of these areas, you must consult a specialized professional who can guide you to the right treatment plan.
Other Treatments
Because Sculptra doesn’t work right away, it’s common for people to combine it with other injectables that do work right away. If you want different layers of results, talk to your medical and beauty expert about other treatments that may pair well. Together, you can develop your individualized course of treatment and a timeline that makes sense for your desired results.
Other Dermal Fillers
Other dermal fillers might be a solution for patients looking for more immediate results. Because aging breaks down our collagen production, our skin is more likely to develop creases and folds because the structure that once made our skin elastic slowly reduces.
If you have any of the following problems, you and your beauty expert may decide that you need other dermal fillers:
- A downturn of the corners of your mouth
- Thinning lips
- Deep creases along the sides of your nose
- Lines and wrinkles in your forehead
- Depressions in your skin because of scarring
BOTOX
BOTOX is one of the most sought-after ways to turn back the signs of aging. But unfortunately, this treatment tends to work best on the upper part of the face. BOTOX is a neurotoxin that has been cleaned and filtered. It works by stopping repeated, deep movements that cause wrinkles. Over time, your face is subject to the facial expressions you make, and when the same muscles make the same movements over the decades, your skin shows the result.
BOTOX works by blocking the neurotransmitters in targeted muscles to slow or temporarily stop their range of motion. When this happens, the muscles relax, and the skin that’s been used to the repeated movements smooths out. Of course, results are temporary, but the more touch-up treatments patients get, the smoother the wrinkles become and the better their long-term results.
Non-Injectable Treatments
Fighting the signs of aging can sometimes mean targeting volume loss or deep-set lines. Age can reveal itself through:
- Sun damage
- Uneven skin texture
- Uneven skin tone
- Fine lines and wrinkles
- Acne scars
- Stretch marks
Your medical & aesthetic professionals will have many innovative treatments to address your concerns.
Microneedling
Microneedling uses a small, handheld wand containing hair-thin, medical-grade needles. The device gently passes over your skin, and as it does, it creates micro-channels. These tiny pinpricks start your body’s natural way of healing, which makes it make more collagen. The collagen then fills in fine lines and concave acne scars.
The new collagen that fills in the skin’s surface improves its texture and evens out its tone, leaving clients with a more youthful appearance. This treatment is appropriate and effective for all skin tones and types as long as there isn’t an active acne breakout.
On the day of the treatment, a local anesthetic will be put on the skin to ensure you are as comfortable as possible. After the procedure, soothing moisturizer and sunscreen may be used, but because it is not too invasive, most people can return to normal activities immediately. Sometimes, a course of treatment is advised depending on the results desired.
Dermalinfusion
An exfoliating treatment may address many of those concerns for anyone suffering from skin imperfections. This non-invasive treatment combines everything your skin is craving—exfoliation, pore cleansing, and a nourishing serum all in one.
Exfoliating can be an excellent stand-alone treatment for those wanting a boost to their skin’s appearance or as an add-on to other treatments like microneedling to boost their results. A small, pen-like device is moved along the skin during this quick, painless, and non-invasive treatment. This device buffs and exfoliates the skin at the same time, deep cleaning the pores and putting serums into the skin.
Skin that looks healthy and glows almost immediately gets the best results. At the end of a consultation with a skincare professional, you will get a treatment plan that includes customized exfoliation sessions to help you reach your goals.
PRP
Treatments may be the way for those not yet ready for injectables or wanting a more natural approach to treatment, such as PRP or platelet-rich plasma. PRP is taken from your own body through a simple blood draw. The growth factors are then isolated from your blood and applied to your face. The PRP in your blood stimulates the stem cells in your skin that have been lying dormant.
The newly activated stem cells grow new and younger-looking skin, allowing you to enjoy a more youthful appearance through an innovative, safe, and effective treatment. With a PRP treatment, you may enjoy the results of:
- Younger-looking color because of new blood vessel formation
- Smoother skin
- A more youthful, firmer appearance
These treatments take only 60–90 minutes and require no downtime.
Thermoclear
Fine lines and wrinkles are imperfections we’d like to eliminate from our complexion. Many people have different kinds of harmless skin problems that can be fixed with this treatment:
- Skin tags
- Sun and age spots
- Spider capillaries
- Keratosis
- Fibromas
- Milia
- Cholesterol deposits
- Cherry angioma
Thermoclear is a non-invasive radio, high-frequency technology that penetrates only the top layer of the skin. It’s a fast and effective way to remove these imperfections. Most patients see instantaneous results after just one session. Your beauty and medical specialists may recommend this treatment after discussing your areas of concern.
A Consultation Is All It Takes
When you change your outlook on age and how it affects your face, your whole life can change. When typical aging and skin problems are fixed, patients’ moods improve, their self-esteem and confidence go up, and social situations that used to make them nervous no longer do.
Through treatments like Sculptra and others that help people look younger again, clients feel like they are in charge of how they age on the outside. Contact the medical and aesthetic professionals at Capitis Medical & Aesthetic in Roseville, CA, today. We are committed to providing each client with individualized attention and care.