Sculptra for a gaunt face and hollow cheeks
When a face loses volume, through time or after rapid weight loss, it can look more tired than you feel. Sculptra® prompts your skin to rebuild its own collagen, gradually, over a course planned by a doctor.
How a face starts to look hollow
A full-looking face depends on what sits beneath the skin as much as on the skin itself. With age, the deepest layer loses structural support, which can show as hollows and, over time, sagging. Collagen is falling at the same time, by around 1% a year from our twenties, according to Galderma.
Weight loss can bring this forward. Dr Yasmin Tayeb, our founder, describes the fat pads in the cheeks becoming smaller, the eyes starting to look heavy and the face looking thinner and longer, even when the rest of the body has never felt better. She sees it in patients who have lost weight quickly, including those using GLP-1 medication, and the look is sometimes called Ozempic face.
Rebuilding support, not filling a gap
A hollow can be filled, and sometimes that is the right answer. Sculptra® takes a slower route. Your doctor places microparticles of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) in the deeper layers of the skin, where they trigger a controlled renewal response. Fibroblasts then get to work on new collagen and elastin, while the PLLA itself is gradually absorbed by the body.
That makes it a natural fit for a face that has lost volume broadly, where adding to one spot could look out of place. Galderma’s goals for the face are firmness, smoothness, volume, radiance and skin quality, working across all three skin layers, and it also reports “a positive impact on healthy fat”.
What Galderma reports
more type I collagen at three months, in Galderma’s studies
how long Galderma reports results lasting
said their results looked natural, two years after treatment
felt more confident, two years after treatment
All figures are Galderma’s, from its studies and patient survey, and are not specific to weight loss. Individual results vary.
When your face has not kept up with your progress
Galderma puts it plainly: “Weight loss can result in the loss of radiance.” Many people are delighted with what they have achieved and have no wish to undo it. They would simply like their face to look as well as they feel.
However the weight came off, through diet, exercise or GLP-1 medication, our conversation is about your face. Decisions about any medication stay with the clinician who looks after it. Do tell your doctor where you are in your journey, because it helps shape the plan.
Sculptra’s gradual pace can suit this moment: change arrives over months rather than overnight. For a wider view of the options, read our guide to your face after weight loss.
Volume, radiance and weight loss, from Galderma
How a course for the face is planned
Assessment
Your doctor studies your facial structure, your skin and any previous treatments, and maps where volume has gone.
Plan
You agree how much change you want. Galderma describes a typical course of around three sessions over several months; your vials and sessions are set individually.
Treatment
About 45 minutes. Early fullness is fluid and swelling that settles. Your doctor may prescribe a massage routine, commonly five minutes, five times a day, for five days.
Review
Collagen takes time, so your doctor judges the real result at review before deciding whether you need more.
Results at 12 months, from Galderma
These clinical photographs belong to Galderma and show its patients at 0 and 12 months. They are not Wellface patients, and the images are not specific to weight loss. Individual results vary.
What to weigh up
Sculptra is not a lip treatment, and because it is not hyaluronic acid it cannot be dissolved like a filler, which is why every treatment here is planned and injected by a doctor. If you would prefer a visible change on the day, compare the alternatives in our guide to collagen stimulators.
Swelling, tenderness, bruising and redness can occur and settle, and lumps or nodules can develop later. As with any facial injectable, rare vascular complications are possible, and our doctors work to emergency protocols. Whether Sculptra is suitable for you is checked at consultation. For the full story of how Sculptra works, from the science to the three layers of skin, see our main treatment page.
Pricing
Sculptra is priced per vial, and additional vials are discounted from the fourth. Your doctor plans the number of vials with you at consultation.
Prices include VAT.
Frequently asked questions
It can, for suitable patients. Sculptra does not fill a hollow directly. It prompts your skin to rebuild collagen and elastin, so support can build gradually over a course.
Any fullness right after a session is fluid and swelling, which settles. The real change builds over the following weeks and months as new collagen forms.
It is one of the options your doctor may discuss. Galderma talks about continuing your glow after weight loss with Sculptra, and your doctor will look at how your face has changed before advising.
There is no single rule, so talk it through with your doctor. Our doctors would rather see you early, if you feel your face is heading that way, than wait until it looks gaunt.
Yes. Your doctor needs your full medical history, including any weight-loss medication, before planning treatment. Decisions about the medication itself stay with the clinician who looks after it.
It depends on how much volume has been lost and the change you want, so we do not quote a number here. Your doctor plans this with you and confirms the cost before treatment begins.
Galderma reports results lasting more than two years. Everyone responds differently, so your doctor reviews your result before suggesting any maintenance.
Only our doctors, at our Cobham, Esher and Wimbledon clinics. Appointments take about 45 minutes, and your consultation and review are included.
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