Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

By: Ruth Donnelly
Created on 03rd February 2011

In today’s fast-paced world, everyone’s looking for a quick fix. But patience is a virtue, and sometimes the best results take longer to appear

Ageing is an unavoidable fact of life and it manifests itself in various ways, but usually the face is the first place we really start to notice the telltale signs.

By now, we’re all familiar with the fact that volume loss is a major part of the ageing process, and various treatments – both surgical and non-surgical – have emerged over the past few years to help ease the problem.

However, there has been a lot of bad press recently concerning facial volumising procedures, with a number of celebs displaying the worrying signs of the ‘pillow face’ phenomenon, which has understandably put people off.

What we need is to find a way to regain that lost volume subtly and naturally – if you walk into a clinic with a gaunt face and come out half an hour later with artificially plumped up cheeks, then it is difficult to pretend you haven’t ‘had something done’, and that’s when the ‘pillow face’ problem arises.

Fat transfer and volumising fillers all have their place, but if you want a natural look, you have to be prepared to wait a little longer.

Re-define over time

Collagen is the substance your body produces to give your skin a firm and youthful appearance. The gaunt appearance that develops over time is caused by a number of factors, including a slowing down in the amount of collagen produced naturally.

Sculptra is a unique collagen replenishing treatment that helps to gradually and subtly reduce lines, wrinkles and folds. By helping to stimulate your own natural collagen production and restore lost volume, it can give you a fuller, more natural look that can last for up to 25 months.

Dr Tracy Mountford is the Medical Director of The Cosmetic Skin Clinic, in Harley Street and Buckinghamshire, and has over 20 years experience in facial rejuvenation techniques.

“Although I use traditional dermal fillers which give immediate benefit, I am increasingly turning to Sculptra to give natural volume replacement in selected patients.

"The ideal candidate for Sculptra treatment is a person who has lost the lovely soft, rounded features of youth; someone whose face is becoming more angular and gaunt in appearance. This can happen as early as the mid to late 30s. The beauty of Sculptra is that the patient still looks like themselves, just subtly fresher and more youthful.”

The official seal of approval

There are currently over 160cosmetic injectable treatments in the UK, of which only seven have received FDA approval in the States. In order to meet FDA standards, treatments have to undergo rigorous testing and it is a lengthy process.

Sculptra was FDA approved in 2004 for use as a medical device in the treatment of facial lipoatrophy in HIV patients, but it was only in July 2009 that it finally received the official seal of approval for cosmetic use.

Wendy Lewis, President of Wendy Lewis & Co Ltd, Global Aesthetics Consultancy explains: “Historically, dermal fillers have had the most difficult experience attaining FDA approval, even when an excellent long-term safety profile is available.

“The long awaited FDA approval for cosmetic indications is a milestone for the Sculptra brand. Sculptra was the first technology amongst rejuvenation treatments to create an entirely new category of tissue stimulators that are preventative as well as restorative... I expect to see a lot more doctors featuring Sculptra in their clinics now.”

So what is it?

Sculptra is an injectable form of poly-L-lactic acid – a biodegradable, biocompatible synthetic polymer from the alpha hydroxy acid family that has been widely used for many years in dissolvable stitches, bone screws and facial implants.

Sculptra is injected deeper than most dermal fillers, as it is not used to fill in lines, but to stimulate collagen production. Because of this, Sculptra takes time to work, with the results becoming noticeable after about six weeks.

It may appear to have an effect immediately after your first treatment visit, but this is because of swelling from the injections and the water used to dilute Sculptra.

When the swelling goes down after a few days and the water is absorbed by your body, you may look as you did before treatment until the results start to show themselves some weeks later. Don’t despair, however, because this is what makes the results so natural.

Interior designer and TV personality Anna Ryder Richardson, 46, is still seeing the benefits from her Sculptra treatments, which she had over a year ago. “The changes are so gradual that people don’t realise you’ve had anything done,” she explains.

“It wasn’t until I got to see my after photos that I could really see the difference myself! The change is amazing... I haven’t felt this confident about my skin for years – I feel I look 35 again!”

Where can I get it?

Only a qualified medical aesthetic practitioner who has completed the Sculptra training programme certified by Sanofi Aventis can perform the procedure.

“As with all medical cosmetic procedures, it is important to consult with a practitioner who is fully trained in the procedure and is performing a sufficient number of treatments,” says Dr Mountford.

“It is important for a patient to see ‘before and after’ photographs of procedures that a practitioner has performed and to have the opportunity to discuss the treatment in full. The main message is if you want a quick fix, Sculptra will not be the treatment for you. It is very much a procedure for those people who are happy to be patient for long term benefit.”

So if you feel your face is losing volume over time, take heart and remember that the best way to regain that natural, youthful firmness is to play the long game.