Sculptura Newly Approved for Cosmetic Purposes

The filler, Sculptura, is in the news again, not because it's new, but because it’s been just recently FDA approved for cosmetic reasons, and particularly as a filler along the nasolabial lines and the marionette lines below the corners of the mouth. We’ve been using Sculptura as a filler since it was approved in 2004 for facial wasting, and facial wasting means large loss of fat in the face which usually happens either in people who are malnourished and, particularly, in patients who suffer from HIV. As a result, their cheeks got sunken all the way in, looking a little bit like this. Up until this point, Sculptura couldn’t be advertised to doctors or to patients because it wasn’t FDA approved for cosmetic purposes but now that it is, you’re reading more about it, and you’re seeing advertisements for it.

Let me tell you why we love Sculptura as a filler. It has two main differences. First of all, it lasts 2-3 years as opposed to most fillers which only last six months or nine months and, secondly, it’s very, very effective for filling large, broad areas such as a sunken-in cheek or even broad areas that are sunken in below the corners of the mouth. It takes 2 or 3 treatments but the effects do last—they build gradually and they do last for 2-3 years. A lot of patients love the fact that they don’t see instant results but rather that it builds gradually because it’s a more natural correction. Paradoxically, despite the fact that Sculptura is injected deeper into the skin, it hurts less and the treatments are faster. Besides using it to fill broad areas in the face, you can also use Sculptura for broad areas like on the back of the hand. Where, again as a the result of the loss of fat, you can now see veins and tendons, and the skin looks very wrinkled. Consumers love the results they get with Sculptura because they’re long lasting and they look very natural. And now that it’s been FDA-approved for cosmetic purposes, while its efficacy isn’t going to change, it’s just going to make it a lot less confusing for consumers to be able to have the benefits of this really, really good filler.