Scupltra After Face Lift

I would rec. waiting until the swelling has subsided for symmetry reasons. If you have some residual swelling from the facelift and you start down the path of sculptra, you may have some asymmetry later. So I always rec. atleast 6 months of wait time after facelift before embarking on adjunctive facial procedures, including sculptra and fillers.

By 6 months time the residual swelling has subsided. 6 months may be on the conservative side, but it would be worth the wait rather than chasing one side because you have more volume than the other.

Hope that helps.

You should consider have a fat transfer done during the Facelift procedure.  This will help to avoid the "hollowness" that you are mentioning.  You should also ask your plastic surgeon what they recommend for your individual case.  Fat transfers are very common during the Facelift.  If you have already had the Facelift you can still do a transfer post operatively under local anesthesia or even IV sedation.

After surgery, you will need time to allow your face to heal and for the swelling to resolve. I would suggest waiting 3 months after your surgery before starting Sculptra.

Most patients seeking volumetric correction of their face as well as tightening will have fat transfer at the same time.  Fat transfer offers some advantages over Sculptra in that it is a transfer of live fat cells and can create a stem cell affect.  

If fat transfer is not an option for you, Sculptra can be injected anytime during the recovery of a facelift, with most patients receiving an injection several months after a facelift.

In my opinion, concurrent use of Sculptra with Facelift is an acceptable practice.  The volume production that occurs with Sculptra does not manifest itself for 3 weeks or more. During this time frame, the generalized swelling from Facelift is gradually subsiding (albeit not completely).  Sculptra often takes two to three treatments spaced over the course of several months to achieve meaningful results.

I would wait a considerable amount of time before using sculptra after a facelift.  I would recommend around 6-12 months.  The allow all the edema to resolve and tissues to soften so that the true deficit can be evaluated and the appropriated treatment rendered.

Dr. ES

There are two issues to consider, the timing after a face lift and where in the face to inject.  It is safe to inject after about a month, assuming normal healing process.  Sculptra can create nice rejuvenating correction to thinning face, but make sure your doctors discusses with you the likelihood of corrections of your lower lids with this modality.

Swelling will obscure the particular need for fillers after a facelift.  Most of the swelling will be gone in 4-6 weeks and fillers might then be a consideration. 

As others have already mentioned, one should wait until you are appropriately healed from the face lift surgery. Generally, a waiting period of 2-3 months may be appropriate for hyaluronic acid fillers (Restylane or Juvederm), while 6 months or longer time may be necessary for injections of Sculptra or Radiesse.
Botox cosmetic injections may be given earlier than facial injectable fillers, if adequate healing has occured.
Before any supplemental facial treatment, speak to your face lift surgeon first.

There are many fillers that are available for use in the face. Sculptra is FDA approved for use in HIV patients with facial wasting. It is performed off-label for other areas in the face.
Sculptra is made of poly-l-lactic acid, a substance that is reactive, or irritating to human tissues. The human body sometimes walls off the substance, particularly when it is placed close to the surface or under thin skin such as that of the lower eyelids. I have seen many permanent problems that have resulted when Sculptra is used in the tear trough area or lower eyelids. The problems are usually related to firm lumps below the eyes. These lumps must often be surgically removed when they do not dissolve.
Many patients are happy with Sculptra. The satisfaction rate on RealSelf at the time of this post was 58%, not overwhelmingly high but not a disaster. The main complaints seem to center on long-term lumpiness.
For under eye hollowness, and for hollowness around the face, we prefer using LiveFill, untraumatized tissue obtained from the patient's own tissues, which is then inserted into areas of hollowness. In skilled hands, fat injection is a fine filler, although uneven take still nags this procedure. For temporary filling, we prefer hyaluronic acid products such as Juvederm, Restylane, Perlane or Prevelle (all different hyaluronic acid formulations) depending on the patient and the area requiring augmentation. The complication rate from these fillers, which last from 4 months to 12 months, depending on the patient and the location, is very low. The chance of a permanent complication from these substances is almost nonexistent.
Because of the relatively high complication rate we have seen from Sculptra, we don't use Sculptra in our practice, and do not recommend it around the eyes or in the tear trough area.