Am I A Candidate For Sculptra at Young Age? I Have A Naturally Skinny Face I'd Like To Plump.

I recommend that you first see a board certified facial plastic surgeon for an evaluation.  You may be a good candidate for Sculptra. 

The truly wonderful thing about Sculptra is that it does not discriminate as to age, reason for volume deficiency or skin type or color.

As to fat deficiency that is genetic,  the volume replacement impact with Sculptra will give you similar results that you'd get from fat transfers. The entire premise of Sculptra from the beginning has been to restore volume lost as a result of what we call lipoatrophy  (fat loss).

The initial FDA approval was for treating immuno-compromised patients who suffered from sometimes profound fat loss.  The results were so staggering that it was almost immediately used "off label"  cosmetically for those who had fat loss from aging or genetically low percentage body fat.

The really great thing for you is that young people have a vibrant "collagen" factory so it takes far less product to get to the end point you wish. I  treat a lot of younger women with Sculptra, so a look at the gallery can give you an idea of how Sculptra can change the facial dynamics of younger patients.

Sculptra has a collagen stimulating effecton the deep tissues,so it increases the volume of where it is placed,usually close to the bone

The effect of Sculptra is usually gentle and onset is slow

In your case I think it is an excellent option

First,  discuss your facial appearance with trusted friends and family.  Make sure that others see the need for a "chubbier face." 

Then, if you still intend to pursue a treatment:

I would consider either Sculptra injections or fat injections, depending on the amount of volume that you need.  In fact, the two treatments may be complimentary over the long-term.  Keeping our face volumized is a maintenance issue, because as you age, you will then loose collagen and bone structure and will need to be re-injected to keep the volume.  Physicians love to treat patients that are pro-active about their ageing face because you can do a little every year to keep people looking natural and healthy.

Sculptra indeed builds brand new collagen in the areas of injection. This is very beneficial in younger people who show the earliest signs of aging, or were just born with some imbalance in their facial proportions (very common).

Sculptra has several distinct advantages over fat grafting:


Sculptra volume does does vary when your body fat fluctuates

Sculptra can be more precise than fat injections

Sculptra does not have the down time associated with fat grafting.


After correction, I find that maintenance treatments can be as few as once per year.

Sculptra is said to be helpful when you want to "gain weight but only in the face," and it's true.  Sculptra can be used to add volume to areas of the face that need it in order to change facial contours.

It's true that Sculptra stimulates new collagen deposition in the skin and not fat growth, but unfortunately we have no way of specifically inducing fat growth in a particular part of our body.  However, that can be accomplished by autologous fat transfer, where fat cells are taken from another part of the body, like the buttock, and reinjected into the face to add volume.

In general Sculptra works more effectively in younger individuals, as younger individuals generate more collagen in response to the Sculptra particles. So Sculptra should work well for you. Alternatively you may want to consider lipofilling or fat grafting. Even thin individuals should have more than enough fat to restore a nice natural appearing volume to the face. In our practice we are even able to store additional fat for repeated injections, in our Liquid Gold Lipobank, effectively making your own fat an off the shelf product similar to Juvederm, Sculptra etc, but with the advantage that it is your own tissue.

Sculptura is a facial volumizer so if you need to add some volume to your face, it is certainly worth considering. It works by stimulating your body to produce collagen. Younger patients usually respond more vigorously so you may not require more than one or two series of treatments to achieve your results. The results usually last for approximately two years. The full results are apparent three months after the last treatment.

Youth is on your side as Sculptra has been shown to be more effective stimulating collagen in younger individuals than in older patients. Sculptra treatment causes an increase in volume that is extremely gradual, starting 3 months after the injection and achieving a maximum at approximately 5 to 6 months post injection. Sculptra is gradually degraded into water and carbon dioxide over approximately 9 to 24 months. Newly formed collagen remains and the cosmetic augmentation has been noted to last up to at least 24 months. It should work well to give you the "plumpy" face you desire. Fat transplantation can be considered in the future if you like the look and want even greater volume.