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  • Adding Facial Volume Is Like "Adding Fertilizer To Facial Collagen"
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Dr. Stephen Prendiville: Hello, this is Dr. Stephen Prendiville. I'm a facial plastic surgeon located in Fort Myers, Florida; beautiful Southwest Florida. And today we're going to discuss adding facial volume.

One of the unfortunate signs of aging or symptoms of aging essentially, is that we lose volume in the face. And this can be lost both in the bony tissues, such as in the maxilla where we lose bone, and also loss of soft tissue in the face. Basically there's both the deflation of the soft tissues, and also descent.

And basically, facial volumizers are designed to add volume. That can be done gradually or can be done immediately. Now the facial volumizer I've had the most experience with, because it's been available in this country for longer is Sculptra, which is made out of L-Polylactic acid. And my description of it to my patients is that it's a way to add collagen to the face, similar to adding - basically, it's like fertilizer for collagen in the face. And so we're able to, over two to three treatment sessions, add volume gradually to achieve an end result at two to three months.

The newest facial volumizer is Juvederm Voluma XC, which is made out of a very thick form of Hyaluronic acid to add volume immediately. Again, patients have been very satisfied with this, and we've had several months experience with this at this point, and my patients have generally been very satisfied. Obviously, the difference between the two is the composition - what they're made out of - and when they add the volume. Sculptra is gradual, and Voluma is right away.

Another advantage of Voluma is potentially it can be reversed if you didn't like it. Although that's not something we typically have to do.

I prefer these products over fat because fat can be less predictable. And when I say predictable, we're not sure how much is going to take or actually provide an aesthetic result. And so for these reasons, I really feel very comfortable with Voluma, and also with Sculptra in adding facial volume.

Adding Facial Volume Is Like "Adding Fertilizer To Facial Collagen"

Dr. Stephen Prendiville provides a description of Sculptra and Voluma, two facial volumizers he prefers to use in his practice to plump the face non-surgically by promoting the natural production of collagen.