Finally a Use for Sculptra?

Sculptra has been one of the products that we have used and discarded. The advantage of Sculptra is that it is the longest lasting of the fillers, frequently lasting 2 years or more. The disadvantages of Sculptra have been many: it requires a series of injections and was slow to produce visible improvement; it can be expensive and it has a propensity to develop nodules, sometimes starting more than a year after the material was injected. Because there were other fillers that were less expensive, relatively long acting and produced immediate improvement without the same propensity for nodule formation, there seemed little reason to use Sculptra. Now there is a report from Brazil that describes new uses for Sculptra that allow it to treat problems that previously had no good solution.

The Ten Minute Nose Job

People who were born with lumpy or bumpy noses had, until recently, only one choice if they wanted to correct things. That was nose surgery, or rhinoplasty, a procedure that costs thousands of dollars and is said to be one of the most technique sensitive of the cosmetic procedures. Side effects, including excessive bleeding, loosening of the cartelage, irregularity and scarring occur in up to 18% of patients. Now, through the use of fillers, very nice results can frequently and easily be obtained through the use of fillers. Improvement of the shape of the nose through fillers is much less expensive than surgery, and has no downtime, when compared to the 6 week downtime of surgery. This filler can help people who are unhappy about the shape of their nose, but not those who are unhappy about the size.

Botox vs. Dysport

Now that Dysport has been on the US market for a bit more than a month, it's possible to make some preliminary comparisons. In general the products are very similar. We have used Dysport in a number of patients who previously had Botox. No one has had any complaints. In many patients the onset of effect is more rapid with Dysport, usually within a few days. The pre-marketing studies show that Dysport has the same potential side effects as Botox (mostly headache, lid droop and brow droop), and they occur with about the same frequency. In about 1/3 of Dysport patients, the effect seems to last longer than Botox, often by a month or two. That appears to have been seen in Europe too, where the average Botox patient comes in three times a year while the Dysport patient comes in twice yearly. Dysport has been available in Europe since 1991.