We’re now in Belgravia, SW1. Two London locations, one standard of care.

We’re now in Belgravia, SW1. Two London locations, one standard of care.

We’re now in Belgravia, SW1. Two London locations, one standard of care.

4.8 / 5

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200,000

Satisfied patients

Trusted by patients across the UK for medical & aesthetic care

CQC rated Good

Inspected April 2026 – Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led

Save Face Accredited Clinic

Committed to safer aesthetic treatments

27 years

Of Clinical Experience

Established in 1999

We have offered Sculptra at Bodyvie since 2001. We prepare and place it the way twenty-five years of using it has taught us, and we assess every case individually at consultation. It suits patients with a previous treatment history of Sculptra and no history of granulomas best of all, and that is who we most often treat with it. Where another biostimulator is the better answer we will say so, and for many people that is Juläine. This page explains why.

What Sculptra is

Sculptra is a collagen biostimulator made from poly-L-lactic acid, a material used in medicine for decades in dissolvable sutures and implants. It has been in clinical use in Europe since 1999, which makes it the longest-established product of its kind.

It does not add volume the way a dermal filler does. It is injected into the skin, where the poly-L-lactic acid prompts your own fibroblasts to lay down new collagen over the following months. The change is gradual and cannot be reversed, which is why the assessment beforehand matters so much.

A course is usually two to three sessions, four to six weeks apart, with results developing over three to six months and lasting around two years.

Skin collagen peaks somewhere between twenty-five and thirty-four, then falls by roughly one per cent a year for the rest of your life. A biostimulator does not fill a line. It asks your own fibroblasts to make collagen again, which is why it suits people who would rather stay ahead of that decline than chase it.

Using Sculptra since 2001

Bodyvie has offered Sculptra since 2001. Very few clinics in the country can say that, and here it matters more than it usually would.

A collagen biostimulator is not a treatment you can judge on the day. The result develops over months, and the complication that matters most, late nodules, can appear a year or more after treatment. You only learn how a product really behaves by using it across a lot of patients over a long period and following them up properly.

We have done that. So what follows is not caution about a product we do not know well. It is the opposite.

Where the evidence comes from

Sculptra was not developed as a cosmetic product. Its first approval, granted by the FDA in August 2004, was for facial lipoatrophy in people with HIV, the severe and sometimes near-total loss of facial fat that older antiretroviral drugs could cause. Approval for cosmetic use did not follow until July 2009, five years later.

That history matters when you are judging what poly-L-lactic acid can actually do, but the figures need reading carefully. In the VEGA study, fifty patients with HIV-related facial lipoatrophy, whose median facial fat thickness at the outset was zero, gained a mean 6.8mm of total cutaneous thickness, still measurable at ninety-six weeks. That is a large gain because there was a great deal to replace, and it is not the result a cosmetic patient should expect. What it establishes is the more basic point, and the one that does carry over: the material is absorbed, and collagen is laid down in its place.

What carries across to ordinary cosmetic use is more modest and better matched to it. A 2025 review in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal reports that ultrasound typically shows increased dermal thickness within twelve weeks of treatment, and that tissue staining confirms an increase in type I collagen, laid down in denser and better organised bundles than before. That is the change you are paying for, and it builds over months rather than appearing on the day.

None of this makes Sculptra a treatment for HIV, and we do not offer it as one. The point is narrower: the product earned its evidence restoring volume in faces where almost all of it had gone.

Those same lipoatrophy trials are also where the honest picture of the risk comes from. Blue Pacific reported papules in 13.1 per cent of patients. That was a heavier treatment course than cosmetic use, so the figure is a cautious one, and it sits inside the range described below.

Poly-L-lactic acid was approved on the strength of what it could rebuild in faces that had lost almost everything. Age-related volume loss is a far gentler version of the same problem.

Why we use it cautiously

That evidence matches what we have seen since we began using it in 2001, and it shapes how we use it now. Three things follow.

None of this is a criticism of Sculptra. It is a product we have used since 2001 and still offer. It is a statement about technique, which is where the evidence says the difference actually lies, and we would rather explain that openly than present it as a settled question.

When Sculptra is the right choice

There are good reasons to choose it.

The track record is the main one, the product’s and ours. More than twenty-five years of clinical use and published data is not nothing, and some people want the option with the longest history behind it. That is a perfectly sound basis on which to decide.

In practice that is who Sculptra is for here. If you have had it before, did well on it, and can evidence that treatment history, there is a good argument for staying with what worked. Bring the detail to your consultation, including who treated you and when.

Bodyvie was one of the first clinics in London to offer Sculptra. We have been established for twenty-seven years and have used Sculptra since 2001, for twenty-five of them.

When we would suggest Juläine instead

We also offer Juläine of Sweden, a newer poly-L-lactic acid biostimulator, and for many people it is the more practical choice.

The clearest difference is aftercare. Sculptra requires the five-five-five protocol: five minutes of massage, five times a day, for five days, and some practitioners ask for longer. That is twenty-five minutes a day at five separate points in the day, and it exists to stop the product clumping. With Juläine the doctor massages the area once at the end of treatment and the patient does nothing.

Juläine also contains lidocaine, so treatment is more comfortable, and it arrives ready to use, which removes the preparation variable entirely.

Our full comparison of the two sets out the differences honestly, including where Sculptra is stronger.

Neither is a dermal filler

This is the most common misunderstanding and it changes whether either product is right for you.

A hyaluronic acid filler places volume where you put it, immediately, and can be dissolved if you do not like it. A collagen biostimulator does not place volume. It asks your skin to rebuild its own, slowly, across an area rather than at a point, and it cannot be reversed. If you have a specific hollow you want corrected, a filler is usually the better answer.

What it costs

Sculptra is £950 per vial at both our Richmond and Belgravia clinics. The number of vials is assessed at consultation.

A doctor consultation is £50 and is redeemable in full against the cost of your treatment. If we conclude Sculptra is not appropriate for you, we will say so, and in most cases that means suggesting Juläine instead.

That is above what many London clinics charge, and deliberately so. A hyper-diluted protocol takes longer, uses more material, and the assessment has to be done properly rather than quickly. We price it for how we do it. For comparison, Juläine is £950 per session, or £2,550 for a course of three.

Where we treat

Sculptra is available at both our London clinics, at the same price and to the same protocol. Sculptra in Richmond, 133-135 Kew Road, TW9 2PN. Sculptra in Belgravia, 11A West Halkin Street, SW1X 8JL.

Who performs it

Sculptra is a doctor-led treatment at Bodyvie. Dr Vadim Corjos treats at both Belgravia and Richmond. Dr Andrew Weber and Dr Dara Suite treat at Richmond.

Whoever treats you assesses you first and will tell you plainly if a biostimulator is not what your face needs.

Related reading

Frequently asked questions

Do you offer Sculptra at Bodyvie?

Yes, and we have done since 2001. Suitability is assessed at consultation with the treating doctor. It suits patients who have had it before, with a treatment history we can see, who did well on it and who have no history of granulomas following it. Where Juläine is the better answer we will say so. That position comes from using Sculptra since 2001 and following patients up.

Why do you hyper-dilute Sculptra?

Because both the published evidence and our own experience point at dilution as the main driver of nodule risk. A 2026 review found a nodule rate of 1.3 per cent with a high-dilution protocol against 8 per cent with standard dilution, and found massage alone was not enough. Our vials are reconstituted two days ahead with 7ml of sterile water, with 3ml of lidocaine added on the day, ten millilitres in all. That is now Galderma’s own protocol, and we were already preparing it that way before Galderma changed the guidance, on the strength of using Sculptra since 2001 and following our own patients up.

How much does Sculptra cost?

£950 per vial at both Richmond and Belgravia. The number of vials is assessed at consultation. A doctor consultation is £50, redeemable in full against treatment.

Why is your Sculptra more expensive than other London clinics?

Because we do it differently. Many London clinics charge £450 to £800 a vial for a standard preparation. We hyper-dilute, which takes longer and uses more material, and every case is assessed individually at consultation rather than sold from a menu. We price it for the way we actually deliver it.

Do I have to do the five-five-five massage?

Yes, if you have Sculptra. The protocol is five minutes of massage, five times a day, for five days, and some practitioners ask for longer. It exists to distribute the product and reduce the chance of nodules. If that is not realistic for you, say so at consultation, because Juläine requires no massage at all and may be the better choice.

What are the risks?

Nodules and late granulomas are the recognised complication of poly-L-lactic acid, reported in between 2 and 14 per cent of cases depending on technique. Others include bruising, swelling, tenderness and, rarely, vascular occlusion, which is a risk with any injectable. These are discussed properly at consultation.

How long do results last?

Around two years following a full course. The collagen your skin builds is your own tissue, but collagen loss continues with age, so maintenance is usually suggested.

Can Sculptra be dissolved if I do not like it?

No. Unlike hyaluronic acid fillers, collagen biostimulators cannot be reversed. That is why we spend time at consultation making sure a biostimulator is genuinely the right treatment rather than a filler.

Should I have Sculptra or Juläine?

For most people the answer is Juläine. Sculptra suits patients who have had it before and did well on it, and suitability is decided at consultation. If that is you, it is a reasonable choice and the longer track record is a genuine point in its favour. We offer both and will tell you plainly which applies to you.