Markham, Ontario · Physician-performed

Sculptra and Radiesse in Markham

Sculptra® is a collagen biostimulator that gradually restores facial volume and improves skin firmness by stimulating your body's natural collagen production. Results develop progressively for a subtle, natural-looking rejuvenation that can last up to two years or longer. Radiesse® is a calcium hydroxylapatite (CaHA) biostimulator that provides immediate volume while stimulating long-term collagen and elastin production. It restores facial contours, improves skin quality, and is also an excellent treatment for rejuvenating the neck, décolletage, and hands with natural, long-lasting results.

Price

from $700

Appointment

60 minutes

Performed by

Dr. Mazzuca, MD

Location

Markham, ON

Book a Consultation   Book Sculptra & Radiesse directly

Quick answer

Sculptra® and Radiesse® are collagen biostimulators available in Markham from $700 per treatment at Dr. Monique Mazzuca Aesthetics, injected personally by a licensed physician. Rather than filling a line, they prompt your skin to build its own collagen, restoring volume and firmness gradually and naturally. Sculptra (poly-L-lactic acid) usually takes 2 to 3 sessions and lasts about 2 years; Radiesse (calcium hydroxylapatite) gives immediate lift plus collagen growth and lasts 12 to 18 months. Both are used for temples, cheeks, jawline, neck, chest and hands.

What collagen biostimulators are

A biostimulator is an injectable that works by stimulating your own tissue rather than by occupying space. Hyaluronic acid fillers such as Juvéderm and Restylane are gels: what is injected is what you see. Sculptra and Radiesse are different. Their particles act as a scaffold and a signal, prompting fibroblasts in the skin to lay down new collagen and elastin around them. Over weeks and months the treated area regains thickness, firmness and support, and the result is built from your own tissue.

Both products are approved by Health Canada and have long track records: Sculptra has been used since 1999 (originally for HIV-related facial wasting) and Radiesse since the early 2000s. Both are also among the most technique-dependent injectables in aesthetic medicine, which is why they belong in a physician's hands.

How biostimulators work

After the age of about 25, the skin loses roughly one percent of its collagen per year, and by the mid-forties the deeper fat pads and bone of the face have also begun to shrink. The result is hollow temples, flatter cheeks, a softer jawline, crepey neck and chest, and skeletal-looking hands. A biostimulator is placed in the deeper layers of the skin or just above the bone. The immune system recognises the particles as foreign and surrounds them with new collagen fibres, a controlled healing response. As the particles slowly dissolve over months, the collagen remains.

Because the change is gradual and comes from your own tissue, the result looks like you a few years ago rather than like an addition to your face. The trade-off is patience: full results take months, and the product cannot be dissolved, so placement has to be right the first time.

Sculptra (poly-L-lactic acid)

Sculptra® is a suspension of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) microparticles, the same biocompatible material used in dissolvable sutures. It is reconstituted with sterile water and lidocaine and injected in a grid across the area to be treated. There is a little immediate fullness from the fluid, which disappears within a day or two; the real result develops over four to twelve weeks as collagen forms, and peaks three to six months after the final session. Most patients need two to three sessions, spaced four to six weeks apart, and results last about two years, sometimes longer with a single maintenance session.

Sculptra is Dr. Mazzuca's choice for global volume loss: hollow temples and cheeks, a gaunt look after weight loss or GLP-1 medication, thinning skin on the neck, and for patients who want the most gradual, undetectable improvement. It is not used in the lips or directly under the eyes.

Radiesse (calcium hydroxylapatite)

Radiesse® is made of calcium hydroxylapatite (CaHA) microspheres, a mineral naturally found in bone, suspended in a smooth gel. It does two things at once: the gel gives immediate volume and lift, and over the following months the microspheres stimulate collagen and elastin as the gel is absorbed. Results are visible the day of treatment, mature over three months, and last twelve to eighteen months.

Radiesse is Dr. Mazzuca's choice when structure is needed now: defining the jawline and chin, lifting the cheeks, and restoring the backs of the hands. Diluted or "hyperdiluted" Radiesse is spread thinly over the neck, décolletage, upper arms and knees purely for skin tightening and crepe, where it is one of the best non-surgical options available. Like Sculptra, it is not used in the lips or under the eyes.

What Sculptra and Radiesse treat

• Hollow temples and cheeks, including the "Ozempic face" that follows rapid weight loss.
• Jawline and chin definition, early jowls and a softening lower face.
• Nasolabial folds and marionette lines, by supporting the cheeks above them rather than filling the line itself.
• Neck and décolletage crepiness and horizontal neck lines.
• Hands: thin, veiny, tendon-prominent skin on the backs of the hands.
• Skin quality and firmness generally, on the face and body (arms, knees, buttocks, abdomen laxity).

Sculptra vs Radiesse vs hyaluronic acid filler

	Sculptra	Radiesse	HA filler (Juvéderm, Restylane)
Made of	Poly-L-lactic acid	Calcium hydroxylapatite in gel	Hyaluronic acid gel
How it works	Stimulates collagen only	Immediate volume plus collagen	Adds volume directly
When you see it	4 to 12 weeks; peak 3 to 6 months	Immediately; improves over 3 months	Immediately
Sessions	2 to 3	1 to 2	1
Lasts	About 2 years	12 to 18 months	6 to 18 months
Best areas	Temples, cheeks, whole-face volume, neck, body	Jawline, chin, cheeks, hands, neck, décolletage	Lips, under-eyes, precise lines, nose, chin
Reversible	No	No	Yes, with hyaluronidase
Look	Most gradual and natural	Firm, structural	Soft, precise
From	$700	$700	$600

These are not competitors so much as tools. A typical plan for a patient in her fifties might be Sculptra for the temples and cheeks, Radiesse for the jawline, a small amount of HA filler in the lips, and Botox to stop the creasing. Dr. Mazzuca plans the face as a whole.

How many sessions you need

Sculptra: usually one vial per session, two to three sessions four to six weeks apart, then one maintenance session every 18 to 24 months. A common rule of thumb is one vial per decade of age for a first course, but Dr. Mazzuca doses to your face, not your birthday. Radiesse: one to two syringes in a single session for structure, with a possible second session at four to eight weeks; hyperdiluted skin-quality treatments are usually two to three sessions a month apart. Both are then maintained roughly every 12 to 24 months.

How much Sculptra and Radiesse cost in Markham

Treatment with Dr. Mazzuca starts at $700, with the appointment booked for 60 minutes. Sculptra is priced per vial and Radiesse per syringe, and your total depends on the areas and the number of sessions, which is confirmed at your $50 Comprehensive Aesthetic Consultation (or $20 virtual consultation) before anything is injected. A full Sculptra course of three vials typically falls between $2,100 and $2,700 over three months; a Radiesse jawline or hand treatment is often one to two syringes.

Although the up-front cost is higher than a single syringe of HA filler, biostimulators usually work out to a similar or lower annual cost because they last longer and treat larger areas. Neither is covered by OHIP.

Who biostimulators are for, and who should wait

Ideal candidates are adults, usually from their late thirties on, with volume loss, skin laxity or crepiness who want a gradual, natural improvement and can be patient for it. They are excellent for patients who dislike the idea of "filler" and for those who have lost facial fullness with weight loss or age.

Biostimulators are not the right choice if you need an immediate result for an event next week, if you want the option to reverse the treatment, or if your main concern is the lips or under-eyes. They are avoided in pregnancy and breastfeeding, active skin infection, a history of keloid or hypertrophic scarring, uncontrolled autoimmune disease, bleeding disorders, and known allergy to any component (including lidocaine). Severe laxity may need surgery, and Dr. Mazzuca will say so.

What the appointment is like

1. Assessment and mapping. Dr. Mazzuca studies the face in three dimensions, photographs it, marks the injection zones and explains the plan and cost.
2. Numbing. Both products are mixed with lidocaine; a topical anaesthetic may be added. Discomfort is mild.
3. Injection. Product is placed deep, in a fanning or grid pattern, using a needle or blunt cannula to reduce bruising. A face takes 30 to 45 minutes; hands about 15 minutes each.
4. Massage. The area is massaged to distribute the product evenly, and you are taught how to do it at home.

Results timeline and how long they last

Sculptra: initial fullness from the sterile water for 24 to 48 hours, then the area returns to baseline; new collagen becomes visible at four to eight weeks and continues to build for three to six months after the final session. Results last about two years, and some studies show improvement persisting beyond that with maintenance. Radiesse: immediate lift, mild swelling for a few days, then progressive firming over three months; results last twelve to eighteen months. Because your own collagen is doing the work, the outcome ages with you rather than switching off.

Side effects and risks

Expected effects are swelling for two to five days, bruising for five to ten days, tenderness and, with Sculptra, some temporary lumpiness while the product settles. The signature risk of biostimulators is nodules: small, firm lumps that can form if product clumps or is placed too superficially. With modern dilution, correct depth and diligent massage, reported rates are low (roughly 1% to 5% for Sculptra and under 3% for Radiesse), and most resolve with massage or treatment. Very rarely, as with all fillers, injection into a blood vessel can cause skin damage; because these products cannot be dissolved, this is the strongest argument for choosing an injector who understands facial vascular anatomy. Dr. Mazzuca uses cannulas where appropriate and manages any concern personally.

Aftercare

• Sculptra: the 5-5-5 rule. Massage each treated area firmly for 5 minutes, 5 times a day, for 5 days. This is the single most important step for even results and for preventing nodules.
• Radiesse: gentle massage only as directed; avoid pressing hard on structural areas such as the jawline.
• Ice for swelling in the first 24 hours; sleep with your head elevated the first night.
• Avoid strenuous exercise, saunas, alcohol and sun for 24 to 48 hours; no facials, dental work or other injectables in the area for two weeks.
• Avoid aspirin, ibuprofen, fish oil and vitamin E for a few days before and after unless prescribed, to reduce bruising.
• Tell any future practitioner that you have had a biostimulator, particularly before MRI, surgery or other facial injectables.

Why patients choose a physician for biostimulators in Markham

Sculptra and Radiesse cannot be dissolved, are placed deep near arteries and nerves, and require precise dilution and depth to avoid nodules. In Ontario these treatments can be delegated to non-physician injectors; at this clinic they are not. Every assessment, injection and follow-up is performed by Dr. Mazzuca, a licensed physician (MD, CCFP) with additional training in cosmetic medicine and facial anatomy, whose approach is to refresh rather than transform using the least product necessary for a safe, natural and lasting result.

Sculptra and Radiesse near you: serving Markham and York Region

The clinic is at 200 Cachet Woods Court, Suite 309, in the Cachet Woods professional buildings near Woodbine Avenue and Major Mackenzie Drive, with free parking on site. Patients visit from Unionville, Cachet, Angus Glen, Berczy Village, Cornell, Wismer, Markham Village, Thornhill, Richmond Hill, Stouffville, Vaughan, Aurora, Newmarket, North York, Scarborough and across the Greater Toronto Area.

Frequently asked questions about Sculptra and Radiesse in Markham

Sources and further reading

• Biostimulatory fillers: Sculptra and Radiesse, mechanism, timelines, nodule rates and the 5-5-5 massage protocol (GLPbase clinical reference)
• Sculptra (poly-L-lactic acid) and Radiesse (calcium hydroxylapatite) Canadian product information and instructions for use (Galderma Canada; Merz Aesthetics Canada).
• College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, public register.

Every treatment on this page is booked through Dr. Mazzuca's secure online system. New patients begin with a consultation; returning patients can book the treatment directly.

Written and medically reviewed by Dr. Monique Mazzuca, MD, CCFP. Last reviewed 2026-09-07.

This page is general information, not medical advice, and it is not a substitute for an in-person assessment. Results vary between patients, and every treatment carries risks that are reviewed with you before you consent. Suitability is determined by Dr. Mazzuca at your consultation.

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