The original PLLA collagen stimulator: looks like nothing happened for weeks, then builds slow, natural volume that can last about 2 years.
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In Seoul, Sculptra costs a median of ₩770,000 (about $558) across 23 clinic listings this week, ranging from ₩499,000 to ₩1,200,000.
Seoul prices are event listings on Gangnam Unni's Korean app, VAT included. Many are first-visit or trial deals, clinics can show foreigners different prices, and the tourist VAT refund ended in 2025. How Korean clinic prices work →
1 of the 12 listings shown is a promotion (first visit, trial price or once per person). A repeat or regular booking usually costs more. How Korean clinic prices work →
| Clinic | As listed | Seen | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 마크성형외과 | 마크 스컬트라 1vial 전량사용 · VAT 포함 | 2026-10-12 | ₩499,000 |
| 뷰웰의원 | 페이스 스컬트라 1vial · VAT 포함 | 2026-10-12 | ₩539,000 |
| 리무브의원 | 스컬트라 1병 · VAT 포함 | 2026-10-05 | ₩550,000 |
| Clinic | As listed | Seen | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 세이예스의원 | 스컬트라1병 · VAT 포함 | 2026-10-12 | ₩561,000 |
| 플래티넘의원 | 스컬트라 1vial (눈밑or볼or관자or팔자or목) · VAT 포함 | 2026-10-12 | ₩640,000 |
| 톡스앤필의원-홍대점 | 스컬트라 1vial 1회 · VAT 포함 | 2026-10-12 | ₩649,000 |
| 신사세레아의원 | 스컬트라 1병 · VAT 포함 | 2026-09-28 | ₩649,000 |
| 이고의원 | 정품 스컬트라 1병 전체 X 1회 (총1병) · VAT 포함 | 2026-10-05 | ₩650,000 |
| 톡스앤필의원-신논현점 | 스컬트라 1vial 1회 · VAT 포함 | 2026-10-12 | ₩660,000 |
| 유메이비의원 | 스컬트라 1병 · VAT 포함 | 2026-10-12 | ₩750,000 |
| 오드의원 | 스컬트라 1병 · VAT 포함 | 2026-10-05 | ₩759,000 |
| 솔린의원 | 1회체험가 스컬트라 1병 · VAT 포함Trial price | 2026-10-12 | ₩770,000 |
3 sessions × ₩770,000, lasting about 21 months. After a course averaging 3–4 sessions, 77% still met the blinded response bar at 24 months in the FDA cheek trial, and gains faded gradually over 5 years in the post-approval study.
Uses this week's Seoul median and the typical duration from studies. Other treatments use their midpoint duration and usual first course.
In the FDA cheek trial, 90% felt fine going out within about 7 hours (median 4–7 hours), but the water puffiness takes a few days to go down and mild bruising was common.
Injection marks and a full, puffy midface. This fullness is mostly the water the powder was mixed with, not your result. Start the 5-5-5 massage once any numbing wears off.
AI-generated models, not real patients. Effects are illustrated to show typical healing; everyone heals differently. Pick a face like yours, then hover or tap the photo to zoom.
Early in your trip, so the water swelling has gone down before you fly, and so you can ask the clinic about any early lumps while you're still in Seoul.
At least 2–3 days for the day-one puffiness to go down. Leave 1–2 weeks if you have an important event, since bruises can take that long to fade. Keep up the 5-5-5 massage wherever you are.
One session is only a start: most people need 2–3 sessions about 4–6 weeks apart, and you won't see the real result before you fly home. Realistic options: one session per trip if you visit Seoul regularly, or start in Seoul and continue with a Sculptra injector at home. Some Seoul clinics use several vials in one session and reassess at 2–3 months.
Don't book harsh skin treatments like peels, microneedling or laser on the same area for 2–3 weeks afterwards. If you want a lifting device too, ask the doctor about order and timing.
Sculptra leaves no open wound, but its label says to avoid excessive sun, UV lamps and extreme temperatures until the first swelling and redness settle. That makes Seoul's hot, high-UV midsummer the least convenient time. Because it's a series of sessions, when you can come back matters more than the season.
The day-one fullness is mostly the water the powder was mixed with. It's absorbed within a few days, so you look like you did before. The real result is new collagen, which builds gradually over weeks to months.
Usually 2–3 sessions about 4–6 weeks apart. In the FDA cheek trial, people had 3.6 sessions on average, 4 weeks apart. Some Seoul clinics use several vials in one session and reassess after 2–3 months.
You can have one session, but you won't see the result before you fly, and one session is rarely the full course. It makes most sense if you visit Seoul regularly or can continue with a Sculptra injector at home.
Massage the treated area for 5 minutes, 5 times a day, for 5 days. It helps spread the product evenly. Follow your clinic's own instructions if they differ.
Up to about 2 years. In the FDA cheek trial, 94% still had improvement at 2 years.
Nodules are the main risk. With modern dilution (8–12 mL of water per vial) studies report about 1–3%, versus about 8–9% with older low-dilution methods. They can show up months later, so know who you'd see at home.
This week's median across 23 Seoul clinic listings is about ₩770,000 per vial, with a range of ₩499,000–₩1,200,000. In the US a vial typically costs US$650–1,000. Remember most faces need several vials in total.
No. Sculptra is PLLA and FDA-approved. Juvelook is PDLLA mixed with hyaluronic acid, aimed more at skin quality. Olidia is a Korean PLLA product approved in Korea and Europe but not the US.
| Sculptra (PLLA) | Juvelook (PDLLA + HA) | Gouri (PCL) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | PLLA microparticles, powder mixed with water | PDLLA microparticles plus hyaluronic acid | Fully liquid polycaprolactone, no particles |
| Day one | Water fullness that fades in days | Some plumpness from the HA | Little to see |
| Main job | Deeper volume that builds over months | Skin quality; Juvelook Volume for volume | Overall skin firmness and quality |
| Course | 2–3 sessions, 4–6 weeks apart | 2–3 sessions, 3–6 weeks apart | About 3 sessions, a month apart |
| How long it lasts | Up to about 2 years | About 6–12 months (longer for Volume) | About 6–12 months, per one clinic |
| FDA-approved? | Yes | No (approved in Korea, CE-marked) | No |
| Seoul price this week | ₩770,000 | ₩197,900 | — |
Sculptra is a freeze-dried powder of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) microparticles, the same material used in dissolvable stitches, with carboxymethylcellulose and mannitol. Each 367.5 mg vial holds 150 mg of PLLA and is mixed with sterile water before injection.
It isn't a filler in the usual sense. The body treats the particles as a foreign material: immune cells surround them, and fibroblasts (the cells that make collagen) are switched on. In a 2013 biopsy study of 14 people, type I collagen rose significantly at 3 and 6 months after injection. The PLLA itself is slowly broken down over roughly 2–3 years into lactic acid, carbon dioxide and water.
That's why day one is misleading. The immediate fullness is mostly the water the powder was mixed with, and it fades within a few days as the liquid is absorbed. Real volume only comes back gradually over the following weeks and months as new collagen forms.
The FDA first approved Sculptra in 2004 for facial fat loss in people with HIV, then in 2009 for smile lines and other facial wrinkles, and in April 2023 for cheek wrinkles. In the cheek trial, 97 people were treated with each vial mixed with 8 mL of water plus 1 mL of lidocaine, averaging 3.6 sessions at 4-week intervals. Treating doctors rated 96% improved at 3 months and 94% at 2 years; a blinded evaluator, the stricter main measure, rated 71% improved at 12 months versus 26% of untreated people.
Lumps (nodules) are the main risk, and dilution matters. A 2026 review found rates of about 8–9% with older, low-dilution protocols (about 5 mL per vial) versus about 1–3% with 8–16 mL, and recommends letting the product hydrate for at least 24 hours, ideally 24–48. Nodules can appear anywhere from 1–2 months to over a year after injection; many settle on their own or with steroid injections, but some need surgical removal.
Galderma's 5-year post-approval study followed 867 people, 310 with darker skin (Fitzpatrick IV–VI). About 25% of the darker-skinned group and 31% of the lighter-skinned group had at least one nodule or papule (any lump the doctor could feel or see, however small) reported over 5 years, and wrinkle improvement was similar or better in darker skin. That study used an older technique: each vial mixed with only 5 mL of water, and up to four sessions of small injections into the deep dermis.
Korea has its own relatives: Juvelook (PDLLA plus hyaluronic acid, gentler and more skin-quality focused), Olidia (a Korean PLLA, MFDS-approved and CE-marked, with 40–63 µm particles) and Gouri (fully liquid PCL with no particles). None of them is FDA-approved.
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General information for travellers, not medical advice. A doctor should assess you before any treatment. Prices are Korean-consumer event prices collected from public listings; clinics may charge differently on the day.