Facial volume treatment at Cannelle Skin Clinic in Oxford restores the structure a face loses with time, from flattening cheeks to hollow temples. Dr Mattia Parducci uses dermal filler, Sculptra and Profhilo, placed conservatively and reviewed before anything more is added.
Most people arrive describing a face that has dropped. What they are usually looking at is a face that has emptied, and the difference decides everything: one needs lifting, the other needs filling back out.
A young face is supported by deep pads of fat sitting on bone, arranged so that light falls on the upper cheek and the face reads as a broad triangle with its base at the cheekbones. From roughly the mid thirties those pads begin to shrink and slide downward, the bone underneath quietly resorbs, and collagen production slows. Nothing has fallen so much as emptied. The triangle inverts: the cheeks flatten, the jawline thickens, and the same amount of skin now covers a smaller frame, which is what reads as loose.
You will usually notice it as shadows before you notice it as volume. The nasolabial folds deepen because the cheek above them is no longer holding them up. The temples hollow, which almost nobody names but which ages a face more than people realise. Under-eye circles appear because the cheek has stopped meeting the lower lid. Weight loss accelerates all of it, which is why a face can look markedly older after a successful diet.
The good news is that this is one of the more correctable changes, provided the treatment goes where the volume actually went rather than where the shadow shows.
Volume loss is regional rather than general, and where it has gone decides what we use. Most people recognise themselves in two or three of these.
The curve that carried the light
The upper cheek has lost its forward projection, so light no longer catches it and the mid face looks flat in photographs. This is the single highest value area to restore, because supporting it lifts everything below it.
The change nobody names
A scoop above the outer brow that makes the upper face look narrow and drawn. People rarely point to it, but restoring it widens the top of the face again and softens everything without touching the mid face at all.
The whole face, gently
Nothing dramatic anywhere, but the whole face looks slightly emptier than it did. This pattern often suits a collagen stimulator better than filler, because the aim is to rebuild support broadly rather than to place volume in one spot.
Quality as well as quantity
The volume is not the only issue. The skin itself has thinned and lost its bounce, so it drapes rather than sits. Adding volume under poor quality skin rarely looks right, which is why we often treat the skin first or alongside.
Volume loss reading as sag
A softening jawline with a shadow forming either side of the chin. Often this is loss of chin and pre jaw volume rather than true laxity, and restoring the structure sharpens the line without tightening anything.
The pillow face fear
The most common thing we hear, and a reasonable fear given what is visible online. Overfilling is a choice, not an inevitability. Dr Mattia works in small amounts, reviews at two to four weeks and would rather do too little than too much.
Cheek and chin support, and a Sculptra result six months on. These images show what the treatments do rather than promising the same for everyone. Individual results vary with anatomy, age and how much volume has been lost.
Cheek filler
Cheek and chin filler
Sculptra, six months
These three work in genuinely different ways. One places volume, one asks your body to rebuild it, and one improves the skin sitting on top. Plenty of people use two.
| Compare | Dermal fillerImmediate structure | SculptraCollagen biostimulator | ProfhiloSkin quality partner |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | |
| Best for | Dermal filler A specific hollow: cheeks, temples, chin, jawline | Sculptra Broad, gradual deflation across the whole face | Profhilo Thin, crepey skin sitting over lost volume |
| How it works | Dermal filler Hyaluronic acid gel placed deep to rebuild structure immediately | Sculptra Poly-L-lactic acid prompts your own collagen to rebuild over months | Profhilo Slow release hyaluronic acid that hydrates and firms the skin itself |
| Results | Dermal filler Visible the same day, settled at two to four weeks | Sculptra Gradual over three to six months, lasting up to two years | Profhilo Builds over two sessions, four weeks apart |
| Reversible | Dermal filler Yes, it can be dissolved | Sculptra No, but it fades gradually | Profhilo No, but it is temporary by design |
| Price from | Dermal filler £345 | Sculptra £400 | Profhilo £350 |
| See dermal fillers | See Sculptra | See Profhilo |
Sculptra is the quietest of the three treatments to watch and the slowest to show, which is rather the point of it.
All three are performed by Dr Mattia Parducci. Which one suits you depends on whether your volume loss is focal or general, and on the quality of the skin sitting over it. Radiesse and cheek filler are close relatives of what is below.
Immediate restoration
Hyaluronic acid gel placed on bone to rebuild the ledge the face has lost. The effect is structural rather than superficial, which is why a well placed cheek can soften a fold nobody touched. Dissolvable, which is a genuine safety net.
Collagen biostimulator
Poly-L-lactic acid that does not fill anything itself. It asks your skin to lay down its own collagen over the following months, so the change arrives slowly enough that people notice you rather than the treatment. Best for broad deflation.
Skin quality partner
A slow release hyaluronic acid that hydrates and firms the skin rather than adding shape. On its own it will not restore a hollow. Alongside filler or Sculptra it stops restored volume sitting under skin that has not kept up.
The assessment is about finding where the volume actually went, which is rarely where the shadow appears.
Dr Mattia Parducci looks at the face in three dimensions and in movement, not as a flat photograph. He will check the projection of your cheekbones, the fullness of your temples, the depth of the pre jowl hollow and how the skin behaves when it is lifted and released. He will usually ask for a photograph of you from ten or fifteen years ago, because the aim is your own face rather than a template, and because it shows what has changed rather than what you have always had.
He treats conservatively and reviews. If you arrive asking for a fold to be filled and the fold is really a symptom of a flat cheek above it, he will say so, because treating the cheek is what makes the fold soften without the face looking heavy.
Bring an older photograph if you have one. Avoid alcohol and anti-inflammatory painkillers for a couple of days beforehand to reduce bruising, and tell us about any blood thinning medication. Do not book within two weeks of a significant event.
We assess first and treat second. Filler is placed with a needle or a blunt cannula depending on the area, using product containing local anaesthetic, and takes around thirty minutes. Sculptra is a series of small injections across a wider area.
Expect swelling for a few days and possible bruising that makeup covers within a week. Filler looks its best at two to four weeks. Sculptra shows nothing for several weeks by design, and is reviewed at three months. We do not add more before the first result has settled.
Not directly, and it is worth being straightforward about that. No cream, device or facial massage replaces fat pads or rebuilds bone.
What home care genuinely does is protect what you still have and improve the skin sitting over it. Daily broad spectrum sunscreen is the single most effective anti-ageing step there is, because ultraviolet exposure degrades collagen faster than time does. A well formulated retinoid used consistently thickens the skin over months. Avoiding significant weight fluctuation matters more than most people expect, since the face loses volume readily and regains it reluctantly. Sleep, not smoking and reasonable protein intake all support collagen production in ways that are unglamorous but real.
What none of that will do is put projection back into a flat cheek or fill a hollow temple. Facial exercises will not either, and there is reasonable evidence they can make things worse by further depleting the fat pads. If the change you are seeing is structural, it needs something structural.
If your concern is more about skin quality or lines than lost volume, our pages on lines and wrinkles and dry and dehydrated skin are a better fit.
Dermal filler starts at £345 for 1ml, Sculptra at £400 and Profhilo at £350 with a course of two at £650. Most volume plans use more than one syringe, and Dr Mattia will give you a full figure at your assessment.
It depends entirely on how much volume has been lost. A single syringe restores one area well. Broad deflation across cheeks and temples usually needs more, and it is often better spread over two appointments than done all at once.
Not if it is done in small amounts and reviewed. Overfilling comes from treating the shadow rather than the cause, and from adding more before the last lot settled. We review at two to four weeks specifically to avoid it.
They answer different questions. Filler is better for a defined hollow you can point to. Sculptra is better for a face that has emptied gradually all over. Some people have both, structure from filler and general support from Sculptra.
Cheek filler generally lasts twelve to eighteen months. Sculptra builds over three to six months and can last up to two years. Profhilo is shorter, around six months, and is designed to be repeated.
Yes. Hyaluronic acid filler is dissolvable with an enzyme injection, usually within a day or two. That reversibility is a real safety advantage and one of the reasons we use it in structural areas.
Not at sensible volumes. The concern comes from very large amounts repeated over years. Restoring what has been lost, and reviewing rather than stacking, does not leave skin worse than it started.
Usually yes, and it is one of the more satisfying things we treat. Facial fat is lost early during weight loss and returns last. Restoring the cheek and temple structure typically addresses most of what changed.
Less than expected. The products contain local anaesthetic and we use a blunt cannula where the anatomy allows, which is more comfortable and reduces bruising. Numbing cream is used where needed.
Volume loss starts in the mid thirties for most people, so there is no set age. What matters is whether the change is structural. There is no upper limit either, though expectations shift with how much has been lost.
Often, yes. A good deal of what people call jowls is loss of support above and in front of them rather than true laxity. Where there is genuine skin laxity as well, tightening treatments work alongside rather than instead.
Yes. Volume is the area where treating the wrong place is easiest and most visible. The assessment establishes where the loss actually is, which is often not where you are looking.
Verified Google reviews from the clinic.
Fantastic. Very welcoming, explained the process and kept me updated throughout. I can already see an improvement in my skin texture and tone. Would highly recommend and cannot wait to return.
I had a lovely facial here. Sajida took the time to listen to my skin concerns and recommend the appropriate treatment.
Natalia did an amazing job, she took the time to ask me my skin concerns and to adapt the facial to my needs. She recommended steps to add to my skincare routine and a couple products that would help. I had a great time!
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