The thread lift has been publicized as “lunch hour face lift” or “weekend face lift.” Although a thread lift is minimally invasive and you have a much shorter recovery time than with a traditional surgical face lift, you still need a few days to recover. Do not expect that you can have a thread lift and go out dining and dancing that night.
You should also not expect extremely dramatic change, either. A thread lift can be used to pull skin and underlying tissue upward slightly, but it will create subtle changes. If you have a lot of sagging, you may need the more extensive change that a surgical face lift can provide. For more information about traditional face lifts, check out the information on face lift.
The key elements in a thread lift are special suture-like threads. These threads have barbs or cogs along their length. In a thread lift, a cosmetic surgeon uses a hollow needle to insert the thread into your face just under the skin. The hollow needle is inserted through tiny incisions. He or she then gently pulls up on the thread and the barbs catch the tissue, pulling the skin of the face into a more pleasing position. The thread is then tied off. As your face heals, it forms collagen around the thread, which helps support the skin in its new position.
Several threads can be inserted and they can be used on the forehead, lower face and jowls. However, the more threads put in place, the greater the amount of swelling and the longer the recovery time.
About 5,200 thread lifts were performed in 2006, up from 4,200 in 2005, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Thread lifts are still a relatively new procedure and the ASPS only started to collect data on the procedure in 2005.
A thread lift can be performed in a doctor’s office or in a freestanding surgical clinic. You will receive injections of local anesthetic around the area of the incisions. After anesthesia is applied and the incisions are made, the surgeon will insert needles with the barbed threads in the areas to be smoothed out. Once the barbed sutures are in place, the surgeon will adjust the threads and lift your skin from below the surface.
You will be awake the whole time during thread lift procedure. Once your final look has been achieved, the surgeon ties off the threads to anchor them in place. After your thread lift, you will be told to keep your face fairly immobile for a few days. Try to avoid wide yawns or other big movements of your face, and do not rub your face for a few days to allow the threads to settle into place
The results of a thread lift procedure are immediate, but you will experience some swelling and probably some bruising around the incisions. Some people have reported that they can feel the threads afterward or that the end of one of the threads pokes through the skin. There have been instances where the threads have broken, causing part of the face to sag. Your surgeon can fix these problems. Your surgeon can also adjust the threads if there are problems with asymmetry. The threads can also be removed, if needed.
A thread lift is cosmetic surgery and will not be covered by health insurance. You will be responsible for all costs associated with the procedure.
Because thread lifts have only been done for a few years, it is not known how long the results of the procedure last, but results are believed to last 3 to 5 years.
