Threadlift Procedure

Facelift Before and After Photos.
Facelift Procedure Information.

Heralded as the least surgically invasive facelift solution, the Threadlift procedure gained prominence in the early 2000's as mainstream media personalities like Oprah Winfrey and Matt Lauer touted the new procedure on their television shows. While traditional facelifts involve cutting into, tightening and trimming the skin and muscle layers, the Threadlift is a much more simplistic procedure. Utilizing a basic technique involving barbed plastic sutures, the Threadlift or "lunch-time lift" as it is sometimes called, eliminates the "cutting" and the higher price tag. It does not necessarily reduce recovery time however. Though some facial plastic and plastic surgeons still perform the Threadlift, Dr. Oleh Slupchynskyj never performed the procedure due to the lack of positive results and the high incidence of complications. Dr. Slupchynskyj has performed numerous revision facelifts on unhappy patients who underwent the Threadlift procedure with another surgeon.

Starting in the hairline, a long needle attached to a plastic suture (or "thread") is inserted under the skin and fatty layer of tissue. This thread contains three-dimensional barbs or hooks, designed to grasp tissue. The needle is snaked down under the skin along the face and is pushed back through the surface of the skin. The needle is then pulled through and snipped off of the knotted thread. In the hairline at the insertion point, a curved needle hooks into the scalp and temporarily holds that end of the thread in place. By pushing and adjusting the overlying skin, the doctor manipulates the thread so that the barbs take hold of the tissue layer underneath. This process is repeated with additional sutures placed along the face. When complete, the threads are pulled tighter and upward and then tied off together at the hairline. The curved needles are removed and the knotted threads disappear beneath the skin's surface. Over time, scar tissue builds up around each barb, and in theory, that helps to keep the lifted thread in place. Because there are no larger incisions, recovery time is typically only a couple of days.

The relatively simple technique allows many physicians who lack training in surgery or facial anatomy to learn and perform the procedure. This can be seen as an advantage since the increased availability of practitioners and the low technical skill required makes the procedure more affordable. However, even good results, should they be had at all, will not last. At best, the Threadlift could last three years; more likely, the results of the Threadlift will last one year or less. Over time, what once was an extremely popular procedure has proven to be very unreliable. At its worst, the Threadlift can leave patients with poor or no results, visible plastic sutures, threads poking through the surface of the skin, chronic pain and disfigurement. In the photo below, Dr. Slupchynskyj is shown removing a Threadlift plastic suture.

In time, the Threadlift may go the way of the dinosaur. As far as Dr. Slupchynskyj is concerned, the procedure is too risky and unpredictable and ultimately not worth the patient's time or money. There are far superior, more advanced surgical procedures available to the patient who is looking for Facial Rejuvenation. While they may be more costly and will involve longer recuperation, surgical facelifts provide a reliable, long lasting result.