Gold thread cosmetic surgery hype

Did you know that cosmetic surgery was conducted on Cleopatra? The gold threads procedure has returned from the age of antiquities and is now gaining popularity in Europe and Asia. Since the spring of 2004, over 400 women in Japan have had gold threads inserted into their faces to reduce wrinkles.

With only topical anesthesia, a needle inserts a thin gold thread 0.1mm in diameter under the skin, between the inner skin and the fat layer. New tissue grows around the area of the thread and pulls other skin tissue around it. A net like pattern of threads, one centimeter apart, are required to pull back the whole face. The results are supposed to become apparent three to four months after the surgery according to one article:

"Gold thread is used because it does not oxidize inside the body and there are few side effects. The surgery takes about an hour, and no scars are left. Nonetheless, the cost of surgery is quite significant."

The head of the Belle Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in Tokyo had this to say about the procedure:

“When the gold thread is inserted into the epidermis, the body naturally creates large quantities of collagen around the gold. This doesn't just improve the state of wrinkles and sagging, but makes wrinkles smaller and whitens the skin so that it doesn't appear so dull. And the effects work for 10 to 15 years.

Bodies recognize gold yarn inserted under the skin as being foreign objects and the immune system comes into play. Capillaries extend to carry cells to fight off the gold, while collagen and hyaluronic acid are also produced to heal the damage caused by the immune system in its fight with the invader."

I have not seen any other reports that this procedure is done in the USA.  I remain skeptical to the claims.