I recently performed a facelift on a patient who neglected to inform me that she had previously had a ThreadLift procedure done elsewhere. As you might imagine, I was quite surprised when I began to encounter these stiff threads under the facial skin flap, and I removed as many of them as possible once I had adequate undermining of the facial skin and exposure of the underlying deep plane.
I do not believe it would be possible to remove these barbed sutures without significant scarring unless the procedure is done through a facelift incision. Because of the direction of pulling, the cogs or barbs of these threads would prevent the thread from being removed from the hairline or cheek area (from behind), since pulling in this direction would cause the barbs to tether into the skin more strongly. An incision over the anterior end of the suture (most likely in a visible location on the cheek) would be needed to remove the thread in a direction opposite to the engaged barbs, resulting in small and probably visible scars on the cheek area.
Since you are considering removing the ThreadLift, it would appear that you were unhappy with the results, or are experiencing problems. Consider a comprehensive approach to this situation, such as a facelift, which should kill two birds with one stone, removing the threads and correcting the facial laxity, which was the original intention and desire.
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