Thread Lift: Stories

I’ve just had my 3rd thread lift in 2 years, and each experience has been very different. All were performed by the same doctor in the same clinic. The first procedure was for nasolabial folds, the second for sagging around the marionette lines, and the third for the jawline and under the chin.

The first procedure left me bizarrely swollen (think Heath Ledger as Joker) for several days, and the pain was really bad the first day, but there wasn’t much bruising. It took half a year to see really good results, and I had to get some filler to even out some temporary asymmetry. Filler is long gone, but the results are really great.

After the second procedure I felt no pain at all, but I felt nauseous and unstable. The swelling was hardly noticeable, but bruising showed up after a few days. The final results were pretty much immediate, but not really sufficient. So a year later, with mixed feelings, I went back for more.

This last procedure involved many more threads, including some dissolving ones. There was a lot of tugging and yanking going on, and so I wasn’t surprised to have immediate and significant bruising, even some oozing. But the pain was manageable, as was the swelling. 2 hours after the procedure I felt alert and even buoyant. (Back to you in 6 months with results.)

Based on my experiences, I could generalize that mid-face procedures might be more painful, perhaps due to sensitive nerves in the cheeks. Lower face might have more blood vessels, resulting in more bruising. But I don’t know, maybe that’s just me. I only wish I had noted my menstrual cycle for each. My doctor says you shouldn’t be on your period. I was mid-cycle for the last procedure. And also I meditated deeply while waiting to enter the operating room. ?

Would I recommend this? No, not to everyone. But obviously I was pleased enough to return for more. Apparently I have the right skin for this – fleshy, not thin. I’m very healthy, at the right weight, 48 years old, and my doctor knows what he’s doing. (He has a photo of himself with his trainer, the Russian doctor Sulamanidze who developed the technique.)

I don’t live in the US, so I haven’t been exposed to the snake-oil promotion of this procedure. I imagine it’s been misrepresented by the hyper-reactive media. It's not a skin treatment, it's about the flesh underneath. Practical downtime is short, but deep healing takes months. As I understand it, it’s a kind of controlled injury, and the scar-tissue that forms around the threads is tougher than our aging flesh. If done well, our natural tissues are supported (“lifted”). But it takes a long time to heal. Quick healing, in my experience, gave minimal results because not enough damage was done.

My advice to anyone considering this is DO NOT start with this! Try laser treatments, thermage, Botox, fillers… Discover your pain threshold, your recovery curve, form a relationship with needles, ‘cuz this is the ultimate needle experience! If you feel pushed into it, if you feel afraid or unsure at all, please wait. You might be better off a bit saggy than very sorry. :)

Hope this helps. Good luck, and be beautiful, whatever you do!