{"id":21338,"date":"2021-11-29T09:03:41","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T17:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/?p=21338"},"modified":"2023-10-11T15:08:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T22:08:25","slug":"diy-thread-lifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/diy-thread-lifts","title":{"rendered":"DIY Thread Lifts Are Becoming a Thing\u2014and Doctors Are Flashing Giant Warning Signs"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you ask content creator Nikki Gibson Mayne how she looks so fresh-faced at age 55, she’s glad to share one of her secrets: thread lifts<\/a>. For months, Gibson Mayne has been using PDO threads to perk up her skin. The absorbable threads, inserted through and beneath the skin, aim to lift sagging skin and trigger collagen production—and, according to devotees, they produce quick results. “I have seen significant improvements in my fine lines, especially around my lips, under my eyes, and in my nasolabial folds,” she says. <\/p>

Unlike the majority of people who use PDO threads, Gibson Mayne doesn’t go to a medical office for her treatment. Instead, she does them herself at home, ordering supplies online from South Korea and meticulously threading the dissolvable sutures beneath her skin. As part of the small but growing do-it-yourself beauty community, Gibson Mayne is entirely self-taught, having studied medical textbooks and viewed online training videos by doctors. “After my extensive research, I decided to practice with the smallest threads under my eyes, above my lips, and under my chin,” she says. “Like anything, the more I practiced, the more confident I felt about using longer threads and needles.” Today, she shares videos of her DIY threads and other aesthetic treatments for her YouTube channel, Skin Deep Beauty<\/a>. <\/p>

Interested in thread lift?<\/small><\/div>Find Doctors Near You<\/a><\/div>

Though PDO threads have been around for years, they’ve become a beauty phenomenon in the past year, with Google searches more than doubling since November 2020<\/a>. Perhaps it’s because PDO thread lifts present a tantalizing possibility: a smoother, more lifted visage without going under the knife. And for DIY aficionados like Gibson Mayne, the DIY route offers a way to get those results without paying thousands of dollars in a medical office. “I love being empowered to take care of my own skin and do these procedures on myself, in the comfort of my home,” she says. <\/p>

While the DIY beauty community<\/a> is enthusiastic about at-home PDO thread treatments, doctors are alarmed. “Doing any kind of manipulation on or under your skin, by yourself, generally, is a bad idea,” says Dr. Ben Talei<\/a>, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, California. “The chance that something good would happen is almost zero.” Dr. Talei says that placing needles into one’s face poses the risk of hitting large-caliber blood vessels, which can cause vascular problems.  <\/p>

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>
View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/a>

A post shared by Ben Talei, MD (@drbentalei)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>