PDO Thread Lift

I had been to Dr. Mercado previously for a consult on a liposuction revision. I didn’t end up following through on the procedure due to finances and wanting to lose some weight through exercise instead. However, I recently did a same-day consult and procedure for PDO threadlift for my cheeks. I had researched this before and thought it could give me what I’m looking for but I wasn’t sure as I’ve never had fillers or any injections before. I am almost 32 and just now starting to notice subtle effects of gravity and aging. I still look young and have supple skin but felt that I had been looking a little jowly and tired but couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. We did the consult and marking we decided on a cheeklift with the threads for my nasolabial folds. It ended up being 4 barbed threads in each cheek. So far I am really happy with the results. My face looks slightly lifted, cheekbones more defined, sharper jawline, and corners of mouth upturned. I wasn’t sure if I saw results but people have been commenting how good my makeup looks and how pretty I’ve been looking all week and if I lost weight. The power of this is that the results are subtle so not enough for people to know you did something but enough to visually look refreshed. The only marks were small pinpricks on my upper cheeks that will close and heal in a couple more days. I did have one complication where the barb on one of the threads near my mouth turned and was visible as a small bump near my mouth. We attempted to fix it but it ended up leaving it more swollen and bruised than before. I am going back in two weeks to check on the progress. They say swelling takes two weeks but I feel that I will still have swelling for longer as I’m still puffy. I will say that for me the procedure was not painless. The threads near my mouth hurt significantly during placement and my face also hurts and has some stinging, swelling, and pain/soreness all over. Again this is NOT PAINLESS. However it is manageable. I hope my results last more than a year but we will see. I would definitely do it again. I don’t believe this procedure is worth it for people with significant sagging or looking for a drastic change. A regular facelift would be more cost effective over time.

I am finally past the initial pain and I believe most of the swelling has gone down. I was in a lot of pain for two weeks, with swelling, shooting pain in my cheeks and near my mouth, and got feeling in my cheeks. My skin looks tighter and my cheekbones look higher, and the doctor told me it would continue to improve after collagen started forming. I did have a complication on the left side where one of the threads was placed too superficially near my mouth, leaving an annoying and visible bump, and he had to poke a hole in my face with a cannula to try to pull it out and remove it. We did this twice at my 2 week follow up and 4 week follow up. It was quite painful and eventually he was able to clip the thread and pull it out. It left a huge bruise and swelling for 10 days and now there is a light scar. Overall I’m still happy with the results but I think I still could use some cheek filler to completely get rid of my nasolabial folds. I don’t know if I would do it again as the pain and tightness was more than I anticipated.

I think the pain and cost overall was it worth it in the end. I saw some improvement an no longer have pain, but my cheeks and nasolabial folds still exist and I am going to get consult for a cheek lift with filler only I do not think I would do this again as filler seems less painful and lasts just as long.