Facelift Thread Lifting: What Can Help Compensate for the Disadvantage of a Short Maintenance Period?

Thread lifting is a procedure that lifts sagging tissue through a medical tool called a “thread,” without making an incision in the skin. Rather than being compared with ultrasound or radiofrequency procedures, it is often considered one alternative to a facelift.

In Korea, it has been actively performed since the 2000s, but its history dates back to the 1990s.

It began when Dr. Marin Shulamanits, a plastic surgeon in Russia, performed thread lifting using polypropylene Aptos (a non-dissolving material), and it began to receive medical attention after receiving FDA approval in the United States in 2005.

In the early days, non-dissolving threads like Aptos were used, but as skin changes with age, dissolving medical threads made of PDO (Polydioxanone) or PLLA (Poly L Lactic Acid) are now used in order to reduce side effects.

The advantages of dissolving threads can be summarized as follows:

1. Since they biodegrade in the body over time, there is no need for separate removal.

2. They use ingredients suitable for the human body, so the likelihood of side effects is low.

However, as the material changed from non-absorbable threads to absorbable threads, the drawback of a “shorter maintenance period” also came with the change.

Among those considering thread lifting, many are probably still hesitating over whether facelift surgery would be better or whether thread lifting would be the better option.

The reason is that a facelift is a surgery, so it involves more burden but can provide a longer maintenance period, whereas thread lifting is a procedure, so it is less burdensome but has a shorter maintenance period.

Then is there a way to compensate for the advantages and disadvantages of these two methods, lowering the burden of surgery while extending the maintenance period?

At our clinic, we guide such patients to combine thread lifting with a 3-step temple lift.

This is not something we recommend unconditionally, but a method we introduce only to those who may be confused about which procedure to choose because of the concerns above, so please keep that in mind while reading.

Compensating for the drawbacks of thread lifting and reducing the burden of a facelift

= Thread lifting + three-step temple lift

① Thread lifting

Thread lifting is a procedure in which dissolvable threads such as PDO and PLLA are inserted into the skin to rebuild collagen and pull up sagging skin.

Monothreads without barbs (PDO) are generally used to refine skin texture and improve elasticity, while barbed threads and cone threads (PDO, PLLA) are used to hook into the skin for lifting purposes.

The biggest difference between PDO threads and PLLA threads is whether they regenerate collagen on their own.

PDO threads also regenerate collagen, but the principle is that collagen is regenerated as wounds created during the process of the thread pulling on the tissue inside the skin heal.

PLLA threads have a collagen-regenerating effect of their own, to the extent that they are used in collagen boosters such as Sculptra and Juvelook, and they are excellent for improving volume as well.

However, no matter how safe and good the thread is, thread lifting can still cause side effects if the physician lacks expertise.

In particular, because existing threads are short, when trying to improve sagging cheeks or nasolabial folds, the threads are inserted along the side of the cheekbone. In this case, the force can concentrate on the cheekbone, which may cause a side effect that makes the cheekbones appear larger.

That is why our clinic uses the same ingredients but extends only the length of the thread and inserts it at the hairline, allowing the force applied to the skin to be distributed more efficiently.

② Three-step temple lift

What creates synergy with this principle is the three-step temple lift. It is also commonly called a “temporal lift.”

This refers to a procedure in which a small incision is made near the temple, which is covered by hair, the sagging outer corner of the eyes and drooping side line are pulled upward, and then the excess tissue is removed and sutured.

A facelift involves lifting the entire face, so the burden is greater, but a three-step temple lift can lift only the side area, and the scar is not exposed externally, so it is considered less burdensome.

In particular, when performed together with thread lifting, it enables a stronger lift and, of course, greatly extends the short maintenance period of thread lifting, creating good synergy in many ways.

If you lift the nasolabial folds and sagging cheeks through thread lifting, then add volume to sunken areas with PLLA threads as needed, and also perform the three-step temple lift together, the overall contour becomes more defined and the volume increases, allowing for a smaller and more three-dimensional face.

Of course, combining the two procedures is only for those who truly need it. Each procedure can also be done on its own, so please feel free to start with a consultation.

That’s all for today’s post. If you have any personal inquiries, please contact Reborn Plastic Surgery. Thank you. 🙂

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