Looking for an almost instant way to take a few years off your face? The latest beauty trend is the new ‘thread facelift’ … No real downtime, not really painful and your face will look refreshed without anyone knowing the reason why
After you hit a ‘certain age’ you start looking around for something that will make you look the way you feel on the inside, at least I did. Yes, you can try different sorts of topical beauty products like moisturisers and serums, and you can have a go at getting some facial fillers or botox, or, like me, you can try the latest ‘thread facelift’ for practically instant results.
So, what IS a ‘thread facelift’?
The thread facelift is, of course, a Korean aesthetic invention that uses ‘threads’ or bio-absorbable sutures made of poly L-lactic acid (PLLA). It’s the same stuff that’s used in surgical sutures (the ones that dissolve into the body) and orthopaedic devices. When these threads are inserted into your face you get no only the instant lift from the procedure that gently tugs your skin upward, but also a gradual collagen regenerating effect that basically moisturises your skin from the inside out with gives you a more natural-looking result.
I tried the Silhouette Soft Thread Lift
Now you know what it is, you need to know which one to try. You may have already heard of this procedure as the Korean thread lift, but the earlier versions were a bit rougher on your face than the version I tried.
The Silhouette Soft Thread Lift uses ‘cones’ instead of the sharper ‘barbs’ of the original versions, and according to my doctor, Dr Siew Tuck Wah from Radium Medical Aesthetics (he’s been doing this procedure for more than three years) this version is gentler on your face, is less painful and lasts longer. According to Dr Siew, the cones on the threads “anchor the subcutaneous fat, and pull the skin up” in a minimally invasive way.
As soon as the threads are in you see an immediate effect, especially around the jawline and the ears. Around a month later you also start to see the impact of the ‘regeneration of collagen’; your skin looks plumper, fresher and minimal lines start to disappear. As the collagen remains stimulated you continue to get an improved look over the next three to six months. The Silhouette Soft threads will dissolve about 12-18 months after the treatment but the effects will continue for at least another 6-12 months depending on your lifestyle and genetics.
What can you fix with the Silhouette Soft Thread Lift
Obviously this treatment is great for your face generally – I got my jawline, cheeks and mid-face done – but you can also use it for eyebrows and your neck (I want to try that next time)! Both men and women will benefit from the procedure and it’s best for those over 30 years old. According to Dr Siew, this treatment is often better than fillers since it moves your skin upwards and helps create more collagen for your whole face giving you a real ‘facelift’ effect.
What does the doctor do and what does it feel like?
Basically Dr Siew had a good look at my face and then decided how many threads I needed and where best to place them for optimal effect; you get a full face of numbing cream and some dots to help the doctor place the threads in the right places. You then get a local anesthesia or regional nerve block before the procedure starts. The threads are placed in the fat layer of your face via injections – there’s no ‘surgery’ as such. Once the threads are inserted the doctor tugs on them gently to pull your skin into the right position, then snips off any excess thread.
What does it feel like? Does it hurt? In all honesty it feels more ‘weird’ than painful. If you’ve ever had fillers inserted you’ll understand the odd feeling of something moving around under your skin but it’s more of a soreness than a pain per se. Something like a numbed dental procedure maybe. It’s not entirely painless, at least it wasn’t for me, but the doctor explained that because I’d had a number of fillers over the years, there was a little bit of thicker tissue that was a bit harder for the thread to move through. But honestly, it’s such a small, small, amount of pain that you really won’t be bothered.
For a few days afterwards I felt tightness and a little pulling if I laughed out loud or yawned broadly … but really, that’s about it. There was some general soreness in my face and my skin was a bit sensitive to touch – you need to be gentle for the first few days – but as I also go some fillers done at the same time it was perfectly understandable. You will also have minute indentations where the threads entered your skin, but they disappeared practically overnight.
My results
Overall I am very impressed with this procedure. There was definitely an immediate ‘lift’ effect that people noticed, saying that I looked so much more ‘relaxed’ and ‘fresh’. People thought I’d been on holiday. There is no downtime; I went to work the very next day wearing my normal makeup and worked a full day. Yes, I took a gentle painkiller the night after the treatment and also tried to sleep on my side, but that’s more a personal precaution than a real issue. As the weeks passed, the effect became even more noticeable with my nasolabial lines and marionette lines gradually softening and the whole effect settling in and looking very natural. My verdict? I’ll definitely be doing this again.
We tried the Silhouette Soft Thread Lift courtesy of Dr Siew Tuck Wah of Radium Medical Aesthetics. Read the doctor’s full explanation of the procedure at here.
Dr Siew Tuck Wah, Radium Medical Aesthetics, 3 Temasek Boulevard, North Wing, Tower 2, #03-326, Suntec City Mall, Singapore 038983. If you live in Malaysia, the procedure is also available from Dr Lim Ting Song at Clique Clinic, 4, Jalan 19/36, Seksyen 19, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
