Our faces are our most visible part of ourselves. Faces also show our age to a greater degree than any other part of our bodies. There are many ways to rejuvenate the face, one of the most complete and popular being a facelift. A traditional facelift is an involved procedure, and involves a fairly significant recovery. Some people, either because they can’t afford the money or time involved in such a procedure, or because they simply want a quicker result, are turning to newer, less invasive options.
A full or complete facelift, the traditional type of facelift procedure, involves incisions along the hairline from the temples to around and behind the ears. Through these incisions, your surgeon can access the layers of muscle or connective tissue underneath the skin, lift them, and secure them in a lifted position, along with the outer layer of skin. This ensures a complete and natural result. Some patients are put off by the invasiveness and recovery time involved and, as a result, surgeons have been working on newer, less-invasive methods for achieving similar results.
One of the newer facelift procedures is known as the thread lift. A thread lift is performed by inserting barbed threads under the skin with a needle. The barbs on the threads allow the surgeon to use the threads to lift the skin, requiring no incisions, and producing minimal scars. Facelift Northern Virginia Patients generally resume full activity within a week, and side effects are limited. However, there have been some serious complications such as threads poking out of the skin or facial nerve branches getting damages by inexperienced doctors performing the thread lift. As such, we at The Naderi Center do not recommend the thread lift and prefer mini facelifts or full facelifts.
However, due to the nature of a non-invasive procedure, the corrective potential of a thread lift is limited. This type of procedure is unable to affect the changes in the distribution of facial tissues that happens as we age. It does not remove any of the excess sagging skin, so this remains on the face and visible after the procedure. A recent study found that while initially some improvement in appearance was achieved, the result disappeared by around a year post-procedure. The physicians involved felt that the initially apparent results were probably attributable to inflammation.
If you are interested in discussing a facelift for yourself, call Washington DC area physician Dr. Kulak at 703-481-0002 in Virginia or 301-222-2020 in Maryland for a consultation today.
