Try googling for “face lifting without surgery” and you will see links to non-invasive skin tightening treatments (there are so many!), botox, fillers and even tutorials on facial exercises or workouts. Face gyms, they call it, involves anything from rolling a ball over your face, to slapping exercises, facial sculpting with jade. Muscle manipulation is believed by face gym fanatics to improve the appearance of sagging faces, and hopefully this reshapes one’s face to a more youthful visage in time. Whether 30 minutes of facial exercises is able to noticeably lift sagging skin remains to be seen but truthfully, I am skeptical of it, because it reminds me of older ladies I see at the gym who are even stronger than I am, but still have loose, crepey skin all over. Also, there is no certainty of anything. For example, how long will I need to do facial exercises before I can expect a visible facelift effect? At least for non-invasive skin lifting treatments such as the FDA-approved Ultherapy, I am told results can be expected between 3 to 6 months.
But for those who want even more predictable results? What are the other options?
Lift Without Surgery – PDO Thread Lift
Before the invention of today’s non-invasive thread lifts (more on this later), thread lifts used to be performed solely by plastic surgeons and involved surgery. PDO thread lift is a treatment that repositions sagging skin to a more youthful-looking position, alleviating deep folds such as the nasolabial and marionette lines and tightens the skin for a more flattering V-shaped appearance. PDO stands for polydioxanone and is introduced beneath the superficial layers of the skin to produce a skin lifting and skin tightening effect. PDO threads can be used to lift the mid and lower face, the neck (thus getting rid of the much hated turkey neck or double chin).
Compared to a completely non-invasive treatment such as Ulthera or Thermage, expect a 24 to 36 hour recovery period. Most doctors perform PDO thread lifts with numbing solution injected prior, so there should be a bit of puffiness expected immediately after, which should resolve quickly. Also expect mild bruising at thread entry points. Some but not all experience a mild headache on the same day presumably because of the unfamiliar facial tension. Apart from these, a thread lift usually doesn’t cause much downtime. PDO threads aftercare is simple – avoid facial massages for the next couple of weeks and avoid alcohol or blood thinning medications such as Aspirin for a few days.
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How Long Does A Thread Lift Last?
Once inserted, A PDO thread last approximately 6 to 9 months – these threads are naturally broken down by the body over time. After that the facelift effect continues to last another 3 to 6 months due to collagen stimulation effects. Hence a procedure such as the Infinity Instalift has instant facelifting results which last approximately 12 months on average. Silhouette Soft Thread Lift lasts approximately 12 to 18 months, by comparison. There are other threads which last longer but this is not always a good thing. For example, PCL threads (polycaprolactone) threads last up to 3 years but have been reported to have more thread lift complications.
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How Much Does A PDO Thread Lift Cost?
This is highly variable but prices also depends on the number of threads used. For example, v-petit uses 2 to 3 threads per side and costs less than the full infinity v-lift. For prices, enquire here.
By Emma Rose.
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