It’s hard to know when the first facelift was performed, since during the early 1900s, cosmetic procedures were considered somewhat frivolous, and doctors didn’t exactly advertise their services. In fact, the American medical community actually attempted to ban cosmetic surgery during the 1920s. However, the years after World War I saw an increased need for facial reconstructive surgery, and from there, surgeons also began to experiment with different ways to “lift” the face, thereby creating the impression of fewer wrinkles and greater youth.
Over the last few decades, there’s been a trend toward more minimally invasive procedures to volumize and de-age the face, such as neurotoxins and injectable fillers. In addition, the “thread lift,” a rejuvenation technique that removes the need for large incisions and long recovery times, has come of age.
Here at Med Physique Center for Aesthetics in Austin, Texas, our team of expert aestheticians is committed to providing you with the most advanced and least invasive techniques to give your face the lift it needs to look younger and healthier. We regularly recommend the PDO Thread (EuroThread) procedure to our patients as an alternative to a full-on facelift.
As we age, our skin and supporting tissues lose their elasticity, which leads to sagging and wrinkles. A facelift (rhytidectomy) is a surgical procedure that both lifts and tightens the facial tissues to give you a more youthful look.
A facelift focuses on the lower two-thirds of the face and sometimes the neck, and it most often involves removing excess skin, smoothing out tissue folds or wrinkles, and tightening everything up. Oftentimes, a person will opt to include a brow or eye lift along with the facelift.
The surgeon generally makes an incision near the temples along the hairline, continues in front of the ear and earlobe, then moves back behind the ears to the lower scalp. He next removes fat and excess skin from the face, possibly redistributing it to other locations. Finally, he redistributes and tightens the underlying muscle and connective tissue, sealing everything up with sutures (either dissolvable or the kind that needs to be removed) or a special skin glue. Once healed, the scars from the incisions will blend in with your hairline and new facial structure.
Risks include:
Also called “thread lifting” because it involves the use of surgical thread to lift sagging skin, EuroThread is an aesthetic procedure involving biodegradable sutures that the FDA approved in 2015 for use in aesthetic treatments; the sutures had previously been approved for several decades for use in cardiovascular surgery. The EuroThread procedure can be used for treatments to the face, neck, and body — without having to go under the knife.
Originally billed in the late 1990s as a “kinder, gentler facelift,” the Contour Threads, as they were called at the time, had a number of side effects that included scarring, infection, and obvious lumps under the skin from the “barbed” sutures if they were improperly tied. The sutures also didn’t dissolve and couldn’t be removed once they were anchored.
New advances in technology, though, led to the updated and superior, FDA-approved EuroThread technique, which is minimally invasive and requires little to no downtime. The sutures are made from safe polydioxanone (PDO); they don’t require anchoring, and they’re fully absorbed by the skin in six months without forming scar tissue.
During the manufacturing process, a single thread is inserted into a needle or cannula and then sterilized. The surgeon inserts each thread into the dermis (middle) skin layer, and when the needle/cannula is removed, the thread remains behind. Depending on the type of thread (Smooth, Twisted, or Barbed), it may promote collagen production to provide structural support and tone, or it can be pulled in the appropriate direction to produce a “lifted” appearance.
The procedure only takes 1-2 hours, and side effects are minor:
Results from the procedure are immediately visible, they improve over the next several months, and they may last up to two years.
EuroThreads can’t replace a full facelift for longevity, but in combination with neurotoxins like BOTOX® that inhibit the muscle contractions that cause wrinkles, and dermal fillers that plump up the skin to smooth and tone, it can give you the younger face you want with no surgery and at a fraction of the cost of a traditional procedure.
Interested in learning how EuroThreads can help you look younger and more vital without having to go under the knife? Call Med Physique Center for Aesthetics at 512-453-7000 or schedule an appointment online.
