Cosmetic surgery patients also like shorter procedures because they can resume all the areas of their lives afterwards, avoiding the dreaded “downtime” of recovery. So, even if the results of surgery last only a few years, more patients are opting for the shorter, quicker procedures that provide almost as much rejuvenation as longer surgeries. Moreover, more patients are willing to go back to their surgeons to keep the refreshed, younger look up to date.

Top Contender

According to many plastic surgeons, this year’s top contender for the most desired, minimally invasive procedure is the Contour Thread Lift. That’s an in-office operation that uses special surgical threads to lift sagging facial and neck tissues. The procedure is so new, professional organizations like the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery are not yet tracking the numbers of thread lift patients. But more plastic, cosmetic and dermatologic surgeons are reporting patients asking for thread lifts in droves. It just may be the facelift of the future.

Normally, a more youthful facial look is created by trimming away excess skin and pulling the remaining tissues up tighter and then stitching it all back into place. That’s where general anesthesia and a longer recovery period enter the picture.

But in a thread lift, special sutures are placed under the skin, using a larger than normal, hollow needle that only punctures the skin. The needle contains the threads that do the actual lifting.

“The F.D.A. has approved a type of thread lift known as the ‘Contour Thread Lift,’” says Michele D. Koo, M.D., F.A.C.S. in St. Louis. “Patients love that the procedure can be done in my office with only a local anesthetic, after which they can return to their normal activities.” The company that makes contour Threads says 300 U.S. surgeons have been trained in the procedure.

While the operation is not meant to replace a surgical facelift and may only provide a more youthful look for, say, six months to several years, surgeons report more people from 25 to 55 asking for a thread lift to tighten up that thick fold of skin (nasolabial fold) that runs from the corner of the nose to the mouth’s corner. Also high on consumers’ hit lists are the facial lines that run from the corner of the mouth down to the chin (the marionette lines) and the so-called “turkey gobbler neck,” that wrinkled bunch of extra skin that often grows around a rapidly aging neck.

“However, a person with a significant amount of thick, heavy facial skin and a very full face would not be a candidate for a thread lift but would probably want to consider a full facelift instead,” says Dr. Koo.

Like an Umbrella

The surgical threads that lift fleshy skin have been in development for many years. Any physician could take some surgical sutures, thread it through muscle just under the skin and tighten things up. But sutures alone cut through muscle and do not do the job. Eventually, plastic surgeons in France, Russia and China developed a type of thread with small feathers, then cogs and now barbs which provide more support. It’s because the barbs become fixated in their surrounding tissues and more-or-less act like opening an umbrella under the skin. Once the barbs are in position, the excess skin which is lifted relaxes and shrinks in two to six weeks, thereby creating the new lifted look.

The heavy lifting happens when the surgeon, using a thick, hollow needle, puts a thread into the fat layer just under the skin, starting near the cheekbone, if the task is lessening the nasolabial folds. One end of the thread is then tied to deeper, firmer internal structures in the face. The other end travels under the skin about four inches. When the surgeon withdraws the needle, the barbed sutures are deposited in the droopy part of the face. The physician then gently tugs on the thread which pulls the loose flesh up, closer to where it once sat in the patient’s youth. The technique can be used to lift sagging cheeks, eyebrows and to create a better balance for eyebrows that may be asymmetrical.

No Yakking

Of course, all this new technology comes with a caveat or two.

After having a thread lift, a patient would not want to go to a hilarious movie, enjoy his or her favorite stand-up comic or engage in some marathon yakking on a phone. After a thread lift, a patient must keep the face stiller and quieter than usual for about two weeks until the body grows collagen around the barbs, providing still more support for the lifted tissues. You would also not want to get in a wrestling match or even sleep on your side for fear of rubbing your cheeks the wrong way.

Common side effects of the procedure include some swelling, bruising or headache. However, surgical makeup allows most patients to be presentable the next day.

“After a Contour lift, patients will feel some lumps and bumpiness under the skin for one to two weeks but not feel the barbs themselves,” says Dr. Koo.

Possible risks of the procedure include threads popping out of the skin, infection and rejection. According to the company that makes the threads, a little less than one percent of cases have complications which are usually managed by the surgeon.

So, at least for facial rejuvenations, the old saying about “a stitch in time” can now officially be changed to “a thread in time.”

For more information about all types of cosmetic and plastic surgery, go to: http://www.cosmeticsurgery.com

Dr. Koo’s website: http://www.drmkoo.com

© 2005 HealthNewsDigest.com