The thread lift has been touted as a minimal down-time facelift substitute.  It’s a procedure where permanent plastic suture cables are placed beneath the facial skin.  These sutures have little barbs on them, which are designed to grab on to facial tissue and pull it upward.

Even if the procedure lasted a long time I would have a problem with permanent sutures being left stringing across the face for years.  However, in addition to this at a recent American Society of Plastic Surgery meeting I saw 3 world experts in the thread lift admit (to varying degrees) that this procedure lasts from 18-24 months at best.  I suppose if that makes sense to some patients then they might be good candidates, but I find that all of my patients are looking for a true ‘rolling back’ of the clock, with a final result that lasts for years to come.