There once was a time where, if you wanted a little lift, you had no choice but to go under the knife. Now, however, thanks to medical-grade threads, you can lift sagging skin, improve the look of wrinkles and even change the shape of your nose! Still, not all threads are created equal. Choosing the right thread for the job is vital to getting great results. You also only ever want to see a highly-skilled aesthetic doctor because the placement is everything.
Happily, at Skin Renewal, our doctors have years of experience when it comes to inserting threads. They’ll also be able to assess your skin’s condition and suggest the best threads for the job. Still, we’ve created a little run down on the four main types of threads to help you understand more about these brilliant innovations and how they could help you look and feel your best.
Suspension sutures
Want to lift, tighten and re-drape your skin? Suspension sutures are up to the job. In fact, if you use enough of them, they can have a similar effect to a subtle facelift. While they’ll eventually dissolve after a year, they stimulate the production of collagen wherever they’re placed. This way, their effects will last for at least 6 to 12 months after the thread itself is gone.
Barbed and anchor threads
Barbed threads are precisely that – they feature tiny barbs that help them sit tight in your skin while lifting targeted areas with moderate sagging. Like suspension sutures, they also dissolve and leave fresh collagen in their wake, but their life span is slightly shorter approximately 6 to 9 months. As for anchor threads, these are much like barbed ones, but somewhat stronger, so they’re best for when sagging is severe.
Still, innovations abound, so we’ve just introduced NEW Anchor MAX threads. Thanks to its unique design, they have maximum anchoring ability making them three times stronger than a typical anchor thread. They’re ideal for targeting an area that requires a little heavy lifting (hello there jowls!) and, better yet, last nearly twice as long as regular anchor threads – a whopping 12 to 18 months!
Monofilaments
Have you ever heard of monofilament threads? Known as the “strengtheners”, these are used to fortifying the skin in areas where it’s thinning. While they won’t lift or tighten, they’ll do an excellent job of encouraging collagen production and improving circulation wherever they’re placed. At just six months, their “placement to dissolving” lifespan is shorter than the other types of threads, but their effects are very visible and last for up to another six months after they are metabolised.
Speciality threads
Last but not least, we get speciality threads. Again, these are the dissolving type, but they’re engineered to perform specific tasks. For example, a broom or peako thread is designed for use in non-surgical nose jobs. These can be used to lift the tip of a nose or correct a slightly skew bridge. Other speciality threads include spring, screw and spiral threads. Much like monofilaments, these are also used to strengthen as opposed to lifting. They integrate in a way that allows for natural facial movements.
New threads, new you
Ultimately, if you want to enjoy a more “lifted” look, rejuvenate your skin and even change the shape of your nose, you might be a great candidate for threads. To find out whether they are suited to you, make an appointment to chat with one of our doctors today. They can be a wonderfully non-invasive way to get similar results to a traditional facelift without the associated risks, downtime, scarring or expense. However, if your sagging is very severe or you’ve experienced a lot of volume loss, they might recommend a combination of dermal fillers as well as threads. When combined with other treatments, threads can deliver incredible results. Better yet, you don’t have to insert all the threads you might need at once. We can stagger them in over several appointments to suit your budget as well as top them up at any time and help you maintain your new look. Once you see the great results, you’ll definitely want to keep them!