Thread lifts are a trending topic.
At Dr. Leah Clinic, we have featured in The Guardian and Saturday Times Newspaper in the last month alone for our industry-leading, award-winning thread lift procedure – The Silhouette Soft Lift.
Dr. Leah has performed the most procedures of its kind in the UK and is widely acknowledged as ‘the very best’ for Silhouette Soft Thread lifts. But why are more people than ever choosing to have a thread lift over a surgical face lift?
Indeed Dr. Leah Clinic has seen a surge in clients requesting the treatment in the last two years, with patients flying from across Europe to undergo the facial lifting procedure. The number of searches for thread lifts online is increasing month on month, with beauty bibles such as Tatler recently deeming facial thread lifts as a “life-line’ for facial sagging.
To understand why thread lifts are swiftly becoming the most popular treatment for facial rejuvenation, we must delve into the history of its surgical counterpart - the traditional face lift.
The History of Facial Lifting.
A historical surgical procedure
Traditional face lift surgery had existed for over 100 years when in 1916, surgeon Erich Lexer first performed the procedure. His method involved lifting the skin above the facial muscles, pulling it back over the ear, and cutting off any excess skin. For nearly 60 years, the Dr.Lexer technique of face lifting remained the fashion; however, this procedure often resulted in the typical over-tight, overstretched look. This ‘windswept’ outcome resulted from the facial skin being too tightly pulled across the earlobe and underlying tissue not being addressed, which is the root cause of facial sagging.
It was not until the 1970s when Dr. Paul Tessier tweaked the Dr. Lexer method to address the superficial muscular aponeurotic system where this procedure really came into its own. The Dr Tessier method focused on repositioning sagging, soft tissue under the skin to a higher, more youthful position prior to removing excess skin. The result: a significant lifting of the jowls, sagging cheeks, and nasolabial folds. The Dr. Tessier technique is still widely used today and is otherwise known as the SMAS facelift.
And so, the SMAS facelift begins the practice of facial lifting and sculpting via the deeper layers of facial tissue and muscle. This evolution brings about the transition into the non-surgical facelift with the non-invasive thread lift.
An Evolution to less Invasive Facial Lifting…
Let’s now discuss thread lifting and how it compares to this surgical approach to facial rejuvenation.
A thread lift technique uses the innovative aspect of the SMAS lift, which goes beneath the surface of the skin to lift the underlying tissue and address facial sagging. There are, however, key differences between the two procedures which are making the thread lift a popular choice for those worried about going under the knife.
Firstly a thread lift is not as invasive as a SMAS lift and does not involve any cutting of the skin, which results in less downtime and potential complications associated with a traditional surgical facelift. The thread lift process involves a fine needle being inserted into the face; to (like the SMAS facelift) address the deeper layers of facial matter below the surface of the skin. This enables a more effective and long-lasting lift to the face without any cutting of the skin, which can result in unsightly scarring. The thread lift needle delivers a thread with tiny cones attached to it, which painlessly hook into a subcutaneous layer of fat in the face. The threads are then pulled tightly upwards to lift the layer of fat in the face, resulting in a subtle lift. Like the SMAS facelift, this treatment raises and sculpts the jowl area, noticeably reducing the look of nasolabial folds and marionette lines. Another key benefit to a thread lift is the production of new collagen caused by the cones, which helps to plump and rejuvenate the face.
The Silhouette Soft Lift technique…
At Dr. Leah Clinic, we are proud to lead the field in the most effective of thread lifting procedures. We use the most premium brand of threads - Silhouette Soft Threads, which are made out of Poly-L-Lactic Acid material and have greater longevity in comparison to PDO threads (another popular type of thread lift)
A Silhouette Soft Lift at Dr. Leah Clinic lasts around 18 months vs. the typical six-month lifespan of PDO threads. Silhouette Soft threads are also superior in terms of immediate lifting effects and collagen production.
Why are thread-lifts increasing in popularity?
(Above) Fox eye thread lift at Dr Leah Clinic
Recent years have seen a rise in celebrities having some thread lift help. The Eye thread lift, in particular has heightened in demand over the last year with the suggestion that high profile models such as Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid have had the treatment to achieve a lateral brow lift effect (commonly known as the Fox eye lift)
This move-in popular culture to embrace non-surgical face lifting methods has undoubtedly affected the popularity of the thread lift treatment. The trend for facial lifting has also been popularised through viral Tik Tok and social media videos striving to achieve a lifted look to the eye and lower face through the clever use of makeup and face lifting tape. While these methods are undoubtedly creative, a Silhouette Soft Lift offers a longer-term solution and unlike a traditional surgical facelift does not involve months of recovery and 15k plus price tag.
Thread lifting at Dr. Leah Clinic can be conducted in less than an hour, with quick results and minimal downtime.
Prices start from £2200
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More about Dr. Leah Clinic - the UK
number one thread lift expert: Dr. Leah
Clinics are a center of excellence for Thread Lifts in the UK. Medical Director Dr. Leah Totton isknown as the “best thread lift doctor” in the country and has won awards for
the procedure. She is an international trainer for Silhouette Soft thread lift and has personally performed more Silhouette Soft thread lift procedure
than any other UK doctor. Dr. Leah sits on the medical advisory board for Silhouette
Soft, demonstrating her high level of expertise in performing the procedure. Dr. Leah has also trained associate medical director Dr. Sheila to the same standard in this procedure.
