Face Lift via Thread Lifts — R.I.P.

Bad Plastic Surgery, Face Lift Comments (4)

Plastic surgery is full of devices, techniques and gizmos that just did not catch on.

But rarely is the official death warrant signed by plastic surgeons themselves.

That’s the case with Thread Lifts which hit the market back in 2005 when cosmetic plastic surgery was in its heydays. And, hey! Thread Lifts were FDA cleared. What more could people want?

Much more, as it turned out.

The official send-off was penned by Rima F. Abraham, M.D. of Albany Medical College who did a study on 33 patients who underwent the Thread Lift procedure and 23 others who had some other sort of facial rejuvenation like:

• Botox
• Facial fillers like Restylane.
• Face Lifts
• Chemical peels
• Fat transfer

Writing in the most current issue of a Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, a professional  magazine for facial plastic surgeons, Dr. Abraham asked four board-certified plastic surgeons with no idea what procedures, if any, the 56 study patients had performed on their faces. (Read the thread lift surgery study.)

The four ranked each face on its aesthetic improvement on a scale of 0 to 3; O was for no improvement while a 3 indicated considerable improvement.

The study subjects were graded 21 months post-op, long enough for their faces to have settled down from surgery and take on a final appearance.

The score on the Thread Lift group:

• .3 to .5 degrees of improvement

Writes professor Abraham: “Any early improvement shown by Thread Lift patients may be largely attributed to post-procedure edema (swelling) and inflammation…”

And then the stake through the heart:

“We cannot justify further use of this procedure for facial rejuvenation.”

The statement is not as bold as it appears: the manufacturers took the Threads off the market almost a year ago!

Back in ‘05, thanks to brilliant marketing experts who can often create demand, the “lunchtime” Thread Lift caught on like wildfire.

If you want to read the story of one woman who documented her entire Thread Lift surgery, follow Marianne, a full-time rejuvenation surgery blogger, complete with before, during and after plastic surgery pictures.

Long story short: eventually, the threads popped out of her already lovely face.

RealSelf.com asked Thread Lift patients if it was worth it: only 12 percent said “yes.”

admin @ June 2, 2009