by Lawrence Janowski, MD
I am enthusiastic about the new thread-lifting technology now available, and having been one of the first physicians trained on this procedure in Colorado, I have been using this technology with great success. The procedure is called Silhouette thread-lifting, and it is poised to change non-surgical facelifting in a significant way.
A Silhouette thread is an absorbable suture, not unlike that found in surgery. This suture is simply injected just under the skin, similar to a filler, but has the unique property of being able to mildly lift the skin. It does this by virtue of tiny microscopic barbs along the side of the suture, which grasp the skin very lightly, holding it up a bit. The effect is instant. The suture is eventually broken down and reabsorbed by the body, just like in surgery, at about 6 months. These threads also generate new collagen, similar to collagen-stimulating fillers.
There are five main lifting areas: The neck, the jowl, the midface, the brow, and the mouth corners. Smooth (non-barbed) threads are excellent for enhancing the lip without the need for fillers, adding volume to the cheek, or softening lines and wrinkles almost anywhere on the face. The procedure only takes a few minutes, and there is usually no recovery, due to the fact that they are deployed with a microcannula, which generally does not bruise.
They can be injected along with fillers, or as a stand-alone procedure. Silhouette threads are truly a revolutionary technology, and I believe they will become as mainstream as fillers in the next few years.
For more on this technology, visit www.novathreads.com, or read a great new article on threads in New Beauty magazine.
And…another new article with great before/after photos just came out in The Aesthetics Guide.
*Results may vary from patient to patient