The thread brow lift: London’s trending non-surgical treatment
By: The London Cosmetic Clinic
Medically reviewed by: Dr Salinda Johnson
Published on: November 19, 2020
As we age, our skin can start to lose its elasticity and this means that everything starts to go south. Imagine skin that is tight and toned. It sits firm on to the facial anatomy, holds its plump and youthful appearance and contours around the facial skeleton. As time starts to take a hold, we lose dramatic amounts of vital substances within the skin tissues, called collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. These substances form the basis of youthful and healthy skin, so no wonder the skin starts to degrade, sag, dehydrate and wrinkle, when these ‘elixirs of youth’ start to diminish. The forehead area can succumb to skin ageing and this can cause an unwanted effect on the eyebrows. As the skin loosens it drops and weighs the brows down, causing a frowning, heavy effect over the eyes. It can even cause upper eye bags, causing us to look permanently tired and older than our years.
At The London Cosmetic Clinic, we offer a range of safe, proven, non-surgical treatments for skin ageing and Botox® is one of the most popular injectable treatments for dynamic wrinkles, expression lines and a heavy brow. However, Botox®, though extremely successful in temporarily reducing a heavy brow, can start to have less of an effect in older patients. Also, it may only last 3 to 6 months and the more someone has Botox® injections, the less effective they can become over time; with thanks to the natural ageing process and the body becoming ‘immune’ to the substance.
This is where a revolutionary, highly-effective ‘physical’ and physiological lifting treatment can offer a solution. This comes in the form of bioabsorbable threads, or medical sutures. These threads, when inserted expertly by a medical practitioner such as Dr Salinda Johnson, can instantly lift and tighten the skin and over time, can assist with further production of collagen and elastin, for a longer-term improvement. We call this procedure, the thread brow lift.
Thread-lifting isn’t a new procedure and has been used for many years for patients who want a treatment to last longer than traditional Botox® or fillers, but who aren’t yet ready for surgical intervention. The sutures used are made from various substances, all of which are compatible with the human body and pose no threat of contamination or unwanted side-effects. Surgeons have used these sutures in medicine for decades and in recent years, it has been discovered that they offer skin rejuvenation both instantly and in the weeks that follow the procedure. Dr Johnson has been performing thread lifting for the whole face, but has seen that a brow lift, using these threads can offer significant and dramatic results, without the use of a scalpel, general anaesthetic, a hospital stay or indeed lengthy and painful downtime.
Thread brow lift: how is it done?
At the Londoncosmeticclinic we used Mint PDO thread which is FDA approved and clear CE marked threads, indicating safety and efficacy of the threads. Mint threads are moulded threads which gives stronger lift and longevity compare to laser cut threads
Patients from the age of 30 onwards can benefit significantly from a thread brow lift and many of those patients who are in their mid-to-late forties, who have had Botox® injections for some time, and are noticing that this might not be working as well as it did in their 30s, have turned to thread lifting for a more apparent, longer-term solution.
Your brow lift consultation
Before any treatment can take place here at The London Cosmetic Clinic and as a duty of care to all our patients, we will ask that you attend a no obligation consultation with Dr Johnson, so that she can assess your facial concerns, examine your skin and facial anatomy and talk at length with you about what you hope to achieve from the procedure.
She will also look at your medical history, to make sure that you are fit, well and healthy to have a thread lifting treatment. Once the pre-treatment consultation is complete and you are both happy that a thread brow lift will be both beneficial and safe, you can go ahead and book your appointment.
Having a thread brow lift treatment
On the day of you’re the read brow lift appointment, you will be asked to sign a standard consent form, then shown in to the treatment room.
A topical anaesthetic will be applied to the area to be treated which will take around 30 to 45 minutes to take effect. When your skin is numb, Dr Johnson will insert the sutures with a fine needle, taking care to reach the required depth of the skin tissues, for maximum effect and so that they are concealed beneath the skin’s layers. Once this is done, Dr Johnson may compress the skin so that the appropriate lifting effect is achieved. The ends of the sutures are then snipped away and you can return to your daily activities, as long as you take care and follow the aftercare instructions, given to you by the doctor. Excessive exercise, pulling or rubbing the treatment area, hot baths, saunas and steam rooms are to be avoided for 48 hours and you may feel some swelling, bruising and tenderness in treatment area for a couple of days too.
Simple pain relief such as paracetamol and taking it easy for a couple of days, will help with healing and for the threads to ‘settle’.
Brow lift results
The great news is that some results can be seen straight away and as the collagen and elastin beneath your skin is produced, in the weeks that follow your thread brow lift, you’ll see further improvements of the skin’s tone, texture and elasticity.
Even better and what sets thread lifting apart from Botox® is that results can last up to 2 years! A ‘win-win’ for anyone who leads a busy lifestyle and who wants longer-term effective results from their cosmetic procedures.
Are you suitable for a brow lift using threads?
Although thread lifting may not be appropriate for everyone, such as those patients who are pregnant or breast feeding or who suffer with acute and chronic infectious diseases, benign or malignant tumours, a predispositions to keloid scarring, blood coagulation disorders or serious chronic diseases, this would be said for most non-surgical treatments and is why we ask that you attend an initial consultation prior to any treatment here at the clinic. Therefore, if you are considering thread lifting and do not have the aforementioned conditions, speak with one of our receptionists to make your first appointment for consultation with Dr Johnson and take your first step to a more youthful, wide-awake looking you, without going under the knife!
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