Will A Threadlift Solve My Sagging Jowls Problem?

Q: I am 58 yrs old and in good health. I have never smoked, drank alcohol or done any drugs. While I am an upbeat person, I have had a difficult past and been exposed to a lot of physical and mental abuse. I just want to have a natural smile. My mouth has always had a natural turn down which makes me appear angry and unhappy. (which I should be because of my past but am not) I can pull my cheeks up at my ears and have a great turned up smile and the jowls disappear.  I read about the thread procedure and thought this might be possible for me.  Anxious to hear from you.

A: In reading your e-mail, by your own description, you have the classic signs of face and jowl laxity. By pulling the skin up by your ears or cheeks, you are creating the classic results of what a facelift can achieve.

Your inquiry regarding a Threadlift suggests that you believe that this may produce a result similar to a facelift or maybe approximately so. Unfortunately, this is not true. While the Threadlift concept has a lot of appeal in the mid-2000s, it is a procedure which has largely disappeared from clinical use. The original ‘threads’ are no longer even manufactured. When an initially popular and marketed plastic surgery procedure ‘disappears’ within five years from when it comes out, that is because it has basically failed to work. Such is the fate of the Threadlift.

Even of the Threadlift procedure was still available, it was never intended for severe facial skin laxity. In other words, it does not sound like it would have worked in you anyway. Some form of a facelift is what you need. Even a limited facelift, or jowl lift, would be better than any form of a Threadlift.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana