The new no-knife face lift that’s changing the way we age

It’s the cosmetic equivalent of having barbed wire threaded under your skin to lift up the dermal tissue. So what got Sharon Walker going back for her second thread lift in three years – and was it any different this time round?

When interviewed by Red recently, Sophie Dahl was asked for her views on facelifts. She replied in a wonderfully non-judgemental way, “It depends how comfortable you are with ageing.” Like Dahl, I’m neither for or against facelifts. “Ask me again when I’m 50,” was her final (candid) word when asked if she would actually have one. Well, I’m 52 and I’m not ready. However, neither am I comfortable with my face sliding down “the slippery slope to disappointment”, as Liz Jones so aptly put it when writing about her own facelift in the Daily Mail.

I’d been told by a couple of doctors that I could get the lift I was looking for with a dab of filler in my temple and at the top of my cheekbone. But I’d gone for a second opinion from Dr Geoffrey Mullan at Medicetics, who I’ve seen for lip filler and a thread lift three years ago. Recently named as one of the country’s top cosmetic doctors by The Times, he took stock of my chunky little hamster cheeks (my words, not his) and said filler was a no, as any more volume would make me look odd. He suggested another thread lift, a kind of ‘lite’ facelift.

To be honest, I was hoping to side-step this solution, not because it doesn’t work – I loved the results when I had it before – but because it’s a far bigger undertaking than a quick injectable or laser. It’s not surgery, but it does involve a certain amount of rummaging around deep in your face. But

I have to say, this time it was far easier – as Dr Mullan notes, there’s less laxity in the skin and you’re more relaxed as you know what to expect. And though you could hardly call it a pampering treatment, this time it really wasn’t any more difficult than having filler. The actual treatment took about 30 minutes – and I could easily have gone straight back to work.

How does it work? Typically, five threads (I had an extra one to help lift those hefty fat pads in my cheeks), are inserted into each side of the face through a single point next to the ear. The threads are made of polydioxanone, which dissolves over a number of months and features tiny barbs that open out like an umbrella when the threads are pulled, anchoring onto the connective tissue.

Once the threads dissolve, your dermis is held up by the collagen and scar tissue that forms around the threads. It’s not painful since you’re dosed up with anaesthetic, which is delivered through the cannula at the same time the threads are inserted. There were a couple of disconcerting crunches and a couple of sharpish twinges, but that was the worst of it.

Like filler, the effect is immediate and nothing short of miraculous. My jawline is sharper and my mid-face has lifted. I look a good four or five years younger. For the next few days, my right cheek is a little swollen and my whole face is a bit tender. I also have some puckering in one cheek, but I had that last time and know it’ll settle down in a few days. Not that anybody seems to notice. Two days after, I go to a party and while I don’t feel quite myself, it’s OK.

Two weeks later, and everything’s back to normal. My skin no longer feels tight or tender, and there’s no puckering. I feel like I’ve borrowed another couple of years at least. Will I consider a facelift? Ask me again when I’m 55...