What is Silhouette Soft Threading?

-It is a re-absorbable suture with bidirectional cones that is used to redefine facial features, by elevation.
-The suture is made of Polylactic acid and the cones are made of L-actic acid (82%) and glycolic copolymer (18%).
-These components are totally re-absorbable in 8-12 months for the cones and 18-24 months for the suture.

By placing the threads in the skin, the body recognises it as a foreign body. This will lead to inflammation and finally fibrosis. The cones will hold the tissue in place to start off with, but it is the fibrosis that causes the eventual lift.

Ultimately you get two actions with ONE treatment:

1. Lift action – as soon as the treatment is carried out, the doctor is able to redefine the focused area by compressing the tissue and lifting the skin thanks to the bidirectional cones.
2. Regenerating action – by re-absorbing, the polylactic acid acts in the subcutaneous tissue and stimulates fibroblast activation and collagen production, thus restoring shapeliness to the face.

-Mid-face skin ptosis
-Jaw line ptosis
-Brow ptosis

A Silhouette suture lift improves sagging of the neck and helps restore an optimum angle of the skin in the neck. Before any suture or thread lift procedure, it is very important to understand the capability of the procedure and what CAN and what CAN’T be achieved. If you are expecting the same results as a surgical neck lift procedure, then this is not the appropriate procedure for you. It is important to remember that this procedure is non-invasive and it takes about 60-90 days to see the result, as the result will depend largely on the skin’s condition and healing ability.

Silhouette Suture lifting techniques do not replace surgery. However, they can be used to further improve the results of neck and facelift surgery, OR they can be preventative in younger patients delaying or even preventing the need for surgical intervention. These threads assist the Doctor in repositioning the treated tissue, but do not remove excess tissue. So the tightening part of this procedure is seen after a couple of months once the skin has had the opportunity to lay down the new collagen and elastin which has been triggered by the insertion of the thread. The other great advantage of this is that Silhouette Suture lifts can be repeated over time if necessary, whereas multiple surgeries are highly inadvisable.

The Silhouette sutures described here may be retightened during a secondary procedure.

-Any known allergy or foreign body sensitivities to plastic biomaterial
-Permanent fillers
-Acute and chronic skin diseases
-Auto immune diseases
-Pregnancy and breastfeeding
-Patients with sepsis or infection
-Patient with limited willingness to restrict activities or follow directions during the healing period.
-Patients under 18

Silhouette Lift is an outpatient procedure performed under local anaesthesia. The patient remains awake and alert during the procedure, but will be unaware of any pain. The total treatment time is approximately 30 – 45 minutes, and the patient will be able to leave immediately after the procedure.

For facial rejuvenation, the Doctor will make a small incision into the temporal region, just above the hair line. To prevent contamination the patient will wear a head cap and sterilized procedures will be followed. Depending on the desired lift, a number of Silhouette sutures will be inserted and pulled back to lift the lower face.

-After the treatment, most patients experience some mild soreness and pain following the procedure. However, the patient can resume normal activities within two to four days. Expect ten days for the skin to fully recover its natural aspect.
-Swelling and bruising may be noticeable for a number of days (3-10 days)
-The area treated may be tender to touch. Thus is normal and will improve over 5 days
-Follow up appointments are made with the attending doctor: 3 days after procedure, 1 week after, and 2 weeks after procedure to ensure the skin is responding and healing as it should.
-Ice can be applied to the treated areas, immediately after the procedure and thereafter to reduce swelling.
-Keep the head elevated for the first 3 nights and sleeping face up is recommended (5 nights)
-Wash and dry face gently, without rubbing (5 days)
-Put on make-up, shave and wash hair gently (5 days)
-Avoid direct sunlight and do not use tanning beds (2 weeks)
-Avoid facial massages, and all facial aesthetic treatments (3 weeks)
-Avoid sports, in particular contact sports (3 weeks)
-Do not use saunas (3 weeks)
-Avoid dental surgery (3 weeks)
-Avoid excessive facial movements while chewing, talking, yawning, smiling etc. Avoid smoking and drinking from a straw.

All threading treatment is a final treatment option. It is thus only recommended after other skin treatments such as lasers and other skin tightening has been done on patients. This is an option for patients who do not want a facelift and want to go to the next level of support and lift of the face.

The ideal patient is a person who has had optimal skin tightening treatments but need extra support or lift for their skin.