A non-surgical facelift
MINT Thread Facelift is an innovative and non-surgical treatment to lift sagging skin on your face. It is most suitable for people who are concerned about mild to moderate sagging.
As we age, the tiny, little fat pads underneath our skin start sagging from the top of the face to the lower parts. This can cause an undefined jawline, a prominent fold between the nose and the lips, and also jowls. MINT Threads are dissolvable threads that have little fish hooks attached to them. When we insert the threads underneath the skin, these tiny, little hooks pull the skin upwards and provide you with a lifting effect.
Over the next 3 months, the threads gradually dissolve. During this process, they stimulate collagen inside your skin. This collagen makes skin smoother and thicker and also provides a lifting effect.
MINT threads are basically surgical sutures that surgeons use when they perform any procedures. These sutures are dissolvable. Surgeons use sutures to help wounds heal faster. Dissolvable sutures usually dissolve after 2 to 3 months, so long after the wound has healed. This is of great advantage as the surgeon does not have to remove the stitches.
Medical professionals observed that skin on top and around these sutures looks smoother and thicker. And because of this, cosmetic doctors decided to use these same sutures to improve the appearance of the skin. In the early stages, little threads were placed under the skin to stimulate collagen.
In 2014, Neopharma UK developed a new type of thread that had little fish hooks attached to it. These fish hooks were able to pull the skin upwards and lift the face. Since then, these threads have become very popular as an alternative option to a non-surgical facelift.
People who have mild to moderate sagging of their faces are suitable for a MINT Thread Facelift. Sagging is a natural ageing process that starts as early as the age of 35. This is due to the fine fat pads underneath our skin that start to slowly move downwards with gravity. As a result, our jawline may look less defined and some people may get a double chin, even though they have not gained any weight. Eyebags and a deeper fold between the nose and lips can also be a sign of sagging.
If you have more severe sagging of your face, you may be better off with a surgical facelift.
It is very important to us to make sure that you are the right candidate for a MINT Thread lift. We will assess your face carefully during your one-hour free consultation and provide you with honest and realistic advice.
When people have a facelift, the surgeon will tighten the ligaments and facial structures in their face that are quite deep. This means that you get a longer-lasting and more permanent result, and people with severe sagging can be successfully treated. On the downside, this procedure is invasive and requires significant downtime.
A MINT thread lift is not a facelift. The doctor puts threads right under your skin and then gently lifts the skin up. So the deeper structures of your face like ligaments remain untouched. This means that a thread lift is less invasive but also does not last as long as a facelift. It also only gives you a mild lifting effect and is not suitable for people with severe facial sagging. You also need to bear in mind that the threads are dissolvable, so the lift will not be as long-lasting as a facelift.
But the advantage of a MINT thread lift is that it is a fairly simple procedure with less downtime.
Please bear in mind that a MINT Thread Lift is not a replacement for a facelift but rather an intermediate technique between dermal fillers and a facelift.
That really depends on how severe your facial sagging is and how much collagen your skin produces after the MINT Threads. Most people find that they notice a lifting effect on their face straight after. A study found that most people get a lifting effect of 6 to 10mm. After 3 months this lifting effect was unchanged. After a year, the lifting effects were still between 3 mm to 6mm. But after 2 years only one-third of the clients noticed a lifting effect.
So this means that it lasts for approximately one year for most people.
We aim to make this procedure pain-free. It is normal to feel some pulling and stinging during the procedure. If we have a scale of 0 to 10, probably at a level of 2 to 3.
The MINT Facelift procedure can be a little bit uncomfortable, and it is not unusual for our clients to feel some pulling and sometimes a bit of stinging. Before the procedure, we will apply a concentrated numbing cream to the areas we want to treat. After that, we will inject a small amount of local anaesthetic into the entry point of the threads. Then we will gently inject a local anaesthetic along the vector of the threads. This can make your face feel a bit numb.
Once we feel that your face is ready, we will gently insert the threads. Please let us know immediately should you experience any pain. We will try to find a way to make the procedure more tolerable.
Cold sores can always occur after any procedure around the lips. To prevent this from happening, we often prescribe a short course of aciclovir for 2 days to prevent you from getting cold sores.
Very rarely, the threads can become visible through your skin. If this was the case, there are several options for treating this complication. One option would be to wait until the thread dissolves on its own. Because the threads dissolve faster when they get hot, you can apply heat packs and gentle massage or simply go to the sauna. In extremely rare cases, we can remove the thread.
MINT Threads are FDA approved and deemed a safe treatment. The most common problem with MINT Threads is that you can get puckering or dimpling of the skin on top of the thread. A study showed that this can occur in up to 20% of procedures performed. This usually resolves within one to three weeks. You can help resolve the dimpling with a daily, gentle massage along the threads. Sometimes heat can help, like going to the sauna.
If the dimpling is severe and you do not want to wait for the dimpling to settle on its own, the doctor can mobilise the thread with a small needle that he or she gently inserts into the skin.
If you have thin skin, it can sometimes happen, that you feel the threads under your skin. As the threads are dissolvable, this will usually get better. If you find this very uncomfortable, you can apply heat to try and dissolve the threads a bit faster.
Rarely, infections can occur. We perform all procedures in a sterile environment to prevent infections. Should you nevertheless get an infection, we would prescribe an antibiotic. Very rarely, the thread will have to be removed.
Another, very rare complication is that you can see the thread sticking out under your skin. This will also resolve over time. Very rarely, if this is uncomfortable or cosmetically not pleasing, we can remove the thread from underneath your skin.
The cost for a MINT Thread Facelift is 1800 NZD.
Sometimes, you may wish to further enhance your cheeks. In this case, we would recommend MONO Threads, which are smaller threads that we insert right under the skin. This costs 10 NZD per thread, normally 20 to 100 threads are required.
