Clinique Face MD
The thread lift procedure has been growing in popularity as a non-surgical alternative to the surgical facelift. Often described as a non-surgical facelift, it conservatively tightens skin and restores facial contours while also helping you combat aging concerns such as sagging skin or fine lines.
With time, our facial features lose volume due to aging processes, which makes them laxer and more droopy than before. Thread lifting, also called facial threading, slightly tightens loose areas of skin by repositioning it, reducing mild skin laxity for a more refreshed appearance.
Schedule a consultation at Clinique Face MD to find out whether threads or surgery suit your degree of facial laxity.
Clinique Face MD
What Is a Thread Lift?
A thread face lift — also written as a thread for face lift or a threading face lift — is a minimally invasive procedure that lifts droopy skin and tightens facial tissue, restoring a refreshed look through small entry points rather than surgical incisions. Threads are inserted beneath the skin through a fine cannula or needle, anchored, and drawn upward to reposition sagging tissue along the cheeks and jawline. The treatment is also written as a threadlift.
This minimally invasive cosmetic procedure lasts 30 to 60 minutes and you are advised not to return to work until the day after the thread lift. Your face will be swollen immediately following the thread lift, and this swelling may last a week or two, depending on how many treatments you get done at once.
Thread lifts are typically recommended in a series of three to six sessions for optimal results. Patients should understand that thread lifting does not provide results as effective as a surgical facelift, and it does not correct excess skin or advanced facial ptosis.
How PDO and PLLA Threads Lift Tissue and Stimulate Collagen
The threads are usually made from poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), a threadlike polymeric material also used in absorbable surgical stitches. PLLA thread lifts use absorbable sutures placed into the subdermal layer of the skin to initiate collagen production. Polydioxanone (PDO) threads work on the same principle and are the most widely used material in a PDO thread lift. Both materials are fully dissolvable and biodegradable, so nothing permanent remains beneath the skin.
Two thread designs do different jobs. Barbed threads carry tiny cogs that grip tissue and hold the lift mechanically. Smooth threads add no lift but stimulate fibroblasts, the cells that generate new collagen as the thread dissolves. The mechanical lift fades as the material breaks down; the collagen response builds gradually underneath it. This biostimulation is the same mechanism behind poly-L-lactic acid collagen stimulation treatments.
Facial Areas a Thread Lift Can Treat
Face threads are placed where skin has begun to descend but has not yet lost its structural support. At Clinique Face MD, treatment focuses exclusively on the face and neck.
- Midface and cheeks: repositions descended fat compartments to restore mild cheek definition
- Jawline and jowls: softens early sagging jawline contours
- Nasolabial folds and marionette lines: lifts the tissue that deepens these creases
- Brow: produces a subtle temporal elevation
- Neck: a neck thread lift slightly lifts and tones mild neck laxity
Clinique Face MD
Benefits and Limitations of thread lift
If you are looking for thread lift treatments in Montreal, here are the benefits patients most often report, alongside the limits of what threads can achieve.
- Reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines
- More refreshed skin and improved skin texture
- Natural-looking results that preserve facial expression
- Restores a more youthful appearance to the midface
- Improvement in sagging skin and mild loose skin
- Slightly lifts and tones the neck
- Less downtime than facelift surgery, though swelling and bruising are expected
- Improved facial contours along the cheeks and jawline
Threads do not replace volume, and they do not remove excess skin. Patients whose main concern is volume loss are often better served by fillers or fat transfer, and patients seeking skin tightening without a lift may be candidates for FaceTite skin tightening. Individual results vary with anatomy, skin quality and healing.
Clinique Face MD
Who Is a Good Candidate for a Thread Lift?
A good candidate is someone who does not have a lot of wrinkles and has realistic expectations for the desired improvement in treated areas. The thread lift treatment is best for people who are only looking to reduce the signs of aging in their faces and want a more refreshed look, without having to go under the knife.
It is also suited to people who have thin skin and mild to moderate skin laxity, and who are looking for a conservative improvement in saggy skin.
The best candidate for a thread lift in our practice is a patient who is not a candidate for a surgical facelift, and does not want dermal fillers. Thread lifting provides natural and conservative results.
Clinique Face MD
Who Should Not Have a Get A Threadlift?
Several contraindications rule out thread lift treatment entirely. Thread lifts are not recommended to most patients who have had previous thread lift or facelift procedures done, because the sutures may cause infection or damage if performed too soon after previous procedures.
Thread lifts are not recommended for people with bleeding disorders, because they may cause uncontrolled bleeding during the procedure.
People with autoimmune diseases such as lupus are also not good candidates for thread lift treatments, due to risk of infection and impaired healing.
Clinique Face MD
What Are the Risks of a Thread Lift?
Thread lifting is a medical procedure with real complications. Our surgeons review each of these with you before treatment.
- Bruising around the treatment site
- Swelling, typically lasting one to two weeks
- Infection at an entry point
- Allergic reaction to the thread material
- Thread extrusion, where the end of a thread works its way to the surface
- Thread migration, where a thread shifts from its intended position
- Dimpling or puckering of the overlying skin
- Asymmetry between treated sides
- Palpability, where the thread can be felt beneath the skin
- Loss of lift, as the mechanical effect fades with the material
Most of these complications are uncommon, and several resolve on their own or with a minor in-office correction. Rarely, a granuloma can form around thread material. Being aware of them lets you recognize a problem early and contact us promptly.
General information on this page does not replace a consultation with a physician.
Clinique Face MD
Recovery and Aftercare After Thread Lift Treatment
The thread lift procedure is performed under local anesthesia, so most patients feel pressure rather than pain. It is a simple procedure that requires a significant amount of skill, and it should be performed by a physician trained in facial anatomy.
Follow these steps after treatment to protect your results.
- Take pain medication as directed until it is no longer needed.
- Do not rub or massage the treated area for one week.
- Sleep on your back with your head elevated for the first several nights.
- Avoid wide mouth opening, dental work and strenuous exercise for two weeks.
- Expect swelling and bruising over the first 48 hours, easing across the following one to two weeks.
Contact Clinique Face MD today and schedule your consultation in Montreal for a more refreshed look.
Thread Lift gallery
Warning: These photos are published as an indication to provide information on the nature of the intervention. They do not constitute a guarantee of results.
Clinique Face MD
Thread Lift Compared With Surgical Facelift Options
Facial threads facelift comparisons are common, because both approaches target the same complaint — but they work at different depths. Threads work in the subdermal layer and reposition skin. A surgical facelift releases the retaining ligaments and repositions the SMAS, the deeper structural layer that carries the weight of the face. That difference explains almost everything about how the two compare.
How Long Thread Lift Results Last Versus Surgery
Published ranges place thread lift results at 12 to 18 months, with some patients seeing effects for up to two years as the collagen response continues. Facelift surgery is generally described as lasting several years to well over a decade, depending on technique and individual factors. Threads are a temporary intervention that requires maintenance treatments; surgery is not.
When a Surgical Lift Is the Better Option
If you have moderate to severe skin laxity, defined jowls, excess skin along the neck, or advanced ptosis of the midface, threads will underdeliver. Placing them anyway produces a modest change that fades within a year and costs time you could have put toward a durable result. In that situation our surgeons will tell you so and discuss surgical options instead.
Individual results may vary. Candidacy is determined during an in-person consultation.
Meet the Face MD Team
Clinique Face MD was founded by Dr. Sami Moubayed, a double board-certified head and neck surgeon practicing in facial plastic surgery, with more than 3,500 facial procedures performed. Our surgeons practise in Montreal, Quebec and work exclusively on the face and neck, which means the same team that places your threads also performs deep plane facelift surgery. That matters here: the honest answer to whether threads are enough for you comes from people who can offer either.
Meet The Many Face MD Experts
Schedule Your Thread Lift Consultation in Montreal
Our surgeons at Clinique Face MD work only on the face and neck, and will tell you honestly whether a thread lift suits your anatomy or whether surgery would serve you better. If you are considering a conservative, non-surgical lift, contact our Montreal clinic to schedule your consultation.
Thread Lift Questions Patients Ask
How much does a thread lift cost in Montreal?
Thread lift cost depends on the number of threads placed, the areas treated and whether the treatment is repeated as a series. Current fees are listed on our pricing page. Prices are subject to change, exclude taxes and any additional treatments, and a personalized estimate is provided at consultation.
What are thread lifts made of?
Thread lifts are made of absorbable suture material. The three materials in clinical use are polydioxanone (PDO), poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL). All three dissolve over several months, and all three stimulate collagen production as they break down, so the lift you see at three months differs from the lift at placement.
How long does a thread lift procedure take?
A thread lift procedure takes 30 to 60 minutes, depending on how many threads are placed and how many areas are treated. Treatment is performed in the clinic under local anesthesia, and most patients return home the same day and go back to work the following day.
Is a thread lift painful?
Local anesthesia is used throughout the thread lift, so most patients describe pressure and tugging rather than pain. Tenderness, swelling and bruising follow for several days, and over-the-counter pain medication is usually sufficient. Discomfort varies with the number of threads placed.
Can a thread lift be combined with other treatments?
Yes. Threads lift descended tissue but do not restore lost volume, so they are frequently paired with dermal fillers or biostimulator injections. Your physician will sequence treatments so that swelling from one does not obscure the assessment of the other.
Which surgical options should I consider if a thread lift is not enough?
When laxity is beyond what threads can address, our surgeons discuss these procedures during consultation.
Deep Plane Facelift
The deep plane facelift releases the retaining ligaments and repositions the SMAS layer as a unit, addressing midface descent and jowling that threads only mask. It is the comprehensive option for moderate to severe facial laxity, and results are measured in years rather than months.
Mini Facelift
A mini facelift treats early jowling and jawline laxity through shorter incisions and a more limited dissection. It is often the right step for patients who are slightly beyond thread lift candidacy but not yet candidates for a full deep plane procedure.
Neck Lift
A neck lift addresses platysmal banding, submental laxity and excess skin along the neck, none of which threads correct meaningfully. It is commonly combined with a facelift when laxity extends below the jawline.
What They Say.
