Time Management
Science and technology are helping aging boomers save face by turning back the hands of time.
By Anne Dimon
As the once elite business of anti-aging evolves into a mainstream industry, science and technology are uniting to bring a slew of new anti-aging products to the marketplace. Many make the skin look fresher, more toned and more plumped, but one of the most effective non-surgical, cosmetic-enhancement procedures available today is the Thread Lift. It gives you an actual physical lift-with no down time and no surgery.
Pioneered by leading-edge, Toronto and L.A. cosmetic plastic surgeon, Dr. Steven Mulholland, the Thread Lift is about half as effective as a surgical face lift, lasts about half as long and costs about half the price. “As we age, we deflate, descend and deteriorate,” says Dr. Mulholland. “We lose the fullness of youth and gravity takes its toll.”
Since 1998 when he launched Spa Medica, Dr. Mulholland has performed cosmetic enhancement and anti-aging treatments on over 25,000 patients, 90 per cent of them women between the ages of 35 and 60. The growth factor is about 30 per cent a year, and he expects that to continue for another 15 to 20 years.
In some cases, he says, “the Thread Lift can take five to 10 years off a person’s visual appearance.” I had to check it out for myself, so in the name of research, I put my face in the steady hands of Dr. Mulholland.
The one-hour procedure administered with just a local anaesthetic begins with ultra slim needles being used to insert thread-like sutures (the kind used in heart and brain surgery) into the fatty layer of the face. The sutures have tiny barbs on them that “grab onto the droopy, saggy elements, allowing tissue to be symmetrically balanced, lifted and repositioned into a more pleasing location,” explains Dr. Mulholland. Underlying tissue is pulled up into the hairline and extraneous skin spreads out over the scalp. It’s a tidy procedure, with no visible scars or skin folds. Over time, you are ultimately relying not on the threads to hold things in place, but on the tissue that will eventually adhere to itself. The threads, anchored into the scalp, just hold everything in place until it heals.
Did it hurt? Pain is primarily limited to the needles used for freezing. There is swelling and bruising for a few weeks, but except for a headache when the freezing fades and short-term sensitivity in the face and scalp area, the whole thing is pretty much pain – free.
Dr. Mulholland says that other anti-aging and enhancement treatments, such as Foto Facials, ultra sound, intense pulse light (IPL), radio frequency current, lasers, and injectibles such as Botox and Restylyne, can all be used in combination or on their own to address facial concerns, but they can also help support and maintain the longevity of the Thread Lift because, he says, it won’t help with concerns such as those little lines over the upper lip.
And the price tag for this little journey back through time – well, let’s just say I could have bought an all-inclusive holiday at a luxury beachfront resort. It’s a personal decision as to what’s most important. I’ll stick close to home, stay out of the aging rays of the sun, and put my money into self-refurbishment.
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