Too Young For A Facelift? This might be for you then!

The neck is one of the first places to reveal signs of ageing due to a combination of neglect, gravity and general weakening of skin elasticity.

In the past, a surgical neck lift and liposuction, accompanied by a facelift, has been the treatment of choice for women wanting to rid themselves of the dreaded ‘turkey look.’

Cosmetic surgeon Dr Michael Zacharia, who specialises in facial plastic surgery, still recommends a full neck and face lift for optimum results, but he says there’s another option for those wanting a less invasive procedure.

Dr Zacharia spoke at the recent 8th Annual Australasian Academy of Anti-Ageing Medicine Conference: An Integrative Approach to Stress and Ageing, on the topic of ‘effective neck remodeling using the i-needle.’

“When we’ve got an ageing process in the face or neck you can treat the skin and treat the underlying tissue and lift it or try these things called threads,” he says.

“The whole thing about the i-needle is that it uses a dissolving thread to tighten the skin.”

The use of threads has been around for about a decade, but Dr Zacharia says they’ve only recently been made dissolvable.

“When they first came out they were non-dissolving, so the problem was if they weren’t put in properly or didn’t sit right they could be seen and you couldn’t do anything with them,” he says.

“But these threads have barbs on them, like fishing line with hooks on them, and when you put them in they hook onto the tissue underneath and lift it up and hold the tissue in its new position and they slowly dissolve away.”

Dr Zacharia says an added benefit is that the threads stimulate the skin as they dissolve.

And while neck re-modeling with an i-needle is technically a surgical procedure, Dr Zacharia says it’s minimally invasive.

“It’s done under a local anaesthetic, usually associated with a small amount of liposuction to create a bit more scar tissue,” he says.

“We put some tape on, and I get the patient to wear the tape for three or four days plus a neck garment. But they can get out into the real world without anyone really noticing, and it takes between three weeks and three months for the main result.”

He said the procedure was popular, but it’s not ideal for everyone.

“Doctors need to choose a patient correctly,” he says.

“If they have too much skin it’s not going to work.

“It’s ideal for a younger patient with some sagging and a bit of fat there, but for those with a lot it’s probably not worthwhile doing it.

“It’s good to do it earlier rather than later. It’s the ideal treatment for someone thinking they’re too young for a facelift.”