Hello.
Butler Plastic Surgery Clinic (specialty: plastic surgery)
I am Yun Taebin, director.
Look into lifting and there are a great many names: thread lifting, mini lifting, half lift, facelift.
How do they differ, and which one suits me?
Today I will arrange these names along a single line.
They are stages, not names
These operations and procedures are not different things; they are closer to stages of how deep and how wide you take the same kind of work.
Where the sagging is shallow and localised, a lighter method; where it is deep and wide, the range widens accordingly.
The lightest stage: thread lifting
A non-incisional procedure that hooks and lifts sagging tissue with absorbable medical threads.
It is considered when sagging is beginning and you want to tidy the line with light recovery. Since the threads are absorbed, however, there is a limit to how long it lasts.
Surgery with a smaller incision: mini lifting and the half lift
There is a range where threads alone are not enough but a full lift feels like too much.
Mini lifting anchors threads to the fascia through a limited incision to reinforce how long it holds; the half lift draws the SMAS layer over a wider range than that, yet narrower than a full facelift.
This is the range usually considered for cheek sagging, deepened nasolabial folds and a jawline beginning to give way.
The widest stage: the facelift
Where sagging extends across the face and, if needed, into the neck, a facelift is considered.
Because it corrects not only skin but the SMAS layer and retaining ligaments broadly, and works in deeper layers, recovery is relatively long.
Who decides which stage?
The layer responsible decides.
Whether what has slackened is fat, muscle, fascia or ligament — identifying this at consultation comes before choosing the name of an operation.
Fitting the person to a predetermined operation turns the order upside down.
Two people of the same age are not necessarily at the same stage. The standard is condition, not age.
Why we do not recommend too large a stage
There is no reason to recommend a wide-incision operation to someone whose sagging is shallow.
Whether it is worth leaving the mark of a scar, or whether a method at the present stage is enough — making that judgement honestly is, I think, the surgeon's part.
Conversely, what happens if light methods are repeated when the sagging is deep?
Cost and time accumulate while the change stays shallow — the most disappointing outcome of all. That is why the stage must be assessed honestly.
Operations and procedures at every stage carry the possibility of swelling, bruising, scarring and asymmetry, and vary between individuals. If you are wondering which stage your sagging is at, I recommend beginning with an assessment.
Butler Plastic Surgery Clinic (specialty: plastic surgery)
This was Yun Taebin, director.
7F Daedong Tower, 326 Dosan-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
※ This post is informational material written directly by Butler Plastic Surgery Clinic (specialty: plastic surgery) in compliance with Article 56(1) of the Medical Service Act. Surgical results and recovery vary between individuals, and side effects such as bleeding, swelling, infection, scarring, asymmetry and reduced sensation may occur. Full consultation with your medical team is required before surgery.