06:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, June 7, 2006

Evening Magazine

Most people, when they hear the word "facelift," they think of surgery, pain, long recovery and high costs. But there's a recently approved procedure that says it doesn't have any of that stuff.

It was an exciting and nervous time for Seattle resident Susan Plunkett because her 30-year high-school reunion was coming up soon.

But the event also had her felling pretty nervous about how she looked.

"There's so many old friends that I grew up with that I haven't seen for a long time," she said. "I'll never look 30, but I want to look good for my 30th reunion."

Even before her reunion, Susan had become increasingly conscious of the gradual changes in her face brought about by age.

But it's a change she's been trying to hide.

"For a long time I've felt really uncomfortable wearing my hair in a ponytail, and for the last eight years I've worn it down to cover my face," she said. "I don't feel pretty in a normal sense."

So Susan decided to try a recently approved procedure that claims to be able to pull back the face of time, literally.

Dr. Ludwig Allegra, a board-certified plastic surgeon at Northwest Face, is one of a handful of doctors using a procedure called a Contour ThreadLift.

"It's a barbed thread type of material which literally is able to grab fatty tissue and allow us to pull it in a linear fashion," he said. "So we are now able to achieve support and reduction of certain areas of the face that are becoming heavy or saggy over time."

Unlike a facelift, a ThreadLift is nonsurgical, so the patient is awake the whole time.

The lift happens through a little puncture site in the hair, so there's no recovery to speak of.

Evening Magazine

The before-and-after pictures of Susan Plunkett using the Contour ThreadLift procedure.

"It's truly a weekend facelift," said Dr. Allegra.

Susan wasn't looking for a miracle, but she was hoping for a little help to look less tired and feel better about herself.

"Starting in this area it inserts and threads down in the fat and then exits lower down beyond the point where we want to lift," explained Dr. Allegra. "Once we have the threads placed, I then literally grasp the thread, take the skin, pull it up and place it where it should be."

"The nice thing about this technique is it can be augmented," he added. "If someone wants to add an area some months latter or years latter, we can do that."

In less than an hour, the procedure was over.

She looked worse for wear, but compared to a regular facelift, it was minor.

A few weeks later…

After a few weeks, we caught up with Susan on the night of her reunion.

Did she like her lift?

"When I wake up every day and I look in the mirror, I can't believe it's my face," she said. " I didn't think I looked like this anymore. It's unbelievable."

But getting her new look wasn't as easy as advertised.

"The first week was very challenging as I didn't know that I couldn't eat for a couple of days and I wasn't able to talk for three days," she said. "I expected less than a week recovery, but everyone is different."

From soft and saggy to tight and trim, thanks to the Contour ThreadLift, Susan's no longer hiding behind her hair.

Of course, the real test came when she showed her new face to some old friends.

"People can't believe when I tell them I'm turning 49," she said.

You may not be able to stop time, but for Susan Plukett, sometimes a little lift is enough.

More info:

Call Northwest Face at 206-525-2525 or toll-free at 800-425-NOSE.