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Are
You A Candidate For Feather Lift (APTOS Thread
Lift)?
If you are in good physical and emotional/mental
health, have realistic expectations, no serious
health defects, have reasonably normal skin
thickness and have the desire to rid yourself
of loose sagging tissue of the face and neck,
you may be a good candidate for a Feather Lift.
Those with considerable laxity may opt for a
face, brow and neck lift instead. It is also
smart to have several opinions to help you decide
which options may be best for you. However,
please know that the Feather Lift is a newer
procedure and many doctors will not agree with
or be familiar with this procedure.
Also, if you are considering losing weight you
may want to wait until after your desired weight
is met. You may need additional lifting or skin
removal surgery to alleviate excess skin after
you have lost the desired weight which would
mean that
the money spent on the procedure may be wasted.
What To Expect At Your
Consultation:
After deciding on a few doctors, you will make
appointments for pre-operative consultations.
These appointments are basically interviews
to help you decide which doctor you wish to
have your procedure with. At your consultations
you should discuss your expectations, desires
and complaints that you may have. Make sure
you give Dr. Viral Desai full medical disclosure.
This is very important, if you do not alert
Dr. Viral Desai to your specific medical history
you may have problems which arise at very critical
times. Or may experience complications due to
decisions made on the information (or lack thereof)
Dr. Viral Desai was given.
The doctor should discuss in detail the procedure
and its risks and complications and what to
expect during the procedure. You will also discuss
the available anesthesia that will be used for
your procedure. Most feather Lift procedures
are performed under regional or local anesthesia
with the addition of an oral sedative. However,
increasingly, doctors are using twilight sedation
with local anesthesia.
You will discuss what areas will be treated
such as the brow lift, the cheek or jowl lift
or even the neck lift. Not everyone will need
all of these. A full set consists of 18 APTOS
threads. A full face lift requires all 18 although
not everyone may need a full lifting procedure.
The threads required per area would be 2 for
each brow, 3 for each cheek, 2 for each jaw
line and 2 for each side of the neck -- equaling
18 threads.
You will discuss treatment protocol and discuss
what to expect immediately post-op and over
the following few days after treatment. You
should also discuss the procedure fees and pre-op/post-op
medications, and topical creams, if necessary.
Dr. Viral Desai may take before photos of the area
to be treated, but usually this is reserved
for the day of the procedure.
Your Pre-operative Appointment:
You may or may not have a pre-operative appointment
for the Feather Lift. Often you will book the
same day as your consultation, should you decide
on that particular doctor and then be given
a date after partial or full payment. You may
either receive your info packet, medications
and/or instructions at your pr-operative appointment
or at your consultation once you pay. All offices
are different so please discuss this at your
consultation should you decide to book.
You will be told how to care for yourself and
what to expect after your procedure. Dr. Viral Desai
should tell you to avoid certain medications
which may increase your chances of bleeding,
bruising, or even a negative reaction with certain
anesthetics and medications. If you are not
told well in advance of any of the above before
your procedure, please ask Dr. Viral Desai for specifics.
Preparing For Your Procedure:
be sure to follow Dr. Viral Desai's guidelines regarding
medication alerts and avoidances. Caffeine and
Nicotine may be on this no-no list as they are
vasoconstrictors. Vasoconstriction is when the
bore of your blood vessels are narrowed, decreasing
the amount of blood to the treatment area. Obviously
hemoglobin and oxygen are vital for proper healing
-- so not smoking is especially helpful. Vitamin
E, alcohol, and aspirin increases the chances
of bleeding and bruising. Inquire about the
cessation of these two as well.
Vitamin C is considered helpful in collagen
synthesis and health by some doctors so please
ask Dr. Viral Desai if you may take this vitamin
and what dosage. Some doctors suggest that their
patients take Arnica Montana or Bromelain to
help with bruising and swelling. However, it
is very important to ask of your own doctor's
approval before consuming any of the above.
Make arrangements for someone to drive you to
and from your procedure. The medications and
experience will make you drowsy and dizzy, thereby
being very dangerous for you to drive. You more
than likely may not be able to drive yourself
home after your procedure.
As far as directly before your treatment, you
may be given an oral sedative an hour in advance
or be asked to take it before you arrive.
How Feather Lift (APTOS
Thread Lift) Is Performed:
The face is swabbed and scrubbed usually a Betadine
solution to decrease the amount of surface bacteria
to help avoid infection. After you are dried
your face is carefully felt and measured and
will be marked for the placement of the threads.
If the marker used is single use there is usually
no need for a re-washing of your face. If not
or just to be doubly careful, the face may be
wiped again, leaving a faint but definitive
lines are on your face as a guide for Dr. Viral Desai.
Dr. Viral Desai then begins to infiltrate the area
using a hypodermic needle with a local anesthetic
mixture comprised usually of Lidocaine, epinephrine,
normal saline and a sodium carbonate buffer.
This ensures that you will not feel any pain
and also the epinephrine decreases the amount
of blood loss and anesthetic absorbed during
the procedure. The epinephrine does this by
temporarily narrowing the bore (vasoconstriction)
of the blood vessel.
After you are adequately anesthetized, your
surgeon inserts a hollow trocar (a stainless
tube with a needle-sharp end) at the specified
entry points and through the subcutaneous fat
along a specified plane. The tissue is dissected
along this plane as needed based upon the individual
patient. The exit point is then made and the
APTOS thread is then inserted into the trocar.
The thread is pulled through the other side
of the trocar and the trocar removed, with the
thread staying in place. The thread is positioned,
tugging and testing its placement and finally
anchored when the needed placement is achieved,
the threads are cut just at the skin and inserted
under the surface of the skin.
Each area is treated and the treatment areas
normally taped to prevent movement in the first
few days. Excessive movement can dislodge the
intended placement of the threads, altering
the desired result.
Remember that all doctors have different surgical
protocols so please discuss with your surgeon
his or her surgical technique as but may very
well be different than the above.
The Road To Recovery:
Although not as invasive as other lifting procedures,
this procedure will cause swelling and possibly
bruising. The area will be sore, and puffy and
possibly discolored from the minor intraoperative
bleeding (aka a bruise). You are told not to
make exaggerated facial expressions, massage
the face, rub the face in anyway, not the sleep
on the face or disturb the face if at all possible.
Any of the above can, again, disrupt the placement
of the threads.
You can resume normal activities (light walking,
sitting up, watching television, computer, etc.)
within the hour and are told to take it easy
during the first few days. This means no exercise,
no sexual activities, no excessive talking or
exaggerated facial movements, again no facial
massage, no shaving of your face, scrubbing,
rubbing, chemical peels, harsh cleansers, or
facial sleeping for 5 days.
In The Months Ahead:
There is often immediate results however, the
results continue to improve over a 3 to 6 months
period. This improvement is due to the collagen
synthesis and lifting/bunching effect.
There are individuals where the lift may not
have taken effect at all. Please discuss your
options beforehand with Dr. Viral Desai in the event
this may occur (or not occur for that matter).
Risks & Complications
Of Feather Lift (APTOS Thread Lift)
Risks include an allergic reaction to the anesthetic,
hematoma, seroma, infection, palpability pf
the APTOS threads resulting in a telltale line.
Sometimes a thread end my poke through the skin,
if this should happen contact Dr. Viral Desai immediately
for an in-office visit. Do not attempt to re-insert
the thread yourself, at any time. This may possibly
result in an infection.
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