How the gradual radiofrequency response is reviewed is on VF Lift results.
Published 28 October 2026 · Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong
VF Lift vs thread lift compares heat with mechanical support. A thread lift places absorbable PDO or PCL cog threads under the skin to hold descended tissue in a repositioned place. The VF Lift – Vertical Facelift is Dr Sin Yong's radiofrequency protocol on Volnewmer: nothing is placed, and lifting, sculpting and restoring are set zone by zone. What has moved decides between them.
Short answerThreads suit mobile tissue that has slid, with skin and fascia still firm enough to grip. The VF Lift suits laxity where the support itself has loosened, and puffiness or hollowing. Nothing is placed or injected with the VF Lift. Neither removes skin, and the two can be combined where descent and laxity coexist.
VF Lift vs thread lift: heat or mechanical support
VF Lift vs thread lift is a choice between two mechanisms that do not overlap. A cog thread is an absorbable suture with small barbs. Placed in the subcutaneous fat through small entry points under local anaesthetic, it engages the fibrous septa, and when the tissue is drawn back along the planned vector the barbs hold it there. The change is mechanical and begins on the day. As the polymer hydrolyses, a track of collagen forms along it. Dr Sin Yong performs thread lifting as the Bliss Lift, with PDO and PCL threads placed above the SMAS.
Illustrative image — not a patient.
The VF Lift – Vertical Facelift places nothing. Volnewmer monopolar radiofrequency at 6.78 MHz heats the dermis and subcutaneous layer as a volume, planned along vertical vectors, the direction the face descended. Collagen contracts and remodels, so the response builds gradually rather than appearing on the day. Each zone is set to Lift, Sculpt or Restore.
What has moved: the question that decides
If tissue has slid and the skin and fascia are still reasonably firm, threads can carry it back and hold it. A quick check at assessment: if the tissue can be lifted back by hand and looks right in that position, a thread may be able to hold it.
If the fascia itself has loosened so the whole lower face hangs, threads have nothing firm to anchor to, and Dr Sin Yong recommends the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift instead. Where tightening of the skin is the real need, Time Freeze Laser LCLR® may be considered. Many faces are assessed for both and leave with one.
Volume is the other half. A thread moves a hollow; it does not fill it. The Restore mode of the VF Lift is customised to hollow areas, such as the temples, the forehead, under the eyes, the lateral cheeks and the prejowl sulcus, and is used to stimulate the patient's own fat to regenerate. Any change builds gradually and varies between people and with age.
“A thread holds tissue it can grip. When the support itself has loosened, there is nothing for a thread to hold, and I use heat instead.”
Dr Sin YongOn threads and radiofrequency
Which suits which face
Dr Sin Yong performs thread lifts, HIFU, Ultherapy and Thermage FLX. For most lifting he leads with the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift and Time Freeze Laser LCLR® where they suit.
Option
What it does
Suits
Not for
Page
VF Lift – Vertical Facelift
Heats the dermis and subcutaneous layer along vertical vectors; Lift, Sculpt and Restore set per zone
Loosened support across the lower face; laxity with puffiness or hollowing; lean faces
An implanted electronic device; heavy redundant skin
A thread cannot remove skin, add volume, firm the skin surface or hold heavy tissue for long. Moving redundant skin with a thread produces bunching. Under thin skin a cog can be seen or felt, and it resorbs on its own timeline: it cannot be dissolved on demand.
The VF Lift cannot move tissue on the day, place focal heat in the SMAS or remove skin. Its response is gradual and varies, and a pacemaker or other implanted electronic device rules it out.
Neither is a facelift. Heavy redundant skin is referred to a plastic surgery specialist.
The risks differ because the mechanisms differ. Thread risks include a visible or palpable thread, extrusion at an entry point, infection along the tract, dimpling, nerve irritation and asymmetry; thread lift gone wrong covers each. VF Lift risks are redness, warmth and tenderness; less often a blister, crust or patch of altered sensation; rarely a slight dent over thin skin. Threads are an absorbable material placed in the face. The VF Lift adds nothing, so there is no product to overfill, migrate or form lumps.
Where they are combined, and how Dr Sin Yong chooses
Threads and the VF Lift combine where descent and laxity coexist: a jowl that has slid and can be carried back, in a lower face whose skin has also lost firmness. The thread answers the first; heat answers the second. Recent threads in the treatment plane are timed around rather than heated over, so the order and spacing are set at assessment and review.
Dr Sin Yong examines the face upright, at rest and in animation. He palpates the jowl and cheek to judge how mobile the tissue is and how much is fat rather than skin, checks skin thickness over each intended vector, and notes asymmetry. Where earlier filler is involved, ultrasound shows what sits in the plane. The result is a plan: threads, the VF Lift, both, or neither. The jaw is covered in detail on jawline threads, and fees on how fees are quoted.
Your next step
1. MessageWhatsApp +65 8023 7170 with what is bothering you. A reply comes from the clinic, not a bot.
2. AssessmentDr Sin Yong examines you himself on Orchard Road, with ultrasound where earlier filler is involved.
3. A plan in writingWhat he would do, what he would not, the fee factors, and the option of no treatment.
Every treatment is performed by Dr Sin Yong personally. Singapore Medical Council registered · invited to share his clinical expertise internationally for CLASSYS, DEKA, Fotona, Hironic and Ilooda.
Book an assessment with Dr Sin Yong on Orchard Road. If you have had threads before, bring the type and the date. How consultations work.
It is not a ranking, because they do different jobs. A thread repositions mobile tissue that has slid, where skin and fascia are firm enough to hold it. The VF Lift – Vertical Facelift heats the dermis and subcutaneous layer, and suits loosened support, puffiness and hollowing. Dr Sin Yong performs both and decides after examining what has moved.
No duration can be promised for either. Threads hold while they keep their strength, with PDO resorbing fastest and PCL slowest, and a collagen track remains along each. The VF Lift works through a collagen response. How long any change lasts depends on your tissue, ageing, sun exposure and weight change, and maintenance is planned at review.
Often, yes. Tell the clinic which threads were placed, where and when. Heat is not delivered over recent threads in the treatment plane; it is timed around them, so the VF Lift is planned once the threads have settled and the face has been re-examined. The same applies to recent filler in the area.
A jowl that has slid, with firm skin and tissue that looks right when lifted by hand, may suit threads. A jowl in a lower face whose support has loosened, or one with puffiness or a hollow in front of it, suits the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift. A heavy jowl with compact fat points to Time Freeze Laser LCLR®.
No. The VF Lift – Vertical Facelift is radiofrequency energy delivered through the skin surface. No thread, filler or other product is placed, so there is nothing to resorb, dissolve, overfill, migrate or form lumps. Threads are absorbable sutures that stay in the tissue until they are broken down by hydrolysis.
Thin or lean skin is one of the main reasons a cog thread can be seen or felt, or leave a dimple, so it is assessed carefully. In a lean face Dr Sin Yong often uses the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift instead, with restraint over thin tissue and Restore for hollow areas. Whether threads suit is decided after examining skin thickness over each vector.
References
Update on Absorbable Facial Thread Lifts. Dermatologic Surgery, 2025. source
Treatment of Facial Skin Laxity by a New Monopolar Radiofrequency Device. Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery (PMC), 2011. source
About this page: written and medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong, MBBS (NUS), MRCS (Edinburgh) · Last reviewed 28 October 2026 · Illustrative images only, not patients · Editorial policy
