Local anaesthesia by injection as the standard approach, when short sedation is added and what it is for, and what is felt during the procedure and what is not.
"Does it hurt?" is one of the five questions asked most often in thread lift consultations at Edition. It deserves a fuller answer than yes or no, partly because the honest answer has several parts and partly because most of the discomfort people are anticipating is not where they think it is.
This page sets out how the procedure is anaesthetised, when short sedation is added and what it is actually for, what is felt during the procedure and what is not, and why individual variation is stated rather than smoothed over. Recovery in the days afterwards is covered separately, as is the full sequence of the appointment with its timings.
A thread lift at Edition is performed under local anaesthesia given by injection. Short sedation is sometimes used alongside it, and its purpose is specific: to reduce the discomfort of the anaesthetic injections themselves, not to render the procedure unfelt. Once the local anaesthetic has taken effect, most patients proceed without significant pain, though sensation — pressure, movement, pulling — is still present. How pain is experienced differs between people, and that is stated rather than averaged away. The clinic does not perform ice or cooling anaesthesia; anaesthesia here means local anaesthetic given by injection.
On this page
- What "local anaesthesia" means here
- Where the discomfort actually is
- When short sedation is added, and what it is for
- What sedation is not
- What you feel during the procedure
- Why staying awake is useful rather than merely tolerable
- What the anaesthetic does not cover
- Why individual difference is stated rather than smoothed over
- Sensation in the hours and days afterwards
- What to tell the clinic beforehand
- Questions patients ask
What "local anaesthesia" means here
The standard approach is local anaesthesia given by injection. Anaesthetic is placed in the tissue of the region being treated, so that the area is numbed while the patient remains awake.
It is worth being explicit about this because the term is used loosely in aesthetic medicine and can cover several quite different things.
Edition does not perform what is sometimes marketed as ice anaesthesia or cooling anaesthesia. Where anaesthesia is described for this procedure, it means local anaesthetic given by injection. A clinic offering a procedure with a numbing method that does not involve an injection is offering something different, and the distinction is worth establishing rather than assuming.
The practical consequence is that the region being treated is genuinely numbed rather than surface-cooled, and that the numbing has to be placed — which is where most of the discomfort of the appointment is concentrated.
Where the discomfort actually is
This is the part that changes how people prepare, and it is the reverse of what most patients expect.
The procedure itself, once anaesthetised, is generally the less uncomfortable part. The injections that produce the anaesthesia are the more uncomfortable part. Anaesthetic has to be introduced into tissue that is not yet numb, in several locations, and that is the point at which most patients report the sensation they were bracing for.
Understanding this reframes the question usefully. "Does the procedure hurt?" separates into two questions with different answers: does the anaesthetic placement hurt, and does the work done afterwards hurt. The first is brief and is the main discomfort. The second is largely covered by the anaesthetic.
It also explains why sedation exists as an option here at all, and what it is targeting.
When short sedation is added, and what it is for
Short sedation is sometimes used alongside the local anaesthetic. Its stated purpose at Edition is precise: to reduce the discomfort of the anaesthetic process itself.
That is a narrower claim than "sedation so you do not feel the procedure", and the narrowness is the point. The local anaesthetic is what prevents pain during the work; the sedation covers the window in which that anaesthetic is being placed.
Whether it is used is decided in consultation, and the considerations include how the patient responds to injections generally, how anxious they are about the appointment, and the extent of what is being treated. It is a discussion rather than a default in either direction.
It is worth adding that sedation is not applied uniformly across everything the clinic does. For ultrasound-based lifting, for example, sedation is specifically not recommended, on the grounds that a patient who cannot report sensation loses a safeguard against nerve injury and burns. That is a different procedure with different risks, and it is mentioned here only to make a general point: whether sedation is appropriate is a judgment about a particular procedure rather than a service level offered across the board.
What sedation is not
Three clarifications belong here, because sedation is easily over-read.
It is not general anaesthesia. Short sedation and general anaesthesia are different in depth, in what they require, and in what they involve. A thread lift is not a procedure performed under general anaesthesia.
It does not replace the local anaesthetic. Sedation reduces awareness and discomfort; it does not numb tissue. The local anaesthetic is still given, and it is still what makes the procedure comfortable.
It is not a way of avoiding the conversation about sensation. A patient who wants to know what the procedure will feel like is entitled to that description regardless of whether sedation is used, and it should not be offered as a substitute for the answer.
What you feel during the procedure
Once the anaesthetic has taken effect, the honest description is that most patients proceed without significant pain — and that sensation is not the same as pain.
Local anaesthetic blocks pain. It does not eliminate awareness of pressure, movement, or tension. What patients commonly describe during the procedure is:
- Pressure. A sense of firm contact in the region being treated.
- Movement. An awareness that something is being done, without it being painful.
- Pulling or tightening. Most noticeable at the moment tissue is repositioned, which is exactly what is happening.
- Sound and proximity. The ordinary experience of being awake for a procedure on your own face.
Patients who expect to feel nothing at all sometimes interpret pressure as a failure of the anaesthetic. It is not. Knowing in advance that pressure and pulling remain present is one of the more useful things to be told, because the sensations are then read correctly when they occur.
The procedure itself takes around 15 to 20 minutes, varying with the patient's condition and the extent of what is being treated, and it sits within an appointment that also includes the consultation, the design, and photographs. The full sequence is set out in the page on the full sequence.
Why staying awake is useful rather than merely tolerable
Being conscious during a procedure on your own face is generally presented as something to be endured, with sedation as the more comfortable alternative. It is worth putting the other side of it, because there are two real advantages and patients are rarely told either.
You can report what you feel. A patient who says an area is not fully numb gets more anaesthetic there. A patient who cannot say so does not. This is the same reasoning behind declining sedation for ultrasound-based lifting, where the ability to report sensation is what protects against nerve injury and burns — the underlying principle is that the patient's feedback is part of the safety of the procedure rather than an inconvenience to be managed around.
You can be told what is happening as it happens. A great deal of the anxiety attached to being awake comes from not knowing what a particular sensation means. A pulling sensation that arrives unannounced is alarming; the same sensation described a moment before it occurs is simply information. This is why it is reasonable to ask, at the start, to be told what is coming.
Neither of these is an argument against sedation where it is appropriate. They are reasons why staying awake for a procedure of this length, under adequate local anaesthetic, is a reasonable default rather than a compromise.
What the anaesthetic does not cover
One boundary is worth naming clearly, because it accounts for a good share of the surprise patients report.
Local anaesthetic numbs the region it is placed in. It does not numb the sensation of tissue being moved as a whole, which is transmitted more broadly than the treated area — the reason a pulling sensation can be noticed at the edge of a numbed region or slightly beyond it. Nor does it prevent the awareness of tension that follows repositioning, which is not pain and does not resolve when more anaesthetic is given.
Distinguishing these matters practically. Sharp, localised discomfort during the procedure usually indicates an area that needs more anaesthetic, and should be reported. A generalised sense of tightness and pulling usually indicates the procedure doing what it is intended to do, and it does not.
Why individual difference is stated rather than smoothed over
Edition's stated position is that the procedure generally proceeds without significant pain, and that the experience of pain can differ between individuals. Both halves of that sentence are there deliberately.
Pain is not a fixed property of a procedure. It varies with individual sensitivity, with anxiety, with how much is being treated and where, and with how well a patient knows what to expect.
Presenting an average as a promise causes a specific problem. A patient told the procedure is painless, who then experiences discomfort, concludes that something has gone wrong. A patient told that most people proceed comfortably and that individual experience varies has been given a range they can locate themselves within, and discomfort within that range is not alarming.
There is a second reason. A patient who has been told they will feel nothing is less likely to report sensation during the procedure, and reporting sensation is useful — it is how additional anaesthetic gets given when it is needed.
Sensation in the hours and days afterwards
Briefly, since the detail belongs in the aftercare pages.
As the local anaesthetic wears off, sensation returns to the treated region. What follows for most patients is tightness and swelling rather than pain, usually for around 3 to 7 days. Bruising varies with skin condition and individual healing.
A sensation of the threads being palpable, some tightness, and slight asymmetry can be noticed in the early period. These arise as tissue adapts to the threads and settles, and they generally stabilise with time. Where discomfort persists rather than easing, the area is examined directly rather than left — which is the subject of the page on lumpiness and tightness afterward.
Most patients return to work and ordinary daily activity from the following day. The day-by-day account is set out in the page on bruising, swelling and tightness after a thread lift.
What to tell the clinic beforehand
Four things are worth raising, and they change how the appointment is handled rather than whether it goes ahead.
Previous reactions to local anaesthetic. Any past reaction, including feeling faint or unwell during dental or minor procedures.
How you respond to injections generally. This is directly relevant to whether short sedation is discussed, and it is not a matter of stoicism.
Anxiety about the appointment. A legitimate thing to raise, and one that bears on both the sedation decision and how the procedure is talked through while it happens.
Medications and health conditions. Part of the ordinary pre-procedure discussion and relevant to anaesthesia specifically.
Questions patients ask
Will I be asleep?
Not in the sense of general anaesthesia. The procedure is performed under local anaesthetic with the patient awake. Where short sedation is used, it reduces awareness and discomfort during the anaesthetic process rather than replacing it.
What is the most uncomfortable part?
For most people, the injections that place the local anaesthetic — because they are given before the area is numb. The work carried out afterwards is largely covered by the anaesthetic.
Will I feel the threads going in?
You are likely to feel pressure, movement, and a pulling sensation as tissue is repositioned. That is not the same as pain, and it is expected. If you feel actual pain, say so during the procedure rather than afterwards.
Can I ask for sedation?
You can raise it, and it is decided in consultation. The relevant considerations are how you respond to injections, how anxious you are, and the extent of what is being treated.
Does the clinic use ice or cooling anaesthesia?
No. Anaesthesia for this procedure means local anaesthetic given by injection. Numbing methods that do not involve an injection are not used here.
How long does the numbness last?
Local anaesthetic wears off over the hours following the procedure. What tends to follow is tightness and swelling rather than pain, usually settling over roughly 3 to 7 days.
Can I drive home afterwards?
Where sedation has been used, arrangements for getting home are discussed as part of the appointment planning rather than assumed. It is worth raising when you book.
About the author
Dae-hee Han, MD — Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon (specialist certificate No. 2045, issued 3 March 2014; medical licence 00394, issued 26 February 2009). Master’s degree, Ajou University School of Medicine. Training at the Craniofacial Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan (2013), and the IFAAS Mini Fellowship, University of Florida, USA (2016). Three rhinoplasty papers published in SCIE-indexed international journals. More than 4,500 nose surgeries — Dr. Han’s career total from 2017 to 2025, counted from medical records. Eighteen years in practice since medical licensure in 2009; thirteen years as a board-certified plastic surgeon. He carries out consultation, surgery and follow-up personally; fee guidance is given by the clinic’s consultation manager.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-15
Clinic information
Edition Plastic Surgery Clinic & Dermatology
6F, OPUS 407, 407 Gangnam-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul 06614, Republic of Korea
One minute on foot from Gangnam Station Exit 10
Tel +82-2-591-0100 · editionprs@gmail.com
Consultation hours: Monday to Friday 10:00–19:00 · Saturday 10:00–17:00 · closed Sundays and public holidays
Disclaimer
Individual results may vary. Bleeding, infection, swelling, asymmetry, and scarring can occur. Please decide after a full consultation with a board-certified specialist.
This page is general medical information. It is not a diagnosis, and it does not promise a particular outcome. Surgical fees are given after an in-person consultation.