PDO Thread Lift

Before you can judge a result, you need to know what a thread lift puts under your skin and what it is meant to do. That is also the quickest route to telling a normal reaction from a concerning one.

What a thread lift is

Healthline describes a thread lift as a procedure that uses a dissolvable suture to tighten and lift the skin. It calls the procedure less invasive than facelift surgery and says it can often be performed in under 45 minutes without a scalpel.

WebMD says a thread lift works in two ways. The doctor first places temporary stitches under the skin to pull it back or up, which gives the area a tighter appearance. The threads are textured filaments that grab the underside of the skin and hold it in a new position.

Healthline's explainer on the PDO thread lift procedure, benefits, and side effects and WebMD's piece on thread lifts as an alternative to plastic surgery cover the basics in full. For research, the National Library of Medicine (PMC) holds a paper on polydioxanone thread face lifts in patients with facial palsy.

Five questions, costliest guess first

Safety and side effects lead the list, ordered by what a wrong guess could cost you.

1. Are PDO thread lifts safe? Start here, because the answer decides whether the other questions matter.
2. What side effects follow a PDO thread lift? Know what to watch for after you leave the chair.
3. Can threads migrate or become visible? A thread that moves or shows is a change you will want to be able to name.
4. Do PDO threads dissolve under the skin? This one asks what dissolvable means for the threads in your face.
5. Is a thread lift an alternative to a facelift? This one sets the two procedures side by side.

Before you agree to threads

Readers in West Sacramento can bring three questions to a consultation: what the threads are made of, who places them, and what the provider would do if a thread became visible. Write the answers down and compare them with the sources above before you agree to anything.