Today, I’d like to tell you about the different types, properties, and features of threads used in facial contouring.
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The main groups are:
✅ Absorbable
✅ Non-absorbable

❗ Only plastic surgeons are authorized to implant non-absorbable threads, while cosmetologists can work with all types of absorbable threads.
That’s what we’ll focus on.
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Absorbable threads are categorized by material:
✅ Polydioxanone PDO (surgical suture material)
✅ Polycaprolactone
✅ Polylactic threads
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Polydioxanone and polycaprolactone threads are further divided into:
✅ Linear threads
✅ Barbed threads
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Linear threads provide a brightening effect, tissue densification, and improved skin texture. They strengthen vessel walls, reducing couperose and lightening the skin, and also decrease subcutaneous fat (a drying effect).
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So, linear threads enhance skin quality and density. They work on skin quality, but do not provide a visible lifting effect.
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Barbed threads (cogs) deliver a lifting effect, but do not improve skin quality.
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Polylactic threads stimulate fibroblasts to produce your own hyaluronic acid, making them ideal for restoring lost tissue volume due to age-related changes. They also boost your own collagen production.
⠀✅ Thread reinforcement creates a subcutaneous framework (corset) that supports tissues by stimulating active connective tissue growth and collagen production—this is the body’s response to thread implantation.
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Four to six months after the first thread implantation, a touch-up can be performed by adding more threads if needed.
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With regular thread procedures, the cumulative effect leads to more pronounced and longer-lasting results.
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✅ About 3-6 months after placement, threads fully and evenly dissolve into carbon dioxide and water, leaving no metabolic byproducts. At the implantation site, dense connective tissue (fibrosis) forms, which remains for 6-10 months, prolonging the effect of the threads.