Sometimes, and it is worth knowing before you have them. A polydioxanone thread is a dissolving suture: it is absorbed by the body over six to eight months, so in the long run there is nothing to remove. In the first weeks a thread end that shows can be trimmed, and a thread that has moved, shows or is infected may need a small procedure under local anaesthetic to find and remove it. In our practice removal is uncommon, and it is one reason you are reviewed within a week of the procedure at PDO Threads Clinic, 8 Exhibition Road.
When a thread is removed
- It has moved: in the 160-patient PDO series, a thread displaced in 11%; in our practice a moved thread is repositioned or removed.
- It shows: a dimple that has not settled with the swelling, 6% in that series, or a thread you can see or feel, 4% across 26 studies of all thread materials. In our practice a dimple usually eases, sometimes with massage by the doctor, and a thread end that still shows can be trimmed.
- It is uncomfortable: temporary stiffness, 1% in that series.
- Infection: 6% in that series and about 2% across the wider literature; in our practice treated with antibiotics, and the thread removed if the infection does not settle.
What removal involves
Local anaesthetic, then a small procedure to find the thread and remove it; the lift that thread gave is lost, and the entry point heals like the first one. In our practice a thread that has started to dissolve cannot always be retrieved, which is why the review in the first week matters and why we ask you to call rather than wait if something feels wrong. Thread lifts can leave fibrous tissue that outlasts the threads, which a published series of facelifts after two or more thread lifts found made the operation more difficult.
Keeping removal unlikely
The doctor places the threads with a blunt cannula where possible, in the plane and at the tension the area needs. In our practice the aftercare in the first two weeks helps keep them where they are. That means no massage or facials, no wide mouth opening or hard food, sleeping on your back with the head raised for about a week, no dental treatment for two weeks. The how it works page sets out the procedure and the aftercare, and the how long it lasts page the timeline.
Book a free consultation
Call PDO Threads Clinic on 0207 043 8107 or use the form below. The doctor explains the procedure, the review and what to do if a thread troubles you.
