Up to about a year. A polydioxanone thread is a dissolving surgical suture: in an animal study it kept about half its strength at six weeks and none that could be measured at ten weeks. It is gone from the tissue in six to eight months. The lift you see on the day is partly the threads and partly swelling, and it relaxes as the swelling settles. Save Face describes the result improving gradually over two to three months, and it fades as the threads dissolve. The 160-patient PDO series found the improvement clear at one month, noticeably less by six months and absent by one year. Save Face, the register of accredited practitioners, gives six to twelve months. At PDO Threads Clinic, 8 Exhibition Road, we photograph you at two to four weeks and at six months, and plan a repeat only once the lift has faded.
What the follow-ups show
- 160 patients, 2019: two or three threads a side on the cheeks and two to four on the jawline; improvement immediate and at one month, declined noticeably by six months, absent at one year. A series drawn from past patient records.
- 62 patients, the study one manufacturer submitted for its product's US mid-face clearance: 97% improved on a wrinkle severity scale at twelve weeks and 90% at twenty-four weeks, by blinded assessors.
- A review of 12 studies and 818 patients, 2025: complications mild, the longest follow-up two years, and "long-term efficacy data are lacking", the review's own words.
- A pooled analysis of 26 studies across all thread materials, 2021: satisfaction 98% immediately and 88% at six months.
The timeline, plainly
- Day 1: a visible lift, part thread and part swelling.
- Weeks 1 to 2: swelling and any bruising settle; the lift relaxes to what the threads hold.
- Weeks 2 to 4: the settled result, which we photograph; Save Face describes a further gradual improvement over two to three months.
- Months 3 to 6: the lift softens; the 160-patient series found it noticeably less by six months.
- Months 6 to 12: the threads have dissolved and the lift fades; the same series found it gone by one year.
Planning for it
A thread lift is the right choice for someone who wants a modest lift now, with a procedure done under local anaesthetic in 30 to 60 minutes, and who accepts that it is renewed rather than lasting for years. For someone who wants one procedure to last for years, the doctor will say at the consultation whether surgery is the better route; the thread lift or Ultherapy page compares the two treatments we provide. The worth it page sets out the evidence.
Book a free consultation
Call PDO Threads Clinic on 0207 043 8107 or use the form below. The doctor looks at your face, says what a thread lift would and would not do for it, and gives you the plan in writing.
