PDO threads for the cheeks and jawline in London

The cheeks, the mid-face and the jawline are where a thread lift is most often placed and where most of its evidence sits. The three US clearances for PDO lifting threads are all for fixing the cheek tissue in an elevated position. The 160-patient PDO series placed two or three threads a side on the cheeks and two to four along the jawline. The threads lift the soft tissue that has slid down from the cheekbone, so the cheek sits higher, the fold from nose to mouth softens and the early jowl along the jaw is drawn back. Placed by our doctor under local anaesthetic in 30 to 60 minutes at PDO Threads Clinic, 8 Exhibition Road, with the plan in writing at a free consultation.

What it does here

• The cheeks and mid-face: the tissue is lifted back towards the cheekbone, which softens the fold from nose to mouth. In the 62-patient 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. In a 2026 randomised trial of 151 patients, 63% of those treated with a marketed PDO thread improved on the folds at seven months.
• The jawline: threads along the jawbone draw back an early jowl and clean the line; the 160-patient series used two to four threads a side there.
• What it does not do: lift heavy sagging, remove a fold that stays when you let go, add volume to a flat cheek, which a filler does and our doctor can provide, or last beyond about a year. The lift was gone by twelve months in the 160-patient series.

The procedure for this area

Local anaesthetic along each thread's path, small entry points, each thread passed through a needle or a blunt cannula, drawn back to engage the barbs, trimmed and buried; several threads a side, 30 to 60 minutes in our practice. Swelling and tightness for a week or two, a pull on smiling for the first days, bruising in some. Sleep on your back with the head raised for about a week. No sauna, hard exercise or alcohol for about a week, and no massage, facials, wide mouth opening or hard food for one to two weeks. No dental treatment for two weeks. Review within a week, photographs at two to four weeks and six months. The how it works page sets out each step.

Who it suits

Adults aged about 35 to 65, the range Save Face gives, with an early drop of the cheeks or jawline and skin that still has some spring. Not very thin skin, which would show the threads, and not heavy sagging, which they will not lift. The usual exclusions apply: pregnancy and breastfeeding, an active infection, a bleeding disorder or blood thinners that cannot be paused, an autoimmune disease without the doctor's advice first, keloid scarring, recent dental work. For skin that has loosened rather than dropped, the thread lift or Ultherapy page compares the alternative we provide, and the worth it page sets out the evidence and the complication rates. We place threads in every other area they are used on too, each with its own page: the brow, the nose, under the eyes, the forehead, the neck, under the chin, the décolletage, the breasts and the abdomen. The FAQ names each with its evidence.

Book a free consultation

Call PDO Threads Clinic on 0207 043 8107 or use the form below. The doctor looks at your cheeks and jawline at rest and moving, counts the threads, and gives you the plan in writing.