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Beyond the Hype: A Sophisticated Guide to Thread Lifts in Seoul

Written by: Dr. Yeseul Moon / Published on: 2025-08-04

At Pickls, we believe that true beauty is born from understanding. An informed patient is an empowered one. So, let’s move beyond the buzz and dive into the elegant science of thread lifting. Consider this your personal guide to decoding the threads.

The Core Concept: More Than Just a Lift

At its heart, a thread lift is a minimally invasive procedure designed to address skin laxity and restore youthful contours. We use biocompatible, dissolvable sutures (threads) placed strategically beneath the skin. The magic lies in its dual action:
An Immediate, Physical Lift: The threads provide an instant scaffold for sagging tissue, physically lifting areas like the jowls, mid-face, and brow.
Long-Term Biological Rejuvenation: As the threads dissolve over several months, they trigger a natural healing response, stimulating your body to produce a fresh matrix of collagen and elastin. This improves skin density, firmness, and texture long after the threads are gone.
Think of it not just as lifting, but as rebuilding your skin’s foundational support from within.

The Art of Selection (1): Thread Materials

Of course. Here are the translations in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese, with the
characters preserved for database storage.

English (Original)
The character of a thread lift is largely defined by its material. Each has a unique personality and purpose.

PDO (Polydioxanone): The Classic Workhorse

This is the most widely used material, trusted in medical sutures for decades. PDO threads fully dissolve in about 6 to 8 months, but their legacy is the significant collagen production they inspire. They are fantastic for kick-starting the rejuvenation process and improving overall skin quality.

PLLA (Poly-L-Lactic Acid): The Collagen Catalyst

You might recognize PLLA as the primary ingredient in the collagen-stimulating injectable, Sculptra. As a thread material, it’s a powerhouse. It lasts longer than PDO (up to 18 months) and is a more potent stimulator of collagen. PLLA is excellent for adding durable volume and structure, particularly in areas that have lost density.

PCL (Polycaprolactone): The Graceful Marathoner

The longest-lasting and softest of the trio, PCL threads can maintain their integrity for over two years. Their slow, gentle dissolution provides a sustained release of collagen-stimulating properties. The flexibility of PCL makes it incredibly comfortable and ideal for providing a soft, yet tenacious, support system for your skin.

The Art of Selection (2): Thread Shapes

If the material is the thread’s essence, its shape is its function. To explain this, we like to use an architectural analogy. Imagine we are building a beautiful structure to support your skin.
Cog (Barbed) Threads: The Pillars and Beams
These are the true “lifting” threads. They are equipped with microscopic barbs or cogs that anchor onto the underside of the skin tissue. When positioned, they allow us to physically reposition and lift sagging areas, creating the main framework of your rejuvenated look. They are the structural pillars that defy gravity.

Mono & Screw Threads: The Interior Finish

Mono Threads are smooth, single filaments. Think of them as a fine, supportive mesh. We often place them in a cross-hatch pattern to act as a safety net for the skin, promoting widespread firming, tightening pores, and smoothing fine lines. They are the plaster and paint that perfect the surface.
Screw Threads (or Tornado threads) are one or two mono threads intertwined around the needle. This coiled shape provides a bit more volume than a standard mono thread, making them perfect for softening sunken areas and adding subtle, natural-looking volume. They are the elegant finishing touches.

The Pickls Philosophy: It’s All About the Blueprint

A master artist never uses just one brush. Similarly, a truly sophisticated thread lift rarely relies on a single type of thread.
The most beautiful and lasting results come from a bespoke combination—a personalized blueprint designed for your unique facial anatomy and goals. We might use strong Cog threads to redefine the jawline, a delicate web of Mono threads to smooth the cheeks and under-eyes, and a few Screw threads to restore a touch of youthful volume to the temples.
This multi-faceted approach ensures that we are not just pulling the skin, but holistically restructuring and rejuvenating it for a result that is both stunning and impeccably natural.
A thread lift is more than a procedure; it's a craft. We invite you to a personal consultation to discover the perfect combination for you and begin your journey to timeless rejuvenation.
With care,
The Pickls Team