Mint Thread Lift: Differences Between PDO and PCL, and How Long It Lasts

Mint thread belongs to the cog thread family, with tiny barbs packed densely along the surface of the thread. Unlike a smooth mono thread, these barbs grip surrounding tissue and pull it upward. What isn't well understood is exactly how those barbs generate force, and why the results last a different length of time depending on the material.

It's easy to picture thread lifting as a single strand pulling on the skin. In practice, the direction and number of the barbs work together with the thread material, either PDO or PCL, to shape both the initial lift and how well it holds afterward. These two factors play out on different timelines, so once you understand the mechanics, it becomes much clearer why one thread's results outlast another's.

The structure of a densely barbed cog thread

Mint thread is a cog thread built around a thin core, with small barbs branching out in multiple directions along its length. Because the barbs radiate outward from the thread like spokes, every point the thread passes through can grip tissue from several angles at once.

If a plain mono thread is like a smooth, thin fishing line, a cog thread like mint thread is closer to that same line studded with tiny hooks. More hooks, arranged in more directions, means a larger surface area of tissue gets caught. That's why barbed threads, rather than smooth ones, tend to be the choice for areas with noticeable sagging.

How do the barbs pull the tissue?

The barbs are shaped to slide in easily in one direction but catch and resist coming back out. Think of a fishhook's barb: it slips in smoothly, but pulling it back out meets resistance because the barb catches on the flesh. The mechanism here works the same way.

Once this thread is placed under the skin in the fat layer and pulled, the barbs latch onto the surrounding tissue and drag it upward along with the thread. Along the path the thread travels, the skin and the thin membrane beneath it get carried up together. That physical grip is exactly why the jawline or contour often looks tighter right after the procedure.

Take sagging cheek tissue that's blurred the jawline, for example. Placing a single strand of mint thread lets the tissue along that path lift slightly, and the jawline comes back into focus. It's a bit like pinning a sagging curtain with a clothespin: the fabric that was drooping gets pulled into shape. Each barb acts like its own small clothespin, so a single strand of thread ends up gripping tissue at as many points as it has barbs.

How long does the lifting force last?

The grip the barbs have on tissue starts out strong but loosens gradually. The face moves thousands of times a day through chewing, smiling, and talking, and that constant movement slowly nudges the tissue the barbs are holding out of place.

On top of that, the thread itself is an absorbable material, so it thins and loses strength over time. Moisture and enzymes in the body gradually wear away at the thread's surface, similar to how a sugar cube dropped in water dissolves from the outside in and shrinks. The rate at which the thread thins and the rate at which its grip weakens track each other closely. So if the results relied only on that physical pull, they wouldn't last long.

Dissolving speed of PDO and PCL materials

Cog threads like mint thread are usually made from PDO (polydioxanone, a medical-grade thread material that breaks down on its own in the body) or PCL (polycaprolactone, an absorbable material that breaks down more slowly than PDO). Both eventually dissolve into water and carbon dioxide, but at different speeds.

PDO breaks down relatively quickly, and because the thread itself is firmer, its initial pull tends to be stronger. PCL breaks down more slowly and has more flexibility, so it tends to stay in place in the tissue for longer. A thread that dissolves slowly also keeps stimulating the tissue for longer, which is why the material you choose is closely tied to how long you want the effect to last.

Think of PDO as a thin pot that heats up fast and cools down just as fast, and PCL as a thick pot that takes longer to heat but holds its warmth much longer. Neither is simply better, it comes down to whether you want a short, strong stimulus or a longer, gentler one. In practice, the two materials are sometimes combined to get both an early lift and longer-term support.

Does collagen remain after the thread dissolves?

Even as the barbs' grip loosens, the results don't disappear right away, because a second mechanism kicks in as the thread dissolves. The body treats the thread as a foreign material and mounts a small healing response along its path. Fibroblasts, the cells in the skin responsible for making collagen, gather at that site and start producing new collagen.

Think of a tiny splinter lodged in your hand: the skin around it reddens and warms as the body's healing response switches on automatically, and something similar, at a much gentler intensity, happens along the thread's path. Collagen acts like a supporting pillar underneath the skin, so once that new pillar forms, the skin holds itself up even after the thread has fully dissolved.

Four factors that decide how long it lasts

No single factor decides how long mint thread's results hold. Several elements are known to work together.

• How fast the material breaks down: PCL breaks down more slowly than PDO, so for the same number of threads, PCL cog threads tend to last longer overall. The longer the thread stays in place, the longer it keeps stimulating the tissue.
• The number and direction of the barbs: More barbs spread across more directions means more points of grip, which helps the initial lift hold up better. Spreading the grip across several points rather than one distributes the force while still holding evenly.
• The number of threads placed and the area covered: More threads placed across a wider area means a larger surface where collagen forms, which tends to extend how long the effect lasts. That's simply because a bigger area of tissue is being stimulated.
• Individual skin condition and habits: UV exposure, smoking, and a person's own collagen-producing capacity all affect how long the newly formed collagen sticks around. Collagen itself is a protein that gradually breaks down again over time.

What should you avoid for a few days afterward?

The core of aftercare is not interfering with the collagen-building process. For the first few days after the procedure, it's best to avoid heat-heavy places like saunas or jjimjilbangs. Heat can cause tissue to swell and loosen, which can shift barbs that haven't fully settled into place yet.

It's also worth avoiding vigorous rubbing of the face or sleeping face-down in the early period. Strong pressure while the barbs have only just caught the tissue can shift their position. Early swelling and bruising usually settle on their own over time, though recovery speed varies from person to person. Sun protection is known to help slow the rate at which collagen breaks back down, so it's worth keeping up consistently regardless of whether you've had the procedure.

References

Korean Dermatological Association, American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), and Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS).