Key takeaways
- We could not confirm a national price for a PDO thread lift as of October 2026.
- ASPS lists average costs for facelifts and fillers, but no thread-lift figure.
- PDO threads are 510(k)-cleared absorbable sutures, not FDA-approved as a lift.
- A 2025 review found follow-up of at most 2 years, so no cost-per-year math holds up.
- Your usable number is a written local quote that lists areas and suture count.
PDO thread lift prices by area and thread count
Start with the gap, because it shapes everything else on this page.
We could not confirm a national price for a PDO thread lift: the professional-society and manufacturer sources our researchers checked on October 20, 2026 publish no typical figure for PDO threads.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) describes the procedure — a "lunchtime lift," in its wording — as using absorbable, barbed sutures to tighten the face and neck, and its thread lift page publishes no average cost.
That absence matters when you compare prices, because two quotes for "a thread lift" can describe different amounts of work: which areas of the face or neck are treated, how many sutures the plan uses, and what the fee includes beyond the threads themselves.
ASPS describes the lift as working where the barbed sutures are placed, so the areas and the suture count are the two lines of a written quote worth reading first.
- Which areas of the face or neck the quote covers
- How many sutures the plan uses
- Whether follow-up or touch-up visits are included
- What the fee covers beyond the sutures themselves
- Who will place the threads, and what license they hold
PDO threads are 510(k)-cleared absorbable polydioxanone surgical sutures, cleared for soft tissue approximation — not FDA-approved, and several clearances state the suture is not intended for lifting and supporting tissues. Pricing built on "FDA-cleared lift" language goes beyond the clearance. The one suture our research found cleared for mid-face suspension, Silhouette InstaLift, is not PDO.
PDO thread lift cost vs. filler and a facelift
The national anchors that do exist come from ASPS, and each measures a different thing.
ASPS's cost pages list an average surgeon's fee of $11,395 for a facelift, and note that the figure excludes anesthesia, operating-room facilities and other related expenses.
For fillers, ASPS's dermal-filler cost page lists average costs of $715 for hyaluronic acid fillers, $901 for non-HA fillers (such as Radiesse and Sculptra) and $743 for lip augmentation with filler, per its latest statistics.
ASPS average filler costs
Average physician fees, per ASPS's latest statistics
Source: ASPS dermal-filler cost page; no ASPS thread-lift figure exists
The filler figures are average physician fees from ASPS's statistics — not med spa prices and not prices for any specific product — and the facelift number is the surgeon's fee alone.
Our dermal fillers guide covers the filler products and their approved uses in detail.
On the thread-lift side of the comparison there is no ASPS figure to set beside them, so these numbers can frame the scale of the alternatives — they cannot tell you whether a thread lift costs more or less than either one.
A "fraction of a facelift" price pitch rests on exactly that missing number.
Time is the other half of a value comparison, and it is unresolved.
A 2025 systematic review in Dermatologic Surgery — 12 studies of absorbable facial thread lifts, 818 patients, mostly PDO — found improvement immediately after the procedure in all 12 studies and complications it described as mild, but follow-up ran to 2 years at most, and its authors concluded long-term efficacy data are lacking.
That gap is why no cost-per-year arithmetic works here: there is no confirmed thread-lift price to divide, and no established duration to divide it by.
If a practice prices a thread lift against surgery or filler, ask what the comparison assumes about how long the result lasts.
The $11,395 facelift figure is a surgeon's fee that excludes anesthesia and facility costs; the filler figures are ASPS average physician fees per procedure; a thread-lift quote is a practice's own price for its own plan. Name the source and the measure whenever you compare any two of them.
PDO thread lift prices near you
With no national figure, the only price that means anything is local: quotes from licensed practices where you live.
Collect more than one, and make each one written and specific enough to compare line by line.
Treat single prices with the same care.
A figure on a menu, a promotion or a social post is one practice's price for one plan — it is not a market average, and it may not include everything.
Before you compare prices at all, vet the practice: who places the threads, what training they have and what aftercare covers are questions our PDO thread lift guide works through in detail.
If you plan to pay over time, read each plan's own terms first — our med spa financing guide covers CareCredit, Cherry, PatientFi and the others.
Find PDO thread lift providers near you
Compare Google ratings, reviews and posted prices at med spas in your city.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a PDO thread lift cost?
We could not confirm a national price.
The professional-society and manufacturer sources our researchers checked published no typical figure for PDO threads as of October 20, 2026, and ASPS's own thread lift page publishes no average cost.
For scale, ASPS lists an $11,395 average surgeon's fee for a facelift and a $715 average cost for hyaluronic acid fillers — different procedures, different measures, neither a thread-lift price.
Your usable number is a written local quote.
Why is there no average price for a PDO thread lift?
No source we checked publishes one.
ASPS, which lists average fees for surgeries and fillers, lists no thread-lift figure, and the manufacturers our researchers checked publish no typical price either.
PDO threads themselves are cleared as surgical sutures — not as one named lift procedure — and our research found no list price or typical price for the treatment.
Any single number you see is one practice's price for its own plan, not a market average — collect written quotes instead.
Is a PDO thread lift FDA-approved?
No. PDO threads are 510(k)-cleared as absorbable polydioxanone surgical sutures, with a cleared indication of soft tissue approximation where use of absorbable sutures is appropriate — and several products' clearances state the suture is not intended for lifting and supporting tissues.
That makes "FDA-cleared lift" marketing broader than the paperwork.
The one suture our research found cleared for mid-face suspension, Silhouette InstaLift, is a different material, not PDO.
Can I compare a PDO thread lift's cost per year with a facelift?
No arithmetic we can support does that.
There is no confirmed national thread-lift price to divide, and a 2025 systematic review of absorbable facial thread lifts — 12 studies, 818 patients, mostly PDO — found follow-up of at most 2 years and concluded long-term efficacy data are lacking, so there is no established duration to divide by either.
Without both numbers, any cost-per-year comparison is an assumption.
Ask a practice making the comparison what it assumes about longevity.
Sources
Every number on this page comes from one of these sources and was checked against it.
- accessdata.fda.gov · U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- accessdata.fda.gov · U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- accessdata.fda.gov · U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Update on Absorbable Facial Thread Lifts · Riopelle et al., Dermatol Surg, 2025
- Thread Lift · American Society of Plastic Surgeons
- Rhinoplasty Cost · American Society of Plastic Surgeons
- Dermal Fillers Cost · American Society of Plastic Surgeons
Medical disclaimer. MedSpaStandard is for education only and is not medical advice. Talk to a licensed provider about your own health, and check any provider's license with your state board.