APTOS Thread Lifting

APTOS polydioxanone and polylactic acid thread lifting performed by MUDr. Kateřina Adamcová — one of only three certified APTOS trainers in the Czech Republic. Biodegradable threads with directional hooks are inserted under the skin via a 1.2 mm needle, then repositioned to mechanically lift sagging tissue. As the threads dissolve over months, their polylactic acid component stimulates collagen production, so the lifting effect outlasts the thread itself. Areas include face, jaw, brow, nose, neck, arms, inner thighs and buttocks.

APTOS threads are a category of absorbable surgical suture adapted for facial and body lifting, distinguished by micro-hooks or cones moulded into the thread that engage with fibrous connective tissue and allow the practitioner to reposition and mechanically support sagging skin and subcutaneous fat. The APTOS system was developed in Russia in the late 1990s and has become one of the most widely studied thread-lifting systems in the peer-reviewed literature, with a broad range of thread geometries for different anatomical applications. At Artmedica Clinic Prague, MUDr. Kateřina Adamcová is one of only three physicians in the entire Czech Republic who hold the official APTOS trainer certification — a recognition reserved for clinicians who have completed the full APTOS educational curriculum and demonstrated clinical competency at an advanced level. This distinguishes Artmedica as one of the highest-expertise thread-lift centres in the country. The APTOS threads used at the clinic are made from polylactic acid, polycaprolactone and in some applications hyaluronic acid — all fully biodegradable and biocompatible. The thread body dissolves over twelve to eighteen months; the directional hooks hold the lifted tissue in its new position while the polylactic acid component triggers a fibroblast response that generates new collagen around the thread. This means the collagen scaffolding that forms during dissolution partially sustains the lifting result even after the threads have been absorbed — typically providing meaningful results for eighteen to twenty-four months from a single procedure. Insertion is performed under local anaesthesia through one or more 1.2 mm entry points per treatment zone. The blunt or needle cannula is guided subcutaneously along the planned vector; the hooks anchor the tissue as the thread is tensioned. Multiple threads are placed in a pattern designed for the specific anatomy and degree of laxity. The entry points are tiny and heal within days; results begin to emerge as post-procedure swelling resolves at around one week. The full lifting result is established at three to four weeks. Thread lifting is particularly suitable for patients in their late thirties to fifties with moderate facial or body laxity who are not ready for surgical intervention or who have had surgery and wish to maintain the result. It can be combined with injectables (botulinum toxin, fillers) and is complementary to skin-quality treatments at the clinic.