Medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong · Last reviewed · 3 min read
Published 13 October 2026 · Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong
Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable synthetic polyester used in aesthetic medicine as smooth microspheres, roughly 25 to 50 µm across, suspended in a carboxymethylcellulose gel carrier. PCL is the material in Ellansé. The gel gives volume on the day; the collagen the skin builds around the microspheres is what remains as the gel is absorbed. Neither the gel nor the PCL can be dissolved, so assessment, including ultrasound of earlier injections, comes first.
Key facts
Material
About 30% PCL microspheres of roughly 25–50 µm in about 70% CMC gel
Product
Ellansé (Sinclair)
Mechanism
Gel gives early correction; collagen then forms around the microspheres as the gel is absorbed
Dissolvable?
No. Hyaluronidase has no action on polycaprolactone or on the CMC carrier
Illustrative image, not a patient.
Where polycaprolactone matters on this site
PCL is the material Dr Sin Yong uses where a gel-supported collagen response is wanted on bone or in the deep fat, and the pages below are where that choice is explained, compared or corrected.
Ellansé belongs deep, in small amounts; spread thinly under thin skin, it becomes the problem it was meant to solve.— Dr Sin Yong
Ellansé: the product page, on deep placement in small deposits and why the first visit is deliberately under-treated.
Nose fillers: CaHA, PCL and hyaluronic acid compared for the bridge and tip, and when reversibility outweighs firmness.
Time Freeze Laser LCLR®: the protocol built to target tissue over-stimulated by Sculptra or Ellansé and take away the excess.
Regulatory status. Ellansé is a CE-marked medical device available in Europe, Asia and elsewhere; it has not been approved by the US FDA. In Singapore, fillers are medical devices regulated by the Health Sciences Authority; see how aesthetic medicine is regulated in Singapore.
Not to be confused with
Polycaprolactone shares a name, a shape or a mechanism with several other products.
PCL threads. The same polymer made into a flexible thread that resorbs slowly and carries a lift vector. The which thread page explains when a PCL thread is chosen; an injected PCL filler does not lift.
Calcium hydroxylapatite (Radiesse). Also microspheres in a carboxymethylcellulose gel, but a mineral rather than a polyester. The two are chosen for similar structural jobs.
Poly-L-lactic acid (Sculptra). A reconstituted suspension with almost no volume on the day; PCL gives visible correction straight away from its gel.
The practical difference between all of these is what can be undone. Hyaluronic acid can be dissolved; PCL, CaHA and PLLA cannot, and threads resorb on their own timeline. That is why the material is named in the plan before anything is placed.
What decides whether PCL matters for you
Ellansé rewards depth and punishes spread, so the questions are about structure, skin and what has gone before.
Is the goal definition or diffuse support? For definition on bone, a firmer formulation is used sparingly and staged; for diffuse support in thinner skin, a softer formulation or a different product may be more defensible.
Skin thickness. A firm product placed as a sheet in the superficial fat shows through thin skin, so placement stays deep.
How the face is supported. The temple and lateral cheek are assessed for how they hold up the lower face before anything is placed lower down.
Earlier injections. Ultrasound comes first, because neither the gel nor the PCL can be dissolved.
Your view on reversibility. If the option of undoing a result matters to you, a hyaluronic acid product is the more honest recommendation; the dermal fillers page sets out which material goes where.
Dr Sin Yong prefers energy-based treatment for almost every concern that injectables are used for: FSX Laser for the skin, and the VF Lift for lifting and hollow areas. It adds no product, so there is no injected material to cause pillow face, migration or lumps. Where an injectable is the right choice, he says so and explains why.
PCL sits between the three collagen biostimulators Dr Sin Yong uses: it gives more volume on the day than PLLA and lasts longer than most hyaluronic acid fillers, which is also why its complications are harder to undo. The Ellansé page sets out where he places it and where he does not. Because nothing in it dissolves, a nodule or over-stimulated area is mapped with ultrasound first; the difference between a PCL nodule and a migrated PLLA deposit is explained on Ellansé nodules vs Sculptra migration, and the Time Freeze Laser LCLR® is built to target the over-stimulated tissue and take away the excess. What a nodule is, and how the kinds differ, is under filler nodule. For nose refinement Dr Sin Yong usually chooses CaHA or PCL rather than a hyaluronic acid-only product.
On the nose, polycaprolactone is more often used as a filler on the bone than as a thread; how it sits beside a nose thread lift is explained on that page.
No. Ellansé is a CE-marked medical device available in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, and it has not been approved by the US FDA. In Singapore, fillers are regulated by the Health Sciences Authority as medical devices. Regulatory status is one consideration among several; the depth of placement, the amount and an assessment of earlier injections matter as much to how a polycaprolactone treatment is planned.
Because the first-day correction comes from the gel carrier, which is absorbed early on, so the volume it provided recedes. The collagen the skin builds around the microspheres then returns volume in a more structural form, and that collagen is the final result. This is why the product is dosed for the collagen it will produce, the first visit is under-treated, and the real result is judged at review.
No. Both are biodegradable polymers that prompt collagen, but PCL is a polyester supplied as smooth microspheres in a gel that fills on the day, while PLLA is a powder reconstituted into a dilute suspension that adds little volume at injection.
No. Hyaluronidase acts only on hyaluronic acid and does nothing to polycaprolactone or its CMC carrier. That is why ultrasound assessment of earlier injections comes before any further placement.
References
Wollina U, Goldman A. Spontaneous and induced degradation of dermal fillers: a review. J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2024;17(4):273-281. doi:10.4103/JCAS.JCAS_137_23. source
Lemperle G, Gauthier-Hazan N. Foreign body granulomas after all injectable dermal fillers: part 2. Treatment options. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2009;123(6):1864-1873. doi:10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181858f4f. source
Foreign Body Granulomas Reaction Related to Collagen Stimulatory Cosmetic Fillers: A Systematic Review. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (PubMed). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Identification and complications of cosmetic fillers: sonography first. Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine (PubMed), 2015. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dermal Fillers (Soft Tissue Fillers). U.S. FDA. www.fda.gov
