Neck lift procedure options

At our center, we integrate several modalities to lift and rejuvenate the neck and jowl area. The primary procedure is Smart-Lipo to tighten sagging skin and liquefy any fat at the jowl or in the "turkey neck" area. We do follow up ultrasonic massage over the next weeks to smooth and contour the healing skin and gradually add Titan and Affirm Multiplex laser technology to blend and rejuvenate the skin areas immediately adjacent.mThis allows for a natural looking transition to the chest and above to the jaw line, augments the improvements from the inside (Smart-Lipo), and provides further revitalization of the skin from the outside (Affirm Multiplex). Titan is used as necessary to provide further skin tightening as the neck continues to improve over the 10- to 12-week post procedure period. We have found that a comprehensive approach integrating several different modalities helps achieve the best and most natural look without any unsightly incisions, since the Smart-Lipo entry points are so tiny they don't require any sutures to heal. Some cases do require surgical intervention and are evaluated individually.

A Neck Lift is sculpting and restoring your neck's contour and tightness back to a youthful state. This requires addressing the multiple components involved (muscle, skin, fat, and the ligaments). In youth, the neck skin sticks and clings to the deeper neck muscles and connective tissue layers tightly. As you age, these layers start to disconnect from each other and loosen, which causes the platysma muscle (the major sheet of muscle that covers your neck) to form "BANDS" in some areas. The cervical fascia (platysma muscle's connective blanket) of the neck needs to be tightened along with the muscle. In addition, the excess fat over and under this muscle that bulges through and sags is reduced and sculpted. The last thing that is done (ONLY IF NECESSARY) is a little bit of skin may need to be removed from behind the ear. This is not always necessary. An important thing to remember is that depending on your age and the way your neck is, you may not need all of this. Sometimes a little liposuction (liposculpture) may be all that is needed. In general, when the angle line of the neck with the chin is not well defined, more than just liposuction is needed. Also, liposcution is not a good procedure if the plastysma muscles has become weak (as discussed above). After an evaluation in the office, the best procedure for your specific anatomy will be recommended. Lastly, more often than not, a neck lift is combined with a face lift or "facial shaping" procedure. As with the upper eyelid--eyebrows, lower eyelids--cheeks, the neck and face are intimately connected and to work on one and not the other may look imbalanced and weird.

Dear Imogene, There are 2 parts in your question: options for the neck lift and how to increase the longevity of your facelift or neck lift. First, let's talk about the facelifts. If you are in your late 50s, it is very difficult if not impossible to create a good result with the neck lift alone. Our faces age not only at the neck level but also on cheeks, brows and so forth. We used to think that the whole issue of aging was very dependent on gravity. So the gravity pulls our faces down in most sensitive areas, creating jowls, neck laxity and neck lines. The truth is that there is more to ageing than just gravity. Most of us lose elasticity if the skin and volume of the face in addition. The key to successful facial rejuvenation is attempting to restore skin tightness, higher position of the structures on the face and make it manageable from the standpoint of recovery and affordability. The anatomy of the neck is such that it is very intimately connected to deep facial structures. The neck muscle (platysma) that causes neck bands actually continues as the deep fascia (SMAS) on the face. Pulling on the neck alone will create very un-attractive and un-natural creases on our faces. If combined with lifting of the face, it produces nice and natural looking results. For most of my patients it is not necessary to have a full traditional facelift. Some mini face lifts, like Quicklift, can produce very comparable results in less time, with faster recovery and less downtime. In some patients with heavy necks or prominent jowls, a small amount of liposuction or liposculpture, or Smart Lipo, can be done to better define a jaw line and neck. Some patients with prominent neck muscle lines will benefit from neck muscle tightening. The longevity of results depends on techniques of surgery - skin-only based procedures will not be as durable as deeper ones - your skin quality, skin care regimen, skin relaxation. The sad thing is that we start getting older the very minute the last stitch is placed. We all produce 2-3 mm of extra skin per year in our 50s. Even though there is no way to stop the ageing process, there are ways to slow it down and maintain your skin longer. Once a year Thermage provides additional tightening after a facelift. Some people are quite skeptical about Thermage, but if used after the facelift, it produces more effective result than instead of one procedure. Skin care regimen is very important. Have your skin consistency and quality examined and have your skin regimen tailored to your skin type. Botox, laser treatments are good additions to the post-facelift regimen.