Hi I'm 29 - hereditary turkey neck, firm skin.. Should I get a chin/neck/jaw liposuction? neck lift? What's the difference?

FaceTite can internally tighten the skin in the lower face and neck. After all the skin has been heated and contracted, we shape the neck with liposuction to give definition and remove stubborn pockets of fat. In one quick treatment, we can tighten skin, remove fat, and contour the lower face, jawline, and jowls with only a weekend of downtime.​ Keep in mind that combination approaches will give you a more significant improvement as opposed to a single procedure. I recommend getting a consultation with a board-certified cosmetic dermatologist and facial sculpting expert. Best, Dr. Emer

The best recommendations to improve your neck appearance depend on your needs, desires, and most importantly an examination to determine the best procedure for you. Your plastic surgeon will evaluate you for five main features that will determine your best options for neck line improvement:
Amount of excess fat typically found beneath the chin, and in the upper neck. This requires liposuction with small cannulas or direct removal especially if the fat is beneath the platysma muscle.Presence of Significant (Platysmal) Banding – this requires bringing the muscles together in the upper/mid neck to a more youthful position and occasionally their release. This procedure is called a platysmaplasty or platysma plication. Mild banding can be treated non- surgically with Botox or Dysport but this requires injections 3-4 times a year for maintenance.Amount of excess/redundant skin (cutis laxa) and condition of your skin. In advanced stages this is called a Turkey Waddle or Gobble deformity. For example, younger age, darker skin colors and no large weight loss history most likely means there will be better elasticity and therefore better post-surgical contraction. In milder cases if not too much fat is present there will be enough skin shrinkage with just lipo alone. Mild to minimal skin tightening using non-surgical means like the Sciton Laser SkinTyte procedure, Ultherapy or Thermage could also be considered. My personal preference for non-surgical skin tightening of the neck is the Sciton Laser BBL SkinTyte® procedure as there is no down time, more comfortable procdure, is effective and is a more targeted treatment. For redundant upper and mid excess neck skin: I prefer the LiteLift® (lower facelift ) procedure or MACS for skin re-draping for mild to moderate excess skin management as there are minimal scars and the skin is lifted vertically allowing for minimal hidden scars resulting in a natural appearance “non pulled” appearance. However: for moderate to severe skin redundancy , a neck lift or traditional lower facelift (e.g.Lite Lift®, MACS and others) is needed with or without lipo for best results. For advanced Turkey Waddle correction wither a traditional facelift or posterior neck lift often with a platysmaplasty is required with more extensive scars that extend at the hairline behind your ears. The advantage of a facelift procedure rather than a posterior neck lift is that your lower jawline (e.g. jowls and marionette lines) are also improved at the same time.Chin deficiency. If you have a weak chin then you will not have adequate chin support to your neckline skin which affects your entire neck line. Sometimes especially in younger individuals this is all that is required and this can be done in the office under local anesthesia. There are a number of different sizes and shapes and your plastic surgeon will pick the optimal one for you.Presence of prominent Digastric Muscles or Submandibular gland fullness from laxity or enlargement. Although not a major concern for most patients, if present then partial resection is usually the best solution.

At 29, it is unlikely that you need a neck lift. You said your skin is still firm, so you probably do not have the amount of sagging that would warrant a neck lift. If your turkey neck is caused by excess fat, then liposuction is most likely your best option. Liposuction physically extracts fat from under the chin and can help to contour the chin and jawline. It’s a minimally invasive procedure that requires a few days of recovery time. A neck lift, on the other hand, is a full surgical procedure that is more invasive and requires at least a week of downtime. Neck lifts are usually done when there is significant sagging of the skin and muscle due to age and gravity. A consultation with a board-certified facial plastic surgeon will help in deciding what you need. I hope this helps.

Thank you for your question, Tai6. I suggest you consult with your board certified facial plastic surgeon. The difference between those options is the level of invasiveness, recovery time, target part of the neck and effectiveness. The Laser-Assisted Weekend Necklift provides a natural appearance in a short and comfortable recovery time after a procedure that leverages minimal invasiveness under local anesthesia. You are too young for this option, but you may find implants, injectables or liposuction are amenable solutions. Best wishes,

At age 29 liposuction of the neck is probably the best option.  We usually focus on the submental area (in the middle below the chin).  It can also be helpful to very carefully perform some additional liposuction jsut below the jawline, but there are nerves in this area which need to be avoided.Kybella is the other option for treating fat.  It works well in most people who are younger with good skin elasticity, but the results are not immediate like you get with lipo.A necklift involves tightening the muscle layer and/or skin laxity in the neck and is usually not necessary before age 40 in most people.  There is no way to answer this question for you in particular without an in person examination.  Even seeing pictures would not be enough because your surgeon really needs to be able to closely examine and feel the neck to determine what will work best.

It is impossible to answer this question without seeing photographs of your face. Be careful that you do not end up having a procedure which makes you look worse.     

Hi there,There's a very big difference between a neckift and neck lipo.Lipo is lipo - done carefully through small punctures, with no real scarring.A necklift is most commonly part of a facelift, occasionally a standalone procedure, and is necessary if there is loose skin or jowls, as lipo does not address that, indeed it can make it worse.From your description, and your age, it sounds like you may be a lipo candidate. However, there is no picture, so its hard to be certain.  If you're a lipo candidate, then that's good news. It is a much lesser procedure.The best way forward is to have a consult with an experienced plastic surgeon in your city who regularly operates on the face and neck.All the bestHoward WebsterPlastic Surgeon

It is very difficult to give you recommendations with no pictures in order to evaluate. Please consult a board certified Facial Plastic Surgeon in your area.Hope this helps,Dr. Diaz

  Hi, I have performed many facial shaping procedures, neck lifts and facial implant (cheeks, chin) surgeries over the past 30 years.  Non smiling photos, of your face, from the front and side would help in the evaluation.  Liposuction only removes fat while a neck lift can also remove skin and or tighten neck muscles.  It's imporatnt to eveluate the chin projection as this directly effects the formation of a "double chin" as described below.  If the chin is weak, this creates an imbalance that makes the nose appear larger, the lower face short
and the mid face appear top heavy while de-emphasizing the loips and allowing early "double chin" formation.  Chin augmentation, using a chin
implant, will add projection to the chin creating harmony and balance to the
lower face.  I have found placing a silastic chin implant through a small,
curved, incisions under the chin to be very safe, quick, highly effective and
far less invasive than a sliding genioplasty that requires bone cuts with
placement of screws and metal plates.  I typically perform chin implant surgery in 30 minutes, or less, often using a local anesthetic alone.  Excess skin, from under the chin, can be removed using the same incision used to place the chin implant.  

Without photos it is difficult to give a specific answer but your statement that you have a "Hereditary turkey neck" implies some inherent structural problems that have led to problems at a relatively early age. An nice looking neck has a clear definition from the jawline and a strong angle between neck and jaw on profile view. This is helped by good jaw width and projection as well as a well placed larynx ( the voice box which is suspended from the floor of mouth via muscles linked to the inside of the jaw ). If the jaw is underprojected and narrow and/or the larynx sits too low it will be difficult to produce a great looking neck by lifting or liposuction as neither really addresses the underlying problem, indeed these procedures could possibly make things worse. Some people also have large low positioned submandibular glands which show as bulges either side of the neck just below the jawline and can become more obvious if the neck skin is lifted. There is not much you can do about the position of your larynx but better projection of the jawline is certainly achievable. Once the foundations have been assessed then further definition may be possible with liposuction if there is excess fatty tissue between the skin and platysma muscle as long as there is good tone in the overlying skin but it is important to preserve a nice smooth even blanket of fat between skin and platysma. An overly suctioned neck is very difficult to hide or fix! If the skin is loose then it will need to be restored to normal tension by lifting. Often there is more fat deep to platysma than outside it and this deep fat near the midline under the jaw cannot be safely or reliably removed by liposuction or other minimally invasive techniques, an open direct surgical removal is required. There are some great plastic surgeons in Brisbane who could provide a proper assessment perspective and advice. You are only 29 so don't rush into this!