What Has Caused This Bazaar Crepe Effect on my 46 Year Old Neck and What Procedure Will Fix It? (photo)

           A combination neck lift and lower face lift will produce the tightest neck and most improvement in the jowl area.  Find a plastic surgeon with ELITE credentials who performs hundreds of facelifts, necklifts, and facial procedures each year.  Then look at the plastic surgeon's website before and after photo galleries to get a sense of who can deliver the results.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

Depending on the level of laxity, the effects of a neck lift will certainly outlast the effects of non-surgical treatments. The presence of banding down the front of the #neck, and, amount of excess skin and condition of your skin are among some factors which determine if you are a #candidate for #rejuvenating the neck. During an in-person examination, your chin will be evaluated along with the neck and jawline. A weak #chin implies a lack of chin support for the skin along the neck line. In younger individuals a chin implant alone is usually all that is needed to improve the appearance of the neck. Subsequently, it will also improve the overall #balance of the face and can create the illusion of a smaller nose. As a stand-alone procedure, chin augmentation can be performed in the office under local #anesthesia. For individuals with signs of #aging in the neck, a chin implant added to one of the recommended procedures above, will provide optimal results. Liposuction under the chin is also another option your doctor can discuss. Also, if deemed a candidate, you may want to consider Lite-lift™ which is an affordable, quick, and effective innovative facelift developed by board-certified plastic surgeons Dr. Larry Nichter and myself. The goal is to provide a less invasive natural looking option for both men and women desiring to refresh their appearance with less downtime and risks. The LiteLift® is a “real” facelift, which does address the underlying muscle, tissue and overlying skin.
This is a modified facelift that can be performed in the office with a local anesthetic and improve signs of aging around the neck, jawbone and lower face. These procedures are not "Thread-lifts" or "String-lifts". We do not use the "barbed" sutures employed in these other lifting operations. The Lite-lift™ uses longer lasting techniques. Because the incisions are limited, there is less bruising, swelling and healing time for most patients. Many patients can be back to work in one to two weeks looking rested and more youthful.Your board certified plastic surgeon should evaluate both your anatomical features and aesthetic goals to suggest which procedure best suits your needs. In some cases there may be more than one option to choose from. If you are not a candidate at the time of your #consultation, your board surgeon can recommend non-surgical alternatives to improve your concern.

Often the skin of the neck can get very loose, wrinkled, inelastic and lax over time.  Tissues of the face often hold up better with aging than the thinner neck tissues where everything seems to settle. Often devoid of hair follicles & oil glands, this skin is not as resilient or hearty. Yes, it gets worse with time & gravity.  :(     Use of lasers & peels, & other heating devices must be done very very cautiously. Some version of a surgical neck lift (lower facelift) can often help. It's important to be realistic that once skin of the neck loses its elasticity (springiness), it cannot really be reclaimed. So talk with your surgeon about the pros & cons of surgery & anticipated duration of its benefits. 

 

 You have the signs of the early aging neck with loose skin and jowls. You need a facelift for this and not just a mini lift to reposition your jowls and remove the excess skin. Choose a very experienced facelift surgeon for this.

Tightening up the lower face along the jawline and the neck can sure improve the area easily and naturally-especially when done under local anesthesia. Cost is roughly $8800 on special and you'll be glad you did. Sincerely,David Hansen,MD

From the picture provided, you would benefit from a lower facelift which includes a necklift. This would address lax muscle and sagging fat in the neck and jowl region and create a more defined neck and jawline. I frequently add fat grafting to the cheeks at the same time in order to provide a more comprehensive, natural, 3 dimensional effect. Consult with at least two experienced facial plastic surgeons for options.

Even though you do not have a lot of loose skin, your assumption is correct that skin redraping through some form of a neck-jowl lift would be the most effective approach. Non-surgical treatment only have a role if your need to convince yourself that surgery is the best approach to your neck concerns.

 A comprehensive face/neck lift will address excess skin in the neck, tightening the jowls, along with fat removal  in the neck and tightening up the muscles of the neck.  For best results, it is important to tighten up the skin  in the neck surgically, along with fat removal and tightened the muscles. Please see our  facelift photo gallery link below to see what can be accomplished with a comprehensive face/ neck lift

A necklift (done with incisions behind the ear and in the hairline) can certainly help loose and crepey skin in the neck area. There is also always some degree of muscle weakness that can be helped during a necklift as well.

In this picture it is clear that you have some jowls as well, so combining a necklift with a lower facelift would be really nice to help improve all the areas at one time and keep things in natural harmony. The lower facelift also has an added advantage of allowing your surgeon to pull some of the crepey skin upwards. This works very well with a necklift which pulls the crepey skin both upwards and to the side.

In my opinion thermage and lasers simply would not provide enough improvement given the anatomy I am seeing with this picture.

Take care,

Dr. J

 From the photo provided this appears to be typical aging tissues of the face and neck.  A face and necklift would address these issues.  You may prefer a minimal incision Facelift with its smaller incisions, less tissue dissection and rapid recovery.