Grecian Urn Neck Lift for Turkey Neck?

My experience with this type of neck lift has been good as long as the patient is willing to accept a few month period of a visible neck scar.  Long-term the scar typically heals OK.

Necklifts are designed to remove only deep grooves and #wrinkles, not fine ones. Smoothing out every tiny line in your face would leave you with an eerie, unnatural, and undesirable result. The goal should be to make your necklift look as natural as possible, simply turning back the clock a few years. The type of necklift incision will depend upon your gender, your hairline and preferred hairstyles, any scars from previous surgeries, and a variety of other factors.  As a general rule, a #necklift #incision starts right in front of or within the hairline on the temple, follows the curve of the front of the ear, travels underneath the earlobe, and ends at the hairline behind the ear.  There are also shorter #scar techniques preferred by many patients, which do not have incisions in the hairline.  Some patients who wish to have liposuction or tightening of their neck will need an additional incision under their #chin, which can be hidden in a natural skin fold.Local anesthetic is usually used in combination with #intravenous #anesthesia during a necklift operation, allowing you to sleep peacefully through the procedure. Though general anesthesia may be requested, it is not necessary in most cases.  A necklift and any additional procedures you may add are #outpatient procedures usually performed in a surgery center. In some cases, your surgeon may advise you to stay in a post-op care facility for a single night. To learn more and to determine if you are a #candidate, consult with a board-certified plastic surgeon who is highly skilled and experienced with #neck lift procedures. 

 The Greek urn necklift is also called a direct submentoplasty. In this surgery, usuallly performed under local anestheisa, the turkey wattle of the neck is excised directly. The Grecian Urn describes the shape of the excision, made in an irregular shape in order to optimize scarring. It can be performed on men and women, but does leave a scar in the neck; however, the scar is usually cosmetically acceptable.

A "Grecian Urn" Necklift refers to a form of direct skin excision from the neck.  The incision starts under the chin and proceeds down the midline of the neck for a variable distance.  This procedure can work well, but has the downside of having a visible scar.  If well executed, this scar should minimally to moderately detectable.  This procedure is more commonly performed on men who have been appropriately educated about the location of the scar.

There are many names out there for neck lifts.  A direct neck lift means that most of the excision and work is done anteriorly where the neck is exposed. You are more likely to have visible scarring and this is most significant aspect in your decision making. Traditional neck lifts are the best option for treating the turkey neck.

Since you mention "least invasive", the direct neck lift you are considering here is the least invasive as it can be done under local in the office.  BUT it does leave a scar on the anterior neck that most people will not appreciate unless you are looking up into the sky extending your neck.  It is also predictable and very simple to revise if you have any concerns with your results.  I use it often in those patients who do not want to have a facelift or corset platysmaplasty and have achieved very satsifying results.

The consistent problem with direct neck lifts where  neck  skin is removed in the central portion of the neck is visible irregularities that can be very difficult to correct.

Initially when the skin is tight, the incisions will look good.

However, with time, the sides of the neck may relax and as they move forward the scar creates irregularities which show through on both the side and anterior views.

The standard neck lift does not have these problems and while more invasive, is certainly a better operation.

Dr. Mayl

Fort Laudedale

 Although this direct skin excision type of Neck Lift may have the least amount of tissue dissection, it's rarely done in modern plastic surgery because of the visibilty of the scar.  I have done this only a couple of times, on men only, in the past 20 years of performing Face and Neck Lifts.  IMHO, you should consider a limited neck skin removal technique with an incision horizontally, under the chin, first before having this Urn procedure that creates a more visible scar.