Why do some people have sutures in the front of their ears when they have a neck lift and others do not?

If the neck work can be done by tightening the platysma muscle with an incision under the chin, and a small incision behind the ear to take up a bit of extra neck skin or place a suspension suture, then no incision in front of the ear is needed.However, often there is laxity of neck and jowl skin as well, or significant laxity of the platysma. Unless the exposure of the underlying tissues of the lower face is adequate, the results will suffer greatly.  An incision in front of the ear as well, gives access to the entire lower face and neck to do whatever needs to be done.

Great question. You know, the boundary between a formal "neck lift" and a "facelift" can be blurry.  Some people may tell you they had a neck lift but in fact had a neck lift with some form of a facelift. It all depends on the desired result you hope to achieve as well as the extent of the problem you are dealing with. If you do a standard neck lift, you often get a scar behind the ear and maby under the chin. However, if you have some jowling you will need the sutures in front of the ear as this is a form of a facelift. When deciding on what procedure is best, here at my Facial Plastic Surgery clinic in Ottawa, Canada i make sure patients understand what the effect will be and what is required to achieve their effect. If you are interested in rejuvenating your neck and/or face, i suggest you speak to a qualified surgeon in your area to determine what the best option is for you.Dr. James P. BonaparteOtolaryngology  - Head and Neck SurgeryFacial Plastic and Reconstructive SurgeryOttawa, Ontario, Canada

A platysmaplasty (under chin incision) is most commonly done for turkey necks and cost only $5500 under local where a lower face jawline and neck lift run around $8800 on special under local but there is more tightening and there are sutures in the ear as well as behind. sincerely, David Hansen,MD