Any ideas how to make results of neck lift better? 14 months PO. (Photos)

Question

I had a Coronal brow lift, a facelift and a neck lift with liposuction 14 months ago. I've been concerned about a raised scar under my chin and various lumps and bumps and banding in the neck area. My surgeon told me to let things heal naturally and that we would evaluate at one year. At my one year he said everything looked great and sent me on my way. I'm still not pleased with the results of my neck. Any ideas how to make this look better?

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

Plastic surgery scars require attention after surgery so that they remain cosmetically-appealing and barely noticeable. In our office, we use a protocol for scars that minimizes their activity in the 6-8 weeks after surgery. If you have late plastic surgery scars, you may also require laser and RF therapy to help reduce the longterm effects of the scarring. Keloids, hypertrophic scars, widened scars, red scars, and hyperpigmented scars all require scar modulation with topical creams followed by lasers and RF therapy. Topical skincare should be directed to a specific need, whether for pigmentation or hypertrophy and our office can guide you through the process to obtain the correct Plato’s Scar cream or Melarase cream for hypertrophy and discoloration. In terms of lasers, we would employ the vbeam laser for redness, Venus Viva RF, PRP microneedling, chemical peels, and Morpheus 8, fractional erbium, or fractional co2. All of these have their individual benefits. Most of all, we recommend you visit a solid plastic surgeon who understands surgical scar revision, laser therapy, and RF therapy for scars. 
 
Best, 
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

Zoran Potparic, MD · Answer

This midline hard band is seen occasionally after platysmoplasty for a long time. It may respond to repeated injection of Botox, steroid Kenalog and nano-fat grafts. Revision through existing incision should be done if these less invasive options do not work. Good luck.

Richard G. Schwartz, MD · Answer

From your photos, it appears that you have thickened scar tissue creating vertical bands under the skin in the front of your neck.  I presume there isn't a vertical skin scar there but can't tell from the photos.  It also appears that the liposuction in the front of your neck may have removed  enough subcutaneous fat that there isn't much of a natural fat layer between the skin and muscles, and your skin is basically stuck down to the muscles.  This adds to the visibility of muscle fibers.  You might benefit from redoing the front of your neck through a horizontal submental chin crease incision, including removing any thickened muscle bands and scar tissue along the muscle, then repairing the muscle, perhaps with a Z-plasty technique to relieve tightness and the tendency for the muscle repair to contract vertically as it may have this time.  Also, ultimately, it's possible that grafting fat into this area to add the softer cushioning between muscle and skin might help, but I think the muscle work is more important.

Any ideas how to make results of neck lift better? 14 months PO. (Photos)

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Any ideas how to make results of neck lift better? 14 months PO. (Photos)

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Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.