Scar Tissue/adhesion Formation After Neck Lift?

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

hello edrio The scars from your necklift may be noticeable for some time after your surgery, but they can easily be hidden with some make-up tips and tricks that you can learn from our experienced BioSpa staff.Your necklift scars will lessen in appearance and mature over the course of a year from your surgery.  It is after this time that the true restorative effects of your necklift result will be apparent. #scar #tissue

The only treatment I know of for this is time and ultrasound treatments often help. No steroid injections. 

Very unusual, and quite frankly, this is the first time I have ever heard of this.  Likely a tough problem to improve, likely I’d try some steroid injections first. Good luck.

As an MD yourself, you should have a better understanding of that pathophysiology of such problems.  Which nerve is suspected of being injured?  And what are your symptoms?  We all know where the nerves are and if there is no suturing done around the nerve, how can there be a compression neuropathy?   There are always other possibilities.

You are not an isolated case of this syndrome.  I have seen a number over 30 years and continue to see and correct those that feel too tight.   Generally the history gos something like this.  A normal patient and good candidate has a neck lift and  5% end up feeling too thigh .  This can occur in the cheek, forehead, or neck area.  The major complaints occur in the neck.   I have had 3 patients like this in my career and have seen another 9 that I can recall coming by referral.    The complaints are all similar.  TIGHTNESS.    What to do?  Initially we tell people it gos away but sometimes it does not.  What to do?    Certainly serial Kenalog injections in the mastoid area bilaterally if needed and dilute Kenalog at selected points along the neck almost always help.   These can be repeated in 6 weeks.     In cases where I know the surgeon well and know that a very tight SMAS and platysma were done,  I re operate and loosen everything up.  The results have been 100% successful on 7 patients.   Sometimes things don't seem tight but they feel tight to the patient.  Go in and loosen up everything.  At the end of the surgery spray dilute Kenalog over the entire wound surface.   100% successful.   The main villains were very tight SMAS and Platysmal suspensions.  It is easy to take this down.   Even if this does not feel tight, it is, and loosening it always corrects the problem.    Certainly permanent suspension sutures can also be the enemy but no patients  I saw had this.  The suspensions like that of Giampapa work for some but could be a cause of the tight feeling.    So the answer is time possibly,  triamcinolone possible, and operative intervention which seems to always work even when it seems that it should and would not work.   We must listen to our patients for sure.....even when they are MDs.   MDs are simply patients that must be cared for like all others.   Mu Best,  Dr C