I had a face lift 3 years ago. I wasn’t happy at the time with my platysmal bands. Now they look awful. What can I do?

This is most frequent problem seen after neck/face surgery; recurrence of muscle bands. It may be seen very soon after surgery or, most frequently, several years after. In a skinny neck like yours, one solution would be to redo platysmoplasty (re-suture muscle bands and partially cut platysma muscle transversely). However, that may also result in recurrance or visible central band-scar. There are other options available for individual patients depending of in person evaluation and extent of surgery patient is willing to have. In person evaluation by at least 2 reputable board certified plastic surgeons is recommended. Good luck.

Thank you for your question and photos. It is not uncommon for bands to recur after a facelift, even if they are sutured at the original operation. If the recurrent bands are muscle, then are best treated by direct repair via a small incision under the chin. It appears that you may already have a scar there from the first surgery, It is best to discuss this with your surgeon. Good luck.

This is a frustrating issue and every experienced plastic surgeon who performs a lot of such procedures will have seen recurrence of these bands even after they have been repaired. It seems you already have a scar under the chin and so the best option would be to resuture the bands together . It will also depend on how low down the neck they extend and sometimes a transection of the lower part of the patysma muscle can also help. But best discuss with your surgeon.

Thank you for your question.A non-surgical option would be to inject them with Botox. The botox would help to relax them and make them less pronounced.

Thank you for the question and the photo. Dealing with recurrent platysmal bands can take a variety of forms. If the neck skin is adequately tightened, the muscle bands can be sewn together through a small incision under the chin. If there is still extra skin, this can be removed in the midline (small amount) or through the incisions on the sides by the ears. If there are recurrent jowls as well, a revision of the lower facelift is needed. Good luck!

If the rest of the neck looks good, then you can have these addressed through an incision below the chin.  There are a few options on how to treat them once the area is opened surgically, such as sewing them together in the middle, or excising the band.  Your surgeon should be able to help you with this.   

Many thanks for posting your question - I am sorry to hear that you are unhappy about the appearance of your neck. Did you have liposuction to the area at the same time as your facelift?Plastysmal bands can be challenging to treat - hence the wide array of surgical (and more recently non-surgical) techniques described. Even when treated by the most invasive techniques, some case series show that around a third of plastysmal bands recur within a year or two.There are a number of options you might consider - these range from muscle relaxing injections to soften the bands, through to fat grafting to hide the bands up to a secondary neck lift. However, none of these techniques can be guaranteed to completely work.The best thing would be to consult with an experienced plastic surgeon to discuss the pros and cons of different approaches, to see which might be the most suitable to take forwardsI hope this helps - good luck

Thanks for your question.
You would need an in person assessment for anyone to properly advise you, but you can consider revision surgery to your neck to address the platysma muscle laxity.
Botulinum toxin can help for dynamic bands that are not there all the time.

Recurrent platysmal bands are a common and difficult issue after a facelift.  A good option is to perform a small incision under the chin over top of where you already have a small incision, lift up the skin from the platysmal muscle, suture together the dangling platysmal muscle edges and remove a small amount of skin.  This procedure is called a platysmoplasty.  A step up from this is doing a full revision neck lift that starts with a platysmoplasty to suture the platysmal bands together but re-drapes the skin behind the ear.  I recommend following up with your surgeon to discuss these options.       

Visible banding of the neck muscles is commonly seen and treated.  Often this requires a neck lift, in which the edges of the two muscles are sewn together.  Additionally, the bottom of the muscle is cut, as well, to relieve tension on the muscle and provide an aesthetic contour to the neck.  Patients are pleased to wake up and see their neck line rejuvenated after a neck lift!