I read about a Botox neck lift. What is this and does it work? I thought Botox was for frown lines?

You are correct that Botox is typically used for the frown lines between the eyebrows.  Overuse of the muscles between the eyebrows causes deep vertical lines which we call frown lines.

If we look aging necks in the population, people with thinner necks with minimal fat tend to have "muscle bands" or platysmal muscle bands.  This is a thin sheet-like muscle under the neck skin.  The front edge of the muscle is what forms the edge of the muscle band.

If we lay a bed sheet on the ground with a clothes line under the bed sheet, then we pull on the clothes line, the clothesline will tent the bed sheet.  This is what happens with neck muscle bands.  As the platysmal muscle band contracts, it is very similar to the clothes line tenting the bed sheet.  

Botox is a neurotoxin, or a poison which selectively paralyzes or weakens the muscle that it is injected into.  The effects of Botox are temporary, and the strongest effect of paralysis last only about a month, but residual weakness of the muscle persists for up to 4-5 months.  The muscle strength gradually returns over the months after injection.

Even when the Botox completely paralyzes the platysmal muscle bands, sometimes the muscle already has skin wrapped around it, and the muscle bands look the same.  Maybe less "tense" but still there all the same.  The only way it really works is if the muscle bands protrude when the person "clenches" their jaw or flexes their neck muscles, but the neck profile is perfect when the person is relaxed. 

Only in these people does the botox on the muscle bands prevent the neck band from forming.

I hope this explanation makes some sense.

Best,

Dr. Yang

"Injecting soft fillers like Belotero in this area can reduce lines, wrinkles and folds as well as improve skin texture with long-term collagen production. Fillers are being used more frequently to contour and lift rather than solely line fill. Of course, fillers are best used in combination with lasers and microneedling​ with PRP to get the optimal outcome.

I suggest getting a formal evaluation with a cosmetic dermatologist to create an individualized treatment plan that works for you. Best, Dr. Emer"

Botox is used to relax muscles. If you have platysmal bands that contribute to your neck concerns, then Botox can work very well to soften these muscle bands. In addition Botox may soften some of the transverse folds by relaxing the underlying platysmal muscles.  I would visit with a board certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist to discuss your concerns and develop a treatment plan for you.

Thank you for your question! It does not produce a true neck lift but but can temporaly take some of the "spring" out of the platysmal bands (ie- paired neck cords). For significant neck skin laxity, a facelift should be considered. For lasting correction of platysmal bands, a medial or lateral platysmaplasty can be performed depending upon certain patient factors. I hope this helps!

Botox can relax the platysma muscles, the visible bands in your neck. This would help smooth out the neck contour. The treatment is off-label.

Botox
injections are effective at softening the neck bands (also known as platysmal
bands which are muscles).  By relaxing the neck bands, they become less prominent thereby rejuvenating the appearance of your neck.

The Botox® neck lift refers to the use of an off-label FDA usage of a  muscle Toxin like Botox to relax Platysmal bands (midline muscular bands (Platysmal bands). It is not a true neck lift. In the right hands it is effective in temporarily relaxing these muscle bands which causes the skin to be less stretched in appearance. The treatment is temporary and needs to be repeated every 3-4 months for most.Risks include if injected too deeply or using too much - swallowing difficulties,  or  head movement from weak neck muscles.

                  Botox
has significant benefits for patients who experience facial aging.
Unfortunately Botox doesn’t lift the neck and for this reason the term “Botox
Neck Lift” is misleading.

                  Botox
has the ability to relax muscles and make them and their effects less apparent.
It’s not unusual for patients to develop platysmal bands during the aging
process. This occurs when a separation exists between the paired muscles in the
midline and there’s loose skin present as well. Under these circumstances,
Botox might relax these muscles and make them less noticeable.

                  Unfortunately
Botox won’t address muscle separation, muscle laxity and loose skin and for
this reason, can’t be expected to provide a neck lift. When correction of neck
skin sag is the patient’s aesthetic goal, a surgical neck lift will prove to be
necessary.

                  If
you’re considering surgical correction of neck skin sag, consultation with a
board certified plastic surgeon is appropriate. This surgeon should be able to
formulate an appropriate treatment plan. 

Botox can be used in the neck to decrease lines in the neck.  It is not a "lift".  That is a marketing term that is misleading in my opinion.

Botox (as well as the other two FDA-approved neuromodulators Dysport & Xeomin) may be used to improve some degrees of neck sagging, vertical (playsmal) bands, and "necklace" lines.

The Nefertiti Lift (named after the stepmother of King Tut whose famous statue possesses the paradigmatic perfectly straight and tight jawline) has been used successfully to lift the lowest portion of the face and secondarily the uppermost portion of the neck. With this technique, microdroplets of Botox (or the others) are injected along the jawline as well as into the vertical neckbands that become accentuated upon gritting the teeth.

Injected in this fashion, Botox slighten weakens the downward pull of the muscles thereby giving a competitive advantage to the muscles above the jaw, which then pull the lower jawline and upper neck slightly upward straightening them. Mild degrees of jowling and neck laxity can be treated easily in this fashion and the results, as with all Botox injections, may be seen within one week following treatment.

Treating platysmal banding with Botox is certainly nothing new. I have personally been doing this since the mid-1990s. Platysmal bands are those long vertical ropey bands on the front of the neck. Microdroplets of Botox injected up and down the bands can weaken the muscle tension sufficiently to allow the overlying skin to redrape itself more smoothly.

Botox treatment of the so-called "necklace" lines, those parallel arrays of horizontal wrinkles that encircle the neck, is also not new having been introduced about the same time as the treatment for platysmal bands.

The major downside of Botox neck rejuvenation is that not everyone responds, not everyone responds to the same degree, and the results generally last about six months for those that do.

The concomitant use of volumizing fillers, however, such as Radiesse to straighten the jawline can further enhance the effects of Botox and prolong the results significantly. Likewise, the use of microdroplets of Juvederm Ultra XC along with Botox is an excellent treatment for the necklace lines. And, more recently, I have found that the addition of Juvederm UltraPlus XC injected along a horizontal line extending across the border between the neckline and chin line, as well as within certain areas directly under the chin, can supplement the "Nefertiti Lift" by stretching some of the laxity and by providing the visual illusion of a more well defined cervico-mental (neck-chin) angle.

Botox can sometimes be used to relax the neck muscles.Patients that have strong bands going up and down at the center of the neck and just to the side. Botox can relax those and become less noticeable. Is not common. The lines get less visible by paralyzing the muscle just under the lines. Also, by relaxing some muscles like next to the orbit, it will allow the forehead muscles to pull up the brow, getting a brow lift.