A Nonsurgical Neck Lift That Actually Works! - New York

At 40, I am fairly youthful looking but have been bothered by platysmal banding and some loose skin on my neck for about a year. I don't have jowling or submental fat. Botox has helped somewhat with the platysmal bands but not the loose skin - at least not enough.

I had consulted one surgeon about a platysmal plication and, while I'm a candidate, I'm just not feeling ready for surgery. I also tried Ultherapy (full neck) 5 months ago and think it's useless at best.

I found Dr. Novick on this site and went to see him after reading about his 3D Vectoring Nonsurgical Neck lift, which uses volumizers like Radiesse and Voluma strategically placed around the jawline and neck along with Botox placed at strategic points, to smooth the neck and make the skin more taut. I liked that he was able to detail the procedure and articulate why it works. It just made sense to me.

So one day last week I learned that I was going to be seeing some old colleagues the next day that I hadn't seen in some time. I wanted to look good. I called Dr. Novick's office and amazingly they were able to squeeze me in that afternoon.

Dr. Novick, who is warm and friendly, studied my face and neck and described what he could do to lift the skin that bothered me. However, he explained to me that the procedure potentially could cause bruising and that if I needed to look good the next day, I might not want to risk it. We discussed the various injection points and the locations where bruising might occur. We decided to go ahead with a "partial" approach, focusing on injections around the angle of the jaw and not the neck itself. (The face is less likely to bruise and I also could have hidden any bruises with my hair.) Another reason for doing it this way was that my face was a bit imbalanced, in that my mid face was a bit too broad for my lower face, so it made particular sense to focus on the jaw area.

The injections themselves were painless and took about 10 minutes. To say that I was stunned with the results would be an understatement. Not only did Dr. Novick take a good 5 years off my neck, the injections balanced my face and made me look younger and healthier. The difference is subtle but powerful. I was and am beyond thrilled. I felt truly beautiful and like I was turning more heads than I had in several years. (Whether my perception was accurate or not, it felt wonderful.)

Also, I didn't bruise AT ALL, and my meeting with my old colleagues was fantastic.

I will be returning to Dr. Novick in a couple of weeks to focus specifically on the neck area. I will then post before and after pictures showing the results after this first procedure and then the second.

I found a good before picture, so I figured I'd go ahead and post my results after the first procedure. As you can see, I still have some visible loose skin, but now I can only see it when I raise my chin, whereas before it was evident even with my chin down. I expect or procedure 2 to minimize the appearance even more.

I went back to the doctor last week ready for the second step of the procedure, which I assumed would allow me to sail out of the office with a neck that would get me ID'd by bartenders. Alas, it doesn't work quite that quickly, although I'm confident that the final result will be great.

Part 2(a) of the procedure is what's known as a Nefertiti lift, which is actually Botox injections all along the jaw and platysmal muscle. The results take 1-2 weeks to become evident. At day 10, I'm just starting to see the changes, and I suspect I'm going to need a bit more Botox. But I'm trying to be patient.

Fillers will not be added for at least 2 more weeks. The reason is twofold: first, it's possible that the Nefertiti lift alone will be adequate. So, you want to give that a chance to work. Second, even if the Nefertiti lift alone is not sufficient and I do decide to add fillers, there's a big benefit to minimizing the movement of the platysmal muscle. Specifically, the less the muscle moves, the longer the fillers will last. Anyone familiar with how long fillers last in different parts of the face will understand that.

I suspect that I'm going to want to do the whole shebang and add the fillers. I do see even more improvement in my neck bands since the Botox, but I can still see loose skin when I turn my head. So I'm looking forward to Part 2(b) of this procedure, which I'm hopeful will accomplish what I want, which is a neck so youthful looking that it can shop in the juniors section.

I don't know why this review has attracted posters who insist that it's fake or a plug. It isn't. But I have a few points I want to make in response:

1) Yes, the lighting in the pictures is different - because they're my personal pictures that I took with my phone and not formal before and after pics. The before pic wasn't taken with the intention of posting - it was taken for the sole purpose of seeing if my neck looked as bad on camera as I feared (it did).

2) I'm 40 (which is still on the younger side for anti-aging treatments) with generally very good skin elasticity. So if the results aren't dramatic enough for the liking of some, perhaps it's because my neck wasn't that bad to begin with.

3) I'm not trying to convince anyone that this is a substitute for a surgical neck lift or any other treatment. It appealed to me, so I tried it and I liked it. Your mileage may vary.