Posted on December 22, 2010
Ah the neck.
The poor, often forgotten and neglected, neck. It is not just a pretty thing to adorn with necklaces and keep your head on. The neck is an important place to protect if you want to hide your signs of aging. And it is a difficult place to treat. Often people come in saying “I don’t want a facelift. I just want a necklift.” Your face ages in units, and the neck is attached to the unit of the lower face.
There is no easy fix.
So what can you do?
First, basic skincare is still good:
- Sunscreen
- Products – antioxidants, RetinA
Second, you can try to resurface the skin
- Most lasers are NOT safe on the neck. Can lead to pigmentation and scar.
- I use a chemical peel, the blue peel, which I usually combine with the face and chest to create a smooth, even color and contour. Again, the neck is connected to other parts. You want them to all look in sync in color and texture.
Third, other noninvasive means.
Fourth, surgery.
- If your issue is fat, and you are under the age of 40, then chin liposuction is a likely good option to crispen your neck and jawline.
- If your issue is fat and you are over the age of 40 or have poor skin tone, then you get into a grey area. Liposuction can remove the fat, but your skin may not retract. If it doesn’t retract, then it will hang there.
- Bigger surgeries. There are surgeries which are just necklifts, but they look funky. As your neck is part of the lower face unit (cheek, jowls, jawline), the real answer is a facelift. There are many misunderstandings and spins on facelifts: mini facelifts, necklifts, skin only lifts, lifestyle lifts, suture lifts, barbed suture lifts, lower facelifts, etc. My belief is that a facelift is a facelift. A true facelift should be a two layer fix: the SMAS and the skin (skin only is destined to fail, as skin stretches, and you can’t put much tension on skin without getting bad scars). It will address the cheek, nasolabial fold (parenthesis around your mouth), your jowls and jawline, and your neck.
Bottom line with all of this? Give your neck some love. It will pay off in the future.