Should I Choose a Neck Lift or Band Aid Liposuction?
Every patient is understandably nervous before plastic surgery. It is, after all, a medical surgery, and they’re anxious to see if they’ll be happy with their results. But in fact, most of what’s necessary to achieve the best and safest possible results is done before you step foot into an operating room (or an in-office procedure room, in the case of minimally invasive procedures like my Band Aid Facelift). One such precaution is ensuring that you’re truly receiving the ideal procedure for your needs, and sometimes the answer is not as obvious as you might expect—this is why honest communication is so important during your consultation. Take the neck for example – many patients who want a more shapely neck and chin area aren’t sure whether they should be looking for liposuction or a neck lift, so let’s take a closer look.
There are a number of different reasons the underside of your chin or your neck may look larger or less toned than you would like it to: excess fat, skin laxity, and loose muscles. This is what determines what procedure will give you the results you want.
If you have excess fat under the chin but have significant skin elasticity (which is most often the case for younger patients as well as those whose skin has simply aged slowly), your best bet will more than likely be Band Aid Liposuction. I developed this procedure to be a minimally invasive version of liposuction, so it can be performed in-office with gentle numbing, leading to a milder and much shorter recovery period. In fact, many patients are back to work or their other daily activities in 1-3 days.
For patients whose neck muscles have become lax, a neck lift can produce the most successful result. In addition to using sutures to tighten and revitalize the neck muscles, this surgery also involves re-firming the skin throughout the neck and jowl area to minimize the wrinkles and sagging which happen with age.
However, it’s important to determine whether it’s actually your neck that you want to rejuvenate or if your true focus is on the jowls. In this case, the procedure best suited to your needs is likely my Band Aid Mini Facelift. Much like Band Aid Liposuction, this surgery is performed in-office with gentle numbing for minimized healing time, and it can target the specific facial area where you want to see improvement by reducing excess skin and lifting the underlying facial tissue for a more youthful contour.
But what if you find that you’re bothered by more than one of these aesthetic issues? This is the case for many of my plastic surgery patients, and fortunately, each of your concerns can often be addressed in one procedure by combining Band Aid Liposuction with your neck lift or Band Aid Mini Face Lift.
To the average eye, it can be difficult to determine the specific culprit behind your cosmetic frustrations. While educating yourself about the options is a great first step, don’t underestimate the importance of a consultation and honest communication with a board-certified plastic surgeon. After specializing in cosmetic surgery for the facial area for over twenty years, I’ve developed the expertise to design the ideal solution for each patient’s needs. To get started, contact our office to schedule your appointment. Or, for more plastic surgery tips and helpful information, follow Dr. John L. LeRoy on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
About John L. LeRoy, M.D., F.A.C.S.: Dr. John LeRoy is an Atlanta-based plastic surgeon devoted to providing exceptional aesthetic care for over 20 years. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and the Georgia Society of Plastic Surgeons. Dr. LeRoy is best known for his Band Aid procedures: the innovative line of minimally invasive cosmetic procedures he has developed and perfected since 1997, including his Band Aid Facelift, which he has performed for over 5,000 patients. He studied cosmetic surgery at the prestigious Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital in New York and is board certified by both the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American College of Surgeons.
The simplified answer is that aging is an ongoing process. For instance, the results of a rhinoplasty (or nose surgery) will typically look the same throughout the rest of the patient’s life, because after the nose reaches its genetically-determined adult structure, it changes very little if at all. Aging, on the other hand, is inevitable and progressive throughout adulthood. So while a face lift will remove excess skin and restore a more youthful shape to the face, the existing skin will continue to lose firmness and facial tissue will continue to drop, eventually creating new wrinkles and sagging skin. You will always look younger than you would have if you had never had a 
