facelift for the neck

Aging is a process which emotionally affects everyone differently. Some enjoy keeping their face and body looking as young as possible, while others simply let wrinkles take their natural course. Some have had aging prevention on their mind since they were in their 20s, and others just looked in the mirror one day and noticed wrinkles that seemed to appear overnight. Regardless of how focused you are on keeping your skin younger, there’s one aspect of facial rejuvenation that even the most aesthetically-minded tend to overlook: the neck.

While every person ages in their own unique way, your neck will likely age just as quickly as your face. As the years go by, the skin throughout the neck becomes thinner and less firm, leading wrinkles and bands to form. At the same time, the underlying neck muscles may loosen, which also contributes to the appearance of an aging neck. And if you have a tendency to accumulate fat under your chin, this adds to the problem as well. Despite all this, many patients simply don’t notice that their neck is aging because they’re focused on keeping their face looking youthful, but the problem is that as much as they try to maintain a natural look throughout their facial rejuvenation procedures, if their neck looks 10 years older than their face does, it takes away from their ability to look natural.

So what can you do to keep your neck looking young? Depending on how much aging has already taken place, you may be best suited for either surgical or nonsurgical options (or a combination of both):

Plastic Surgery for a Younger Neck

The most comprehensive way to rejuvenate the neck is with a neck lift. Much like a face lift, this procedure repositions underlying tissue and platysmal bands if needed to provide a more youthful and lifted structure (by tightening the neck muscles), then removes excess skin and gives the remaining skin a firmer, smoother look.

If you have accumulated unwanted fat under your chin or throughout the jowl area over the years, this can make even a younger adult look like their neck area has aged. For these cases, I offer Band Aid Liposuction. As a minimally invasive version of traditional liposuction, this surgery is performed in-office with gentle numbing, and it offers just half the recovery time and half the cost of a typical liposuction, yet it’s a highly effective way to restore younger, slimmer contours to the neck, jowls, and chin.

Nonsurgical Neck Rejuvenation

If you’re in the earlier stages of aging and don’t yet feel the need for surgery, there are also several non-surgical procedures that can help. Band Aid Skin Tightening is just what its name implies: a non-surgical and noninvasive way to tighten the skin throughout the neck. While it can be used for the face as well, Band Aid Skin Tightening uses the Protégé system to send targeted warmth to the deeper layers of the skin, which helps to rebuild and strengthen collagen to make your skin firmer and thicker.

Another popular option is Band Aid Laser Skin Resurfacing. I use the DOT Therapyâ„¢ laser, the least invasive way available to achieve the exceptional results of laser skin resurfacing. This procedure sends tiny columns of laser light into the skin in a pattern of “dots” to clear away damaged surface skin while adding firmness and thickness to skin beneath. Beyond simply firming the skin, this treatment can also reduce surface imperfections like age spots, fine lines, and wrinkles, too.

Being your most confident and beautiful self looks different for everyone. At my plastic surgery office, we see age not as a number but as a state of mind, and much of what we do is simply helping our patients’ appearances match the youth and vitality they feel on a daily basis. To discuss how I can address your specific aesthetic concerns, schedule a consultation with me, Dr. John L. LeRoy. Or, for more cosmetic surgery tips as well as our monthly special offers, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.