Dr. Bustillo Responds to Patients’ Questions and Concerns about Neck Lift Surgery

Q: How much swelling and bruising will I get from neck liposuction and lift?   I am scheduled for a neck lipo and neck lift next week. How much swelling and bruising should I expect? How long will they last? A: There is typically not much swelling after neck liposuction and neck lift. The bruising is usually minor. Most patients can go back to work after 6-7 days after this procedure. There is however, more bruising and swelling after a facelift. Q: I read about a Botox neck lift. What is this and does it work? I thought Botox was for frown lines? A: Botox can be used to treat the muscle bands that may appear in the neck. I have to caution you that the results are not dramatic and that this can be expensive. If this is a real problem, consider a skin tightening non-invasive option or a neck lift. Q:  Is there another kind of neck lift available? I went to my plastic surgeon to see if there was something I could do about the wrinkles and loose skin on my neck, in the throat area. He suggested I have a facelift or I could just do the neck with the incision straight down the throat area. I looked at before and after pictures and didn’t like the looks of the neck lift incision, so I opted for the facelift. It’s been about a year now, and I don’t think it’s holding up like I envisioned. My question is: is there another kind of neck lift available? I’m 59 years old and was 58 at time of surgery. It was my first facelift, although I’ve had upper eyelid surgery twice…once at 40 and then at 55. A: The problem you are having is common, and may not be related to the expertise of your surgeon. With age, skin loses elasticity and becomes lax. This is probably the reason you are seeing redundancy. The treatment may be a revision of the neck, without having to do the facelift over again. Consult with other surgeons to see what your options are.