People don’t always focus their attention on the neck when they are concerned about signs of aging. Aging is usually noticed in the face, but not so often in the neck. However, your neck ages along with your face and the rest of your body. Having an older-looking neck can contribute to an older-looking appearance overall, even if you don’t have as much aging in your face. A neck lift procedure can improve or reverse the aging in your neck and give you a more youthful look.
Signs of Aging in the Neck
Aging occurs in the muscles, skin, and fat of your neck. Your neck can start to age as early as your late 20’s, but usually you don’t notice it until you’re well into your 30’s or 40’s.
There are a pair of muscles located in the center of your neck known as the platysma muscles. These muscles sit side by side and stay tight together when you’re younger. As you get older, these muscles begin to separate from each other and then descend downward in your neck. This is what causes those two lines you see in your neck – these are the platysma muscles that have separated and descended. Over time, these lines become wider and move lower on your neck.
Skin universally ages all over your body, not just in your neck and face. As you get older, your body stops producing the necessary fibers and other components needed to keep your skin tight and smooth. Without these components, your skin loses elasticity and starts to sag. Lax skin in your neck is usually noticed around the middle of your neck where your Adam’s apple is located. Severely lax skin can give a saggy look to your neck and the appearance of a “turkey waddle”.
The amount of fat in your neck can fluctuate even before you reach your twenties due to weight changes or hormones in your body. However, when the platysma muscles descend and your skin begins sagging, that opens up room in your neck for extra fat deposits to accumulate in your neck. This causes your neck to look heavy, resulting in a double chin that takes away some of the sculpting around your jaw line.
What a Neck Lift Does to Reverse the Signs of Aging
Each of these areas that show signs of aging in the neck can be improved or reversed with a neck lift procedure. The platysma muscles that have separated and descended can be tightened, and fat deposits can be removed from under the chin. The actual state of the skin can’t be changed with a neck lift, but the skin can be tightened to help improve the contouring of your neck.
A neck lift procedure from Dr. Bustillo involves three incisions: one under the chin and one behind each ear. The chin incision gives Dr. Bustillo access to the platysma muscles and the fat under the chin. The incisions behind the ear are for tightening the neck muscles from the sides, removing excess skin tissue, and tightening up the remaining skin tissues. These incisions are small and are placed in areas where they will not be seen once healed.
After Your Neck Lift
Patients can go home on the same day as their procedure and should try to keep their head elevated as much as possible. You’ll come back to Dr. Bustillo’s office the day after your surgery to have your bandages removed, again five days later to have your chin stitches taken out, and then once more ten days after surgery to have the stitches behind your ears taken out. You may experience some pain and swelling around your neck which can be managed with pain medication. Most patients are able to return to work after a week and can resume more strenuous activities after about three weeks.
Scheduling Your Neck Lift with Dr. Bustillo
Dr. Andres Bustillo is a board certified facial plastic surgeon who offers neck lift procedures at his office in Miami, FL. If you are interested in improving or reversing the signs of aging in your neck with a neck lift procedure, contact Dr. Bustillo to set up a patient consultation. During your consultation, Dr. Bustillo will evaluate your neck by checking all three of the main problem areas. He will also discuss your goals for surgery before making a plan to improve the appearance of your neck.
Contact Dr. Bustillo for your patient consultation today at (305) 663-3380.