Cosmetic Surgery – Neck Lift

Sometimes your neck can betray your age before your face every will. This is when a neck lift might be in order. Sometimes it is not even age that is the culprit. A wrinkly, sagging or droopy looking neck can also be caused by a lot of weight loss. Sometimes too whether or not you have a big pouch of saggy skin under you neck is simply the result of having a few bad genes.

There are several different procedures that qualify as neck lift procedures. A Cervicoplasty is the procedure used to remove excess skin. A Platysmaplasty removes or alters neck muscles

Your surgeon also can perform neck liposuction, which removes excess fat to remove a double chin. In some cases, Botox injections may be the answer to your problems if your neck is wrinkling as the result of facial expressions.

In general neck lift cosmetic surgery can help fix problems such as turkey wattle neck, too much skin, excess fat and “neck bands” (which is caused by weakened neck muscles.)

The Cervicoplasty is the most common of the neck lift operations and is used to fix too much skin and excess fat. Typically this operation lasts between two and three hours. Sometimes a neck lift is done in conjunction with other procedures such as a facelift or brow lift.

If your problem is turkey wattle and excess neck bands, your cosmetic surgeon may recommend platysmaplasty surgery. In this cosmetic surgery procedure, the doctor makes cut s under your chin and/or behind your ears to access the platysma (neck muscle) and manipulate it so that your double chin disappears. Sometimes, getting rid of that double chin or turkey wattle can be very invasive surgically as it can entail removing muscle. 

If your excess chin fat is removed by liposuction the surgeon will make an incision and use a canulla (small straw like vacuum) to remove it. If this is the only type of treatment you need the operation can be done with a mild sedative as it only takes about an hour. Sometimes it is necessary for the doctor to snip or trim off excess skin which can make the operation a little more invasive. This is done to give the chin a tighter look. This operation is called a cervicoplasty and is called for when there is flapping folds of flash after fat has been removed from the neck.

Whether or not you have to have anesthesia can depend on how invasive it will be. If the doctor is using and endoscope (a small vacuum inserted under the skin) you may only need mild sedation. However for the most part most people require general anesthesia for a neck lift. If it is just botox injections you are getting you will be in and out of the cosmetic surgery office in less then fifteen minutes.  These types of matters are determined with your doctor long before the operation is booked.

Just like any other type of cosmetic surgery you must be in good mental and psychological health and be older before most plastic surgeons will agree to give you a neck lift.