Ensuring that your surgically rejuvenated facial appearance is smooth and seamless often requires a special kind of thinking: from the neck up. Facelift can dramatically turn back the clock, but sagging neck skin may transport your new look back to the future. This loose, wrinkled neck skin can present a noticeable contrast to the glow of youthfulness and vitality you achieved with facelift.
Below, experienced Chicago plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Galiano advises when to consider adding neck lift to complement your facelift procedure, and describes the various techniques that will synchronize face-neck time.
Reversing Signs of Aging
If you were born with skin that lacks flexibility and resilience, you may develop neck skin that sags, creates folds, or hangs loosely. This is especially true in the case of patients who have lost a great deal of weight: skin that lacks suppleness will not shrink sufficiently to conform to the reduced volume of a slimmer neck.
Liposuction, cervicoplasty and platysmaplasty are the main surgical solutions for improving the appearance of the neck. Liposuction removes fat, cervicoplasty eliminates excess skin and platysmaplasty goes even deeper by tightening or excising neck muscles. In most cases these procedures can be performed endoscopically, which reduces scarring and typically can be done as an outpatient procedure with a local anesthetic.
For liposuction, Dr. Galiano will make a small incision below the chin. Using a safe, effective surgical variation known as tumescent liposuction, he will then inject into the target area a fluid that aids in loosening pockets of fat and insert a narrow, hollow tube to suction out fat cells. Dr. Galiano will remove fat with precision and an eye to aesthetic balance, being carefully not to over-correct.
With cervicoplasty, skin is cut and lifted after incisions are made under the chin and behind the ears. The skin is permanently held taut with special sutures. Platysmaplasty is indicated when sagging neck muscles create a “banded” appearance. During this surgery, Dr. Galiano will tighten, realign and sometimes remove a portion of the neck muscles that have lost integrity. As with cervicoplasty, permanent sutures will keep the muscles taut and smooth.
For each of these procedures, you can expect swelling and a bruised appearance for up to 10 days. Once your surgical bandage is removed, typically the day after surgery, you will wear a special compression garment around the neck in the evening for two weeks or more. Your final result will emerge after three to six months.
To learn more about neck lift or facelift, schedule a personal consultation with Chicago plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Galiano. Please call (312) 926-4382 or request an appointment online today.
