A neck lift needs careful thought and planning. It helps to write down what concerns you most and the result you hope for. We go through any worries you have, and the risks and benefits, before you decide.
Smoking, vaping and any other nicotine intake must stop at least 4 weeks before surgery and for 4 weeks afterwards.
The first step is to identify what makes your neck look the way it does: the deeper fat, the platysma muscle, the submandibular glands, the skin, or the size of the chin.
Not everyone wants the same change, and a clear picture of the problem leads to the right solution. Because the result is hard to imagine, every plan is based on a 3D assessment with the Canfield VECTRA H2, which shows how each change affects your profile.
Younger people, more often men, may feel their jawline is indistinct despite a healthy weight and an active life.
Loose skin is the other common reason, particularly when age and sun exposure have left the skin sagging or wrinkled.
When the skin is still elastic, but the neck lacks definition, the cause is usually hereditary: fuller deep fat, digastric muscles or submandibular glands. There is no excess skin, so the need is to reduce volume beneath it.
This is the anterior neck lift. Through an incision of about 3 cm under the chin, the fat above and below the platysma, the anterior bellies of the digastric muscles and the lower part of the submandibular glands are reduced. There is no skin tightening. A chin implant can add to the effect.
When the skin excess is limited, the deep neck lift can be combined with a short scar deep plane facelift, so that the incisions stay mainly in front of the ear and around the ear lobe.
Each plan is tailored to you, and the length of the scars is discussed in detail at consultation.
When the neck and jawline have loosened with age or sun damage, or after major weight loss, reducing volume alone is not enough.
A deep neck lift then combines the volume reduction of the anterior neck lift with tightening of the platysma and redraping of the skin through incisions around the ears. It is usually combined with a deep plane facelift, so that the jawline, jowls and neck are treated as one continuous area.
A clear jawline is not always a matter of reducing volume or tightening skin.
If your jaw or chin is underdeveloped, a chin implant can improve definition, and jaw implants can help shape the jawline.
Genioplasty, reshaping of the chin bone, is an alternative and may be preferable in some cases.
Questions? Just ask.
Talk to our helpful team or book a consultation
with Mr Lucian Ion. Call 0207 486 7757
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