The Aging Neck – What Can You Do?

We all pay attention to our face, but the neck tends to get short shrift. It shouldn’t. Surgical tightening used to be the only option, but not any longer.

Whose neck is that?

The skin of the neck is thin – much thinner than facial or other body skin. It gets stretched and turned and twisted all day. We often skip it when applying sunscreen. With all that work and minimal care, it’s no surprise that many of us one day “see” the old neck that now seems to belong to our parent of grandparent.

Tightening and retexturizing in the same procedure

Any tissue off the face tends to heal more slowly so lasers for neck rejuvenation aren’t as readily used. We’ve moved into fractional devices that work differently from lasers – one much kinder alternative being eMatrix. This radio frequency device helps smooth crepey skin texture and in the process may add a little lift as a side benefit.

The treatment is very well tolerated and healing is fast. Most patients experience some mild redness and a small amount of dust-type flaking during the first few days following the treatment. We’ll sometimes recommend a recovery accelerator like Biafine – a topical healing cream that’s becoming a post procedural favorite.

The “new girl” Nova Threads

Absorbable sutures are used in the neck to smooth out vertical wrinkling. By passing these threads in multiples into the skin, a smoothing and lifting effect can be obtained. Nova PDO Threads.

The neck-firmer in a jar

Following eMatrix, many patients augment the lift effect with Nectifirm. The name says it all and our patients love the way it works.

What about neck “bands”?

Platysmal bands are the “cords” that show up in the neck. These bands can cause a lot of distress as they are only seen on “older” people. Botox injected directly into the platysmal banks with soften their appearance and help restore the smooth contours of your neck.

Other options

If the skin on your neck is merely lax, two other potential options exist for tightening – Thermage or Pelleve. Both heat the collagen in the skin which tightens the collagen coils and provokes an internal healing process that creates new, more compact collagen.

Will the nonsurgical options work for me?

Unless we see you and assess the amount of laxity, it’s hard to promise that nonsurgical steps will suffice. If they won’t, we’ll tell you. Sometimes the only next step is surgical. Ask for your consultation with Dr. Pilest during which you can learn about the options offered and to determine if they will indeed be an option for you.